D3: The Mighty Ducks

The first "Mighty Ducks" film uses drama/emotion regarding the passion of youth hockey to create a fun movie. "D2" piles on the humor to create an even better sequel. "D3", however, tries to combine the two approaches, but ends up coming across as "just okay" on both of them.

For a basic plot summary, "D3" sees the Ducks handed from Coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) to Eden Hall, a prestigious prep school giving the entire team full-ride scholarships. When new coach Ted Orion (Jeffrey Nordling) doesn't seem to working out all that well, as well as countless feuds with the established varsity team, the Ducks (as always led by Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson)) must make some difficult decisions regarding their future.

The reason why this movie is "okay" while the others are a cut above, is that "D3" is essentially a carbon copy of its two predecessor. It uses the same basic dramatic formula of the first movie, while many of the jokes come straight out of "D2". Basically, the franchise had worn out its creative juices. Disney movies like this always walk the fine line between "heartwarming & fun" and "incredibly cheesy & dumb". While the first two walked the line perfectly, this one falls off into the latter category.

"D3" isn't a terrible movie, but it just can't capture the gusto of the previous efforts. I probably shouldn't complain too much, as these movies are essentially made for kids (and those kids will still love this one), but as an adult and factoring in the nostalgia factor, this is the one where, for the first time in the entire franchise, I thought "this is starting to get stupid".