The dolphin, Kate a.k.a. Rasca, as the humans call her, is a disputed property, indeed. The U.S. Navy claims her, having trained her for their military purposes, as Kate, and wants her back, to the point of kidnapping the charming creature; a cetacean research centre, initially unaware of Kate's Navy connexion and now calling her Raspa, has done advanced intelligence and human-cetacean communications research with her willing coöperation; and, atop all that, an animal liberation front wants to "free" her from alike the research centre and the Navy. The film essentially develops these narrative strands as well as the actions and incentives, variously legitimate and devious, of the humans who struggle over Raspa/Kate and who woo and flirt with each other. The results are mixed, but worth viewing, anyway.
This film (also known by another title, "Way of the Dolphin", being under either title a sequel to "Eye of the Dolphin") was well researched and planned; that becomes especially obvious in the "special features" that come with the DVD (at least in the Canadian bilingual English-French edition that I purchased, V.V.S. Films 1506). The movie really does take its subject seriously as well as for the sake of some reasonably good "family entertainment".
I had many encounters with dolphins when I was in the U.S. Navy, especially in Caribbean waters; the animals are wonderfully playful and friendly to sailors, interacting with members of the crew by mime as they follow and even circle about their ship joyously as it moves through the water, at least at the speeds at which W.W. II vintage ships, such as the destroyer on which I served, plow through the sea. Dolphins scare off sharks, which makes their presence and vigilance around ships something of real tangible value to men at sea. Even then, back in the early 1960s (Kennedy years), the intelligence of dolphins was widely acknowledged and much further research over the decades has widened and verified to ever greater extent those early observations of dolphins. The two best of the DVD's special features go into this and other matters of scientific and Naval interest very perceptively.
What holds back this motion picture from full "5 stars" rating is the scanty quality of the dialogue and of the acting. Both of these aspects of the film are stiffly wooden, clichéd, and rather juvenile. The plot, per se, actually is quite good and engrossing, with some surprises here and there, especially regarding what motivates the young Naval ensign (presenting himself to the family at the research station as a civilian tourist on holidays and as amourous bait to the daughter) to undertake his undercover surveillance and machinations. (He redeems himself by film's end.) As for Raspa/Kate, she and the other dolphins are magnificent. The scenery is great, mostly (but not entirely) filmed in the Bahamas, as I well know from many visits to the Caribbean islands, and the film's colour camera work makes the most of those assets. So, ignore the stilted acting and dialogue and just sit back and enjoy this delightful film and pay keen attention to those special features singled out here as being of so much interest.
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