The Mighty Ducks (1992)

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Who would have thought that a film about a lawyer coaching Pee-Wee hockey would lead to a franchise comprising two theatrical sequels, a Disney+ series, an animated series with anthropomorphic hockey-playing duck characters, and an actual NHL team?

Let’s take a look at the film that started it all: The Mighty Ducks!

And remember, SPOILERS AHEAD!

Directed by Stephen Herek, the film begins with flashbacks of the main character, Gordon Bombay, as a kid, played by Brock Pierce, in a Pee-Wee hockey team He misses an important shot which disappoints his coach as well as himself. Ever since then, he’s made it a point to always win in life.

Now as an adult, played by Emilio Estevez, Gordon is a successful, albeit somewhat conceited lawyer. However is track record is immaculate having remembered his lesson that winning is the most important thing.

Unfortunately, one night he drives while drunk and is caught by the police. He’s sentenced to temporarily stop working as a lawyer at his firm and to engage in 500 hours of community service by coaching Pee-Wee hockey in his hometown.

The team he’s meant to coach is known as “District 5” and neither he nor the kids are particularly happy to see each other. The motley group of kids is a fun one, the typical group you’d expect to see in a ’90s film. You have the funny kid, you have the fat kid, you have the black kid, you have the girl, etc. However you can sense the camaraderie and friendship between them all and they feel very real!

They’re played by Shaun Weiss, Brandon Adams, Matt Doherty, J. D. Daniels, Aaron Schwartz, Garette Ratliff Henson, Marguerite Moreau, and Jussie Smollett, among others.

But the kid that is made to stand out amongst the others is Charlie Conway, played by Joshua Jackson. He’s raised by a single mom, Casey, played by Heidi Kling, whose first interaction with Gordon is not a pleasant one.

Gordon’s first game as coach is against his old team, the Hawks, still coached by the coach from his childhood years, Coach Reilly, played by Lane Smith. But Gordon’s apathy with coaching, frustration with the kids, and obsession with winning results in them losing the game. The next game doesn’t fare much better as Gordon teaches the kids to cheat by faking falls, which doesn’t help them win either.

Later that night, he visits a small sports equipment store owned by Hans, played by Joss Ackland. Hans was the supplier when Gordon was a child and is one of the few people Gordon admires, respects, and seeks advice from.

After speaking with Hans and skating on the ice himself, Gordon gains a realization of the error of his ways. He heads over to Charlie’s house to apologize to him after having had an argument with him after the last game. He also apologizes to Casey. This is the beginning of Gordon and Casey starting to fall for each other and Charlie deeming Gordon a father figure in his life.

Gordon makes things right for the rest of the team by acquiring sponsorship from the head of his law firm, Mr. Ducksworth, played by Josef Summer. With the sponsorship, the team is able to buy new hockey gear from Hans’ store. And since Mr. Ducksworth is the sponsor, the team is renamed after him to be the Ducks!

Gordon shows more patience with the kids and his coaching improves.

He also recruits three more players for the team played by Elden Henson, Jane Plank, and Danny Tamberelli.

The training pays off as the Ducks begin winning matches throughout the season much to the frustration of Coach Reilly. This is exacerbated when Gordon takes one of Coach Reilly’s star players, played by Vincent LaRusso, for his team due to a recent rezoning regulation.

Coach Reilly complains to his friend, Mr. Ducksworth, and Gordon is officially fired from the law firm after refusing to send the player back to the Hawks. Gordon also undergoes a misunderstanding with the kids over something he said that causes them to lose faith in him as well as to sow discord among themselves.

But the kids soon settle their differences and Gordon apologizes to them (again, I’m not sure why) and everything’s hunky-dory again. The Ducks continue training and eventually make the playoffs where they’re competing against the Hawks.

The game is incredibly tense with Coach Reilly champing at the bit to win even if it involves some aggression from his team! In the end though, the Ducks are triumphant resulting in their first ever season victory! All the Ducks are overjoyed, Gordon and Casey are officially dating, and Gordon receives an opportunity to try out for the minor leagues.

And that was The Mighty Ducks! Honestly, it’s surprisingly enjoyable and I can see how totally possible it was for this to lead to a franchise! The kids were literally the best things in the film! Like I said before, they felt incredibly real and really meshed well with each other.

Most of the acting by the others was good too although I felt Emilio Estevez was giving a Michael J. Fox performance! I’m not that familiar with Emilio Estevez’s acting style in other films, but in this film, I felt I was watching Michael J. Fox! Heck, Michael J. Fox was apparently considered for the role of Gordon Bombay, so I’m not the only one that felt that way!

I did feel Heidi Kling’s character could have been written better or had more to do. I also felt many of the side plots were wrapped up rather quickly such as Gordon learning the importance of teamwork over winning and the conflicts between the original Ducks and some of the players who joined afterwards. I even thought the ending should have had a scene between Gordon and Coach Reilly with either the latter apologizing to Gordon or full-out threatening him!

The film also had a bit of language in it for a Disney film, but it’s what you’d expect of the ’90s comedies. All in all though, I enjoyed this film and am looking forward to watching the sequels!

So, my final score for this film is 31/35 = 88.57% (B+) !

The next review will be posted on August 29, 2023.