Review of The Mighty Ducks (1992) by Chris S — 06 Jan 2017

Growing up in Canada, it was inevitable that hockey would be a part of my life. Sure, my hockey career ending up being 6 years of ball hockey with only three goals to my name, but hockey will always be a part of my life.

As for hockey being a part of my childhood, a major factor in that is the film The Mighty Ducks. This film is so special to me. Since I cheered for a team that to this day has never won a championship, The Mighty Ducks gave me a team I can route for, bond with, and SPOILER ALERT, see them win the championship.

Oh, come on, you know how this movie is going to end before you even watch it. With every sports film, that is always a downside. It is extremely rare where the team does not win the final game to win the championship.

That is often the main complaint people have with this film, that the formula is pretty standard. I would have to agree with them on that but I don't believe that that is necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it has all the tropes as other 90's kids sports film, like how all the players on the other team are all evil jerks and that the main team are a bunch of misfits (Which always has to include a fat kid, a kid with glasses, a kid with daddy issues, and at least one girl in the group of all the boys) but they are all done well.

All the kids that play for the Mighty Ducks are all great. They may not have been written that way, but they cast a great group of kids to round out the team. You remember most of them and what they were about.

I should also add that the humour is really great in this movie. I was actually surprised about how many swear words Disney allowed into this film. Sure, Gordon Bombay doesn't drop the F-Bomb every time he gets scored on, but the occasional, "damn straight", "crap", "weird-ass" and "bastard" are thrown in there.

Strange to see Disney let that in, but I digress. Some others have a problem with one particular portion of the movie which I won't spoil. I noticed it too and it was a little distracting, but let's just say that some characters' act different than their characters should, and one giant moment of luck happens for the team that is basically brought out of nowhere.

A real Ex Machina moment. So, that was a little distracting watching this as an adult, but watching it now so many years later, I can really appreciate all the character moments with Gordon Bombay, the coach.

As a kid, I never understood all the lawyer talk and the relationship between him and his boss, and between him and one of the player's mothers. I can see clearly now, the true change that the character goes through.

It's not simply a crappy team becoming good and winning the championship, it's about a person who lost sight of what is truly important in life and through hockey and his new team, he just might find what that is.

Add in a surprisingly good musical score, and you have, in my opinion, one of the best films to show your kids. Sure, the story has been done to death by now, but kids need to be introduced to it somehow, might as well introduce them to it with a good movie.

.. and The Mighty Ducks is a great movie!