D2: The Mighty Ducks

Cast: Emilio Estevez, Joshua Jackson, Shaun Weiss, Elden Hanson, Brandon Quinton Adams, Carsten Norgaard

Director: Sam Weisman

Release Date: 1994

Running Time: 1hr 46 minutes

Genre: Family/Sport

Rating: U

Format: DVD

Synopsis:

Coach Gordon Bombay is forced to stand back from the minor league hockey league after he suffers a serious knee injury. However, much to his surprise he is given the task of coaching Team USA Hockey for the Junior Goodwill Games in California. 

The Ducks are back again, this time as Team USA, entering in the Junior Goodwill games in Los Angeles. However the hype of Hollywood starts to go to Gordon Bombay's head, making him very unpopular with his team when he is seen trying to chat up the the revivals tutor from Iceland. Will the Ducks become champions once more or will Iceland defeat them?

Emilio Estevez returns as coach Gordon Bombay delivering a very cocky and arrogant performance as he tries to recover from a serious knee injury. The team must embark on their first adventure to Los Angeles, introducing themselves to new members of their team including Dwayne, Dean, Julie, Russ, Luis and Ken Wu. An interesting bunch that fits in very well with their team. Joshua Jackson returns once again as Charlie Conway, now two years older, he delivers a very good performance, as Charlie he really starts to stand up to Coach Bombay.

The Icelandic team are very fierce and ferocious with nothing ahead of them but a winning streak. Friendship between the ducks is better then ever, however it takes them a while to get used to their newcomers, some of them having somewhat flamboyant personality's. One of which drives them insane until they are introduced to his knuckle-puck. If there's one thing that is really awesome about the storyline it's definitely the use of magnificent hockey tricks.

What makes the storyline so superb is watching the characters change and grow, learning new skills, falling in love, seeing them become true athletes. Very nicely shot with a simple enough production design that works well within the storyline and the characters. It is what it is. The perfect amount of humour, tension and excitement. One of those moments where you just want your favourite team to win, we all know that our favourite team is the "Ducks" right?

An excellent sequel to a magnificent franchise.

4/5 stars