“The Red Liners – Part 1: Stampede of The Mighty Moose” is a reboot of the famed “The Mighty Ducks” movie trilogy that brought hockey back to the big screen and saw the birth of a new NHL hockey team in Anaheim. Fortunately, Hollywood did not use the same playbook when writing this script and provided fodder for the expected sequel.
The first period began so slowly that viewing public had time to grab extra drinks at the concession stand. Though the writers tried to develop early tension by having nine Red Liners skaters against ten of the Mighty Moose, we still got a sluggish first period with no scoring. But the hero of the film, played by Bradley Cooper, finally sparked some life with the first goal by sliding the puck just inside the near post. Hollywood new-comer Tony Jaa, hot off the “Fast and Furious 7”, felt natural on the ice and showed his skills with a high wrister goal in the closing minutes of the first period.
The tension began to build up in the second period as the Mighty Moose organized and tried to fight back. Egregious action in the form of pushing, hooking, and slashing was thrown into the mix. One of the old veteran warriors, played by Jimmie McAvoy, rallied the Red Liners to continue their assault against the Moose and not let up. Bradley responds to that call with an easy empty net goal after freezing a stunned Moose goalie for several seconds. The Liners scoring continued but with celebrity help. Brian Cranston played a cameo role and was only seen briefly in the second period to showcase a beautiful grinding wrist shot through traffic in the slot. Using his skating, and not driving skills, Tony scrambled through the slot and popped in a loose rebound. Player/First Time director, Andrew Garfield tried to emphasize the frustration by the Moose at this point by holding the blue line. He also turned up the Moose angst to eleven with a second cameo by John McClane, AKA Bruce Willis, by semi-recreating the famous D3: The Mighty Ducks ending. Here, Tony lured the Moose goalie while sending a behind-the-back, cross-slot pass to a trailing McClane who easily found the empty net.
The third period mainly set the stage for the sequel. Comedic bits were thrown in. A Moose player was whining about physical play from McClane but the Refs snidely wondered why he was complaining as he was the most skilled player on the ice. The most notably gaff was Liners goalie, Jimmie Fallon, trying to play the puck from his net and failing to clear it along the boards. To cap the momentum & be declared the hero of the game, Bradley did score a final goal (a hat trick) in the third period to cap off the 7-0 victory. It did leave viewers wondering what could happen in the sequel. Supporting cast included up and coming actors, Gethin Anthony at center and Brian Smith at defense while veteran Michael Keaton barely helped on defense.
All in all, it was a predictable Red Liners showing with a slow startup that leaves you wondering if they are a top tier team. With teases of action late in the first, they surprise you with an explosion of scoring and a predictable trailing of scoring to end the game softly. Expected sequel, “Red Liners – Part 2: Preston Kendalls Opus” will be released this Sunday, June 19 at 4pm. This matinee release will hope to be more kid-friendly and enjoyable with large amounts of scoring and comedy.