BEFORE: Between Ryan Reynolds and this film, the Canadians are taking over my blog for a couple of days. Director and co-star Jay Baruchel was born in Canada, and I'm sure some of the hockey players seen here were too. "Tusk" and "Yoga Hosers" were also set there, and most of "Deadpool 2" was shot in British Columbia - I'll have to try to remember all this at the end of the year. Since it seems like our President is intent on starting a war - or at least a trade war - with Canada, I guess it's up to me to keep the peace.
This makes four in a row for T.J. Miller, who carries over again from "Deadpool 2".
FOLLOW-UP TO: "Goon" (Movie #1,510)
THE PLOT: A hockey player plagued by injuries is confronted with the possibility of retirement when a tough new player challenges his status as the league's top enforcer.
AFTER: I know what a hockey goon is, after watching the first film with that name, and watching the TV series "The Detour" where Jason Jones played a former goon. It means a player that can not only give out a beating, but has become good at taking the hits too. Maybe not so good with the scoring of the goals, a goon's main job would be to skate and fight. If you see a guy on the ice that's not even wearing gloves (because it's too time-consuming to keep taking them off and putting them back on in between fights) - yeah, that's probably a goon. A guy who can track how long he's been in the league by how many real teeth he has left.
Since we last saw Doug Glatt in the first film, he's gotten married and is now on the brink of becoming a father, which changes his dynamic a bit, plus he's gotten older (haven't we all) and his body is starting to wear out. Then a pro hockey lockout brings a bunch of younger, tougher, more psychotic players the minors, and a fight puts him down for the count, and out of the sport. His transition to working a desk job in an insurance company storeroom brings him no fulfillment, despite offering guaranteed income and a better health plan (namely, fewer blows to the head on an average day).
When his brother brings him to an underground fighting exhibition for retired hockey players - it's just like hockey, apparently, only no puck and sticks - this puts him back in touch with his old teammate/rival, Ross Rhea. He convinces Ross to teach him to fight with the other hand, plus he finally learns a few techniques like shooting goals in order to get back on the team. He keeps this secret from his wife, who naturally assumes that he's just been hanging out drinking with his old teammates instead of planning his comeback.
When he returns to the Highlanders, it's a completely different situation from the one he left - for starters, the rival that took him out of the game (and coincidentally, is the son of the Highlanders' owner) has been traded and is now the co-captain of his team. This points out something unique about hockey - although there are several sports where your old rival can become your teammate, in very few sports would you have to play on a team with someone you once had a bloody fistfight with. But who really knows what goes on behind the scenes among the alpha males of the NFL? The thing about hockey is that the fights are out there on the playing field, and are more or less considered part of the sport.
I also liked the conflict between Doug's career and family, his realization that marriage is also a team sport, and also has to be played with integrity, and seeing his teammates congratulate him on the birth of his daughter is not the kind of thing that you see in a lot of sports movies. Of course we know he's got to have a showdown, eventually, with the guy that took him out of the game, so that part of the plot is predictable, and the story has to sort of bend itself around backwards to make it happen, but there were still a few nice surprises here. Plus I think there was more blood spilled here than in "Deadpool 2", and that film had entire limbs being chopped off.
Also starring Seann William Scott (last heard in "Ice Age: Collision Course"), Alison Pill (last seen in "Hail, Caesar!"), Wyatt Russell (last seen in "Table 19"), Liev Schreiber (last seen in "Pawn Sacrifice"), Kim Coates (last seen in "Unforgettable"), Jay Baruchel (last seen in "The Art of the Steal"), Jason Jones (ditto), Elisha Cuthbert, Callum Keith Rennie (last seen in "Warcraft"), Marc-André Grondin (last seen in "Goon"), Jonathan Cherry (ditto), George Tchortov (ditto), Richard Clarkin (ditto), Trent Pardy, Karl Graboshas (last seen in "Race"), David Paetkau, Ellen David, Larry C. Woo, Boomer Phillips, James Duthie, Nathan Dales, and real hockey players Tyler Seguin, Michael Del Zotto, Brandon Prust, George Parros, Colton Orr, Georges Laraque.
RATING: 5 out of 10 paramedics
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