January 25, 2012

The Mighty Ducks

The Mighty Ducks 1 (1992);  2 (1994);  3 (1996) -  3/5

Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, Goooooooooo Ducks!

When it comes to The Mighty Ducks, you can’t really review one without mentioning the others. So I’ve decided to write one review that covers all three movies. In my books, these movies are the best hockey movies ever! You really don’t need to watch any of these movies to realize they don’t have realistic plots, but you watch them because they might teach you a couple life lessons.

The first one starts with a young Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estaves) who misses one of the biggest penalty shots ever while playing for the Hawks – the best PeeWee team whose motto happens to be, “it’s not worth winning if you can’t win big”. Many years later we find out he has become a lawyer. Not just any lawyer, a very successful lawyer who always wins. After a DUI he is sentenced to 500 hours of community service. Enter the District 5 hockey team. You quickly learn that this PeeWee hockey team is the worst in the league.

In MD1, Bombay teaches the kids in the team that playing hockey isn’t just about winning – it’s about teamwork, fair play and just having fun. From this point on, the team is no longer District 5, they are The Mighty Ducks. Their rival in this movie is Bombay’s old peewee hockey team, the Hawks.

The storyline for MD2 is a bit weaker than the first, but again, that’s not much of a surprise. The Mighty Ducks are called on to represent their country. The main characters from MD1 are still around and with a few new additions, they become Team USA. The rival in this movie is Team Iceland; a rough and tough team whose coach is an ex-NHLer.

MD3 has the same characters as MD2 and because they’re a bit older, I would say that the acting is a bit better than the first 2. Joshua Jackson in particular really grew as an actor. Each member of the Ducks gets a full scholarship to Eden Hall and they play for the junior team. Their rival is the Varsity team at Eden Hall who is not at all pleased with the presence of a junior team.

For movies that are rated G, there is a lot of fighting, name calling (“cake eater”), and overall rowdiness. The script was funny at times, the plot was touching and for a movie that actually had kids playing their age, the acting was good. What it comes down to is an uplifting story about the creation of an underdog team who strives to overcome any obstacles/teams who are trying to bring them down.

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