The Mighty Ducks - Review

Growing up in Canada, it was inevitable that hockey would show up in my childhood in some shape or form. Sure, my hockey career ending up being 6 years of ball hockey with only three goals to my name and a regional championship title, but hockey will always be a part of my life. Not only did I watch hockey on a regular basis and play from time to time, a major factor in my love for the sport was the Disney film, The Mighty Ducks. This film is so special to me. Since I cheer 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. They are always predictable and it is extremely rare, or even unheard-of, where the team does not win the final game to win the championship at the end of the film. That is often the main complaint people have with this film. 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 films. For example, all the players on the other team are evil jerks and the main team are a bunch of misfits (which always includes a fat kid, a kid with glasses, a kid with daddy issues, and at least one girl in the group of all boys). However, 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 all of them and get attached to them. That's what a sports team should do when you cheer for the. 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. Watching this film 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 great movie... and The Mighty Ducks is a great movie!