I didn’t grow up on The Mighty Ducks. In fact, I only watched it for the first time just a few weeks ago with my family. But the seminal 1990s underdogs, The Ducks, need new champions. Why? Because it turns out this widely beloved film, which no doubt informed and inspired countless Americans who came of age in the 1990s, somehow has, as of this writing, only a 24% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 29 logged reviews). This is a bizarre phenomenon, but something worth exploring. Let’s look at the film itself, then we’ll further discuss that Rotten Tomatoes score.
What The Mighty Ducks is not bringing is originality. It follows a time honored underdog sports film template, to be sure. We meet Emilio Estevez’s Gordon Bombay at the height of his killer instinct lawyerly powers, carrying the most massive of chips on his shoulder seemingly all coming from a single traumatic incident with his childhood hockey coach in which he missed the game winning shot and lost the championship for his team. Bombay’s sense of self was tied up in the approval of that coach, and when he didn’t win, the rejection from his coach broke him. Bombay comes to scorn hockey, and children, and hyper focuses his law career on winning, at any cost. Bombay is trying to run away from his past, but instead fully adopts his douche bag coach’s whole life philosophy of “it’s not worth playing if you can’t win”. So of course, when Bombay ends up with a DUI, he’s forced into community service, and ends up coaching the area’s worst hockey team… with a heart of gold.
It may not sound like I’m writing much of a positive review thus far, but here’s the thing: A film critic in 2024 needs to be very aware of, and comfortable with, templates. I acknowledge that The Mighty Ducks follows a time honored sports underdog template. But we’re over 100 years into the art form of cinema at this point, and it’s honestly rare that something isn’t inspired or lifted whole cloth from something that came before. So it doesn’t really matter if a movie is or is not playing to an established form. What matters is, how well does it play the game, or how does it comment on or push against the pre-established template? Maybe critics in the early 90s wanted to ding the film for a lack of originality. But I want to praise it for not only how well it works its template, but for how weirdly relevant it plays today, offering messages that may have felt saccharine at the time, but which feel deeply needed here in 2024.
Look, there are many base joys that The Mighty Ducks provides. The cast is shocking. You’ve got Emilio Estevez, sure. But among the kids on the team you’ve got lead kid Charlie Conway played by none other than Dawson’s Creek and Fringe star Joshua Jackson! Then you’ve got the weird magical realism friendly neighborhood ice skate store (did ice skate stores exist?) owner and prophet/sage Hans played by Joss Acklund of Lethal Weapon 2 (“diplomatic immunity”) and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey fame. Throw in Lost’s M.C. Gainey as Bombay’s chauffeur Lewis, and Daredevil’s Elden Henson as the hard charging power shooter on the Ducks, Fulton Reed, and you’ve got a seriously enjoyable ensemble going on.
But Steven Brill’s script is maybe the real champion here. Sure, with that traumatic set up for Bombay’s character missing the big goal under pressure, I had every certainty in the world that the ending of the film would involve Bombay coaching his own player through a very similar situation. That’s just how movies work. But honestly the journey the script takes Bombay on is full of delight, and not a little wisdom. We live today in a society that blatantly believes in winning over all else. The United States Of America in 2024 feels like it’s embodied by that coach who believes it’s not worth playing if you can’t win. The lessons Gordon Bombay learns from his Ducks are that cheating corrupts the soul, that some kids, like the unfairly treated Adam Banks (Vincent LaRusso), “just want to play hockey”, and that ultimately, “You may make it, you may not, what matters is that we’re here”. It’s practically the stuff of resistance these days for a film’s hero to learn wisdom from children about the purity and beauty of honor, and play, and radical acceptance despite winning or losing. Perhaps it’s sad that a 1992 Disney sports film has so much to say to convict us and remind us of what character and community really look like today. But I’m glad it exists to show us the way. Let’s have fun out there.
Now about that Rotten Tomatoes score. I generally think folks have a hard time understanding how RT works, but all it means is that a low percentage of critics gave the film a positive review on the binary of “fresh” or “rotten”. I’m going to log this review at RT, and as my own little act of 2024 resistance, I’ll bring that rating up just a bit. There’s only a couple dozen reviews there, which means if a few other critics were to revisit this beloved classic, and deem it worthy of a positive review, if we executed a flawless Flying V maneuver, as it were, we really could champion this underdog to a new place in Rotten Tomatoes standing. If you have never seen the film before, or if you grew up on The Mighty Ducks and haven’t seen it in a while, I’d encourage you to check it out for yourself, and learn a thing or two about character and community that our country writ large could also really stand to learn. And hey, if you happen to be a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, maybe throw the Ducks a bone and log a positive review. It doesn’t need your support, really, as a beloved and successful film with multiple sequels and a Disney+ series to boot. But I argue America deserves better than a Mighty Ducks sitting at 24% on Rotten Tomatoes.
And I’m Out.
