The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers does exactly what it needs to

Thirty years after the original hit movie, the sequel series is here – and it does exactly what it needs to do.

In the third Mighty Ducks movie, Coach Bombay tells Charlie that he is the heart and soul of the Ducks team, and heart — or the absence of it — is exactly where we find the championship Ducks team in 2021.

The underdogs are now the bullies and they only care about physical strength. Heart is a lame aphorism found on the internet, according to the team’s ruthless new coach when he cuts 12-year-old Evan (Brady Noon from Good Boys) for being too short.

Almost 30 years after the original movie, Disney is hoping to ride the nostalgia train with its streaming sequel series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, as well as attract a new generation of younger fans with its feel-good story about a bunch of kids being told they’re not good enough to be on the ice.

When the Ducks becomes the champions, we need new underdogs.

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Evan’s hardworking single mum Alex (Lauren Graham) doesn’t want to see her kid upset so she suggests he form his own team. All they need is six players, a home rink and a coach to register in the competition.

Evan finds other kids like himself who have been rejected or told they were weirdos just because they play Magic at the Gathering. Sure, most of them can’t skate, let alone shoot a hockey puck while trying to not get smashed against the barriers, but the real goal is to make friends and be kids, not get up for 6am practices and be obsessed with protein intake.

The ragtag group of the “Don’t Bothers” – yes, that’s actually the team name – is an adorable bunch of misfits and misunderstoods. Plus, a recently arrived neighbour from Toronto with a perfect head of hair and $900 skates but the worst hand-eye coordination on the rink.

In the first three episodes made available for review, there’s little to suggest The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is going to be anything but a family-friendly series with a fuzzy message about trying your best and having fun – oh, and don’t be bullies like those Ducks.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is certainly pitched younger than The Karate Kid revival series Cobra Kai which has a shocking number of criminal assaults that have little consequence. Parents need not worry their impressionable ones will start a street gang and sport mohawks.

Coach Bombay, we’ve missed you.

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Of course, the real drawcard for The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers for anyone half-familiar with the original trilogy is the return of Emilio Estevez as Coach Bombay, although he’s just Gordan Bombay these days, having traded in his skates for a “no hockey” sign.

Coach Bombay now owns a rundown ice rink, which he’s happy to hire out to the Don’t Bothers and sell them $2 hot chocolates, but wants nothing to do with the team. Will he be able to stay away for long? That’s the question.

It’s surprising that Estevez agreed to return to the franchise after so many years, especially as he’s barely appeared in anything that he hadn’t also directed in the past two decades. And he declined to be involved in an oral history feature Time magazine put together in 2014.

You can speculate on why he might have agreed to be involved now but there’s no denying that whenever he is onscreen in The Mighty Duck: Game Changers, there’s a jolt of excitement for old fans.

Estevez still has remarkable screen presence and Coach Bombay carries with him a lot of good will. It’s also been confirmed that a flock of the original Ducks, sans Joshua Jackson, will make a special appearance in episode six – something that is sure to fire up the old-timers.

Lorelei, sorry, that should be Alex, always knows what to do.

As Cobra Kai and the Saved by the Bell revival have proven previously, there is life left in these beloved franchises from another time, but if you want a bite of both audience pies, the key is to the balance the nostalgia with fresh blood.

If you wipe the slate clean and reboot it, you risk leaving behind the built-in fans – although that is a perfectly valid approach and there are few things more annoying than an older generation whinging about how someone has “ruined” their childhood.

But if you want to bring the original fans along and also introduce the series to their kids, then generational renewal is necessary.

While it’s not as game-changing as the title suggests, these new characters are charismatic and fun, the story is familiar and comforting and it has enough heart to skate on – and that’s the bar set by the original trilogy so the sequel doesn’t need to be more than that.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers premieres on Disney+ on Friday, March 26

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