D2: The MIGHTY DUCKS. Directed by Sam Weisman; written by Steven Brill; produced by Jordan Kerner and Jon Avnet for Walt Disney. Starring Emilio Estevez. Rated PG.
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"Don't mess with success" can easily turn into "Too much of a good thing." That seems to have happened to the makers of the Mighty Ducks movies. The earlier Ducks movie was a surprise hit, a "Rocky" on ice, with an engaging cast of characters and some well-made points about kids and sports. But D2 covers the same territory, and in the same way, to such a degree that even my family's youngest moviegoers, usually pretty uncritical, were turned off.
Changing the scene from snowy Minnesota to sunny California, and adding some new players to finish out "Team USA" (for the "Junior Goodwill Games") makes D2 look different, at least at first. But the whole Team USA business is handled rather clumsily, and the different scenery is, finally, just different scenery.
We thought that lawyer-turned coach Bombay (Estevez) had learned his lessons well in the first movie—Having fun is ultimately more important than winning, excessive competition in any area of life can be destructive, having the respect of a group of kids is more rewarding than any courtroom victory—good lessons!
But here he is going through the same process again. This time he's enticed by the lure of celebrity and endorsement money (only if the Ducks win, of course). He loses sight of what's really important, only to rediscover it just before the big game, etc., etc., etc.
The kids are still cute in D2, although they're noticeably older (two years is a long time in the life of a pre-adolescent). And the hockey scenes are well-shot and fun to watch.
But the ending is of course a foregone conclusion, even though the team from Iceland (!) is bigger, faster and has a meaner coach—sound familiar?
For most families, rental, or even purchase of the first Ducks movie would be cheaper than all going to see the sequel. With the two being almost identical, I recommend the video.
April 27, 1994