Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice

If you like the original "Slapshot," good acting and a good plot, rent anything else other than this travesty of film-making. However, if you do enjoy bad VD jokes, monotone Steven Baldwin acting and a storyline a kindergartner could poke holes into, then by all means rent "Slapshot 2: Breaking the Ice." Seriously, the only good thing about this film was seeing the original Hanson Brothers reprise their roles, which was not nearly enough to save it. A life-size cardboard cutout of Paul Newman has more acting talent than Steven Baldwin. And I'm being generous. Only if you have a severely morbid sense of curiosity would I suggest you watch this film.

The script for Slap Shot 2-Breaking the Ice should have been thoroughly reviewed over and over with a fine-tooth comb before they started filming. It was up against the awesome classic original and the writers and producers knew very well that fans of the original Slap Shot were just thirsting for a really funny and good follow up if one was going to be made at all. A control group of viewers who saw the original back in 1977 at the theater should have been consulted (Me, for one.) I'm only giving this movie a generous 3 stars out of 10, one for each of the Hanson Brothers. They deserved better than this. The message of hockey becoming too antiseptic and "entertainment" instead of sport was lost in the mess. I did NOT like the "hockey chick" thing with Jessica Steen playing the new female coach, and she had the personality of a doorstop. Stephen Baldwin must have come very cheap, but doesn't do the worst job. The skating sequences were all blurry and slow-mo cheesy, and NOT using Johnstown, PA, instead of Vancouver, B.C. for the shooting location was more than sad. By the way, didn't the team move to Minnesota at the end of the original Slap Shot??? They could have written something hilariously funny into the second one about the Hanson Brothers going home to Minnesota. (Note to readers: Steve Carlson and Jeff Carlson were born and raised in Virginia, Minnesota. Dave Hanson was born in Wisconsin.) If the writers and producers of the original "Slap Shot" want to brainstorm for another truly funny and more accurate sequel, they should consult with fans for ideas. ($100 dollar bills raining from the sky will happen first before another sequel ever does thanks to this one.) The bottom line is that moviegoers want more of the Hanson Brothers and old-time hockey than this. It would also increase the bottom line $$$, especially if it would have a theatrical release, and not be released straight-to-video (kiss of death.)

This movie has no originality, Paper thin characters, and a plot that missed the heart of the first movie. I don't even see how they can or would dare to call this a Slapshot movie. The original was all REAL HOCKEY this is 90% Computer Generated trash. The original was fall on the floor hilarious, I didn't even crack a smile at this waste. The director had his head up his rear when he was making this movie, because every time it shows the Charston Cheifs owner (BTW in the last movie didn't they move the Cheifs to Minnesota?) it is in a tight head shot. The whole idea of the first film was to have fun and bring the hockey attitude out and it did that very well. This plays out more like a D grade drama with some poorly executed jokes stolen from the original movie.

F- Avoid like the plauge!

The original Slap Shot movie starred Paul Newman. It was a hilarious look at the seedier side of minor pro Ice Hockey. It has become a huge classic among most Hockey fans. Since I am an Ice Hockey Referee part time, I joke that Slap Shot is mandatory viewing for all referees.

Having seen the original, I was skeptical about a follow-up 24 years later. The Hansen brothers reprised their characters well, but everyone else was new. The roles they were playing didn't seem to come naturally to the other actors. Still it was a pretty good acting job overall. There were some lines lifted directly from the original. This was somewhat clever, but after the 3rd time, it was just hokey.

Even with this sequel's drawbacks, there were still lots of laughs. The Hansens can be counted on for that. There is some nudity and a brief sex scene that won't work for kids except maybe mature teenagers.

So don't go in expecting a clean follow-up to the original classic, just go in for some laughs and a few memories.

Sequel yes, why? Who knows but if you take this movie into it's own little world and try and not link it to the first movie (which I must admit can be hard, with the original Hanson Brothers still on the same minor league ice hockey team) try not to think of it has a sequel because it will spoil the first one for you.

The first one was a cult classic hit for sport movies. But this one, isn't exactly the worst sport movie I've ever seen. The hockey probably wasn't enough to keep sport movie fans attentions, but it did have enough for the non sport lovers to actually think "oooh violence on ice-not bad" a little go ;)

Callum Keith Rennie (an astounded Canadian actor - who probably signed for this film because of the first ones status and a film about ice hockey) is slightly wasted in this movie. We can see him in other roles that show of his natural talents as a brilliant actor, but playing Palmberg, it was enough to keep watching and laughing.

A female coach... ohhh not really that much of a plot twister... and Stephen Baldwin's screen performance wasn't exactly fantastic.

I think people reacted badly to this film because of the first one. They should never have plainly labelled it as a sequel as the "straight to DVD" shows how much it was liked by audiences (it just wasn't.)

But I had four of my wisdom teeth removed the weekend I rented this and it kept me occupied long enough to forget about the big open wounds in my gums, so really, give this film a chance. You can laugh, if you can just get over the fact that this film is a sequel. - :)