It would be an understatement to say that hockey is in the midst of a cultural moment. The flash-in-the-pan phenomenon that was Heated Rivalry is still blowing up, and both of the Team USA squads won gold medals at the Winter Olympics. Youngblood enters a moment where a hockey drama is set to break through as a niche spring hit. It helps that the movie, directed by Hubert Davis, surpasses its source material.

What is Youngblood about?

Based on the 1986 film of the same name, Youngblood follows the titular 17-year-old hockey player. Dean Youngblood is considered a phenom, but consistent chirping and racism cause him to act out. When the young player comes off a suspension, he catches on with a team because of his skill. However, Coach Murray Chadwick (Shawn Doyle) does not trust his new player.

Adding to the pressure, Dean faces constant pushback from his father (Blair Underwood) to find his way onto the ice. The teen makes friends with his teammates and, perhaps unwisely, falls for Coach Murray’s daughter, Jessie (Alexandra McDonald). As his team makes a legitimate run to the playoffs, Dean must balance his drive to become a pro, the nonstop vitriol thrown at him, and his emotional connections to those in his life.

Great athletic recreation goes a long way to make Youngblood a very fun hockey experience.

The way most teen dramas set in sports fall apart is usually in their depiction of the sports in question. It does not help that many cast stars are well older than the fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds who often occupy this space. You can only believe that a thirty-year-old can play football at that level to a certain extent.

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Youngblood is unique in this aspect. The actual play on the ice is excellent and is edited well enough for the body doubles to pass for the players. While there are plenty of moments in which James sells his stunts on camera, the full-speed cinematography nails the chaos on the ice. This helps sell the actual experience of watching the game, even if it needs to hit a few sports movie classic clichés on the way.

Youngblood also features some genuinely good commentary on being Black in a predominantly white sport. James conveys the frustration that he’s felt at each stop, especially as he’s often heard the same negative talk at each stop. The idea of using your sport to escape a world you’re unhappy with is far from a new one. However, forcing James to dig deep to find a character that is both wildly ambitious and unwilling to let himself be demeaned.

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This also gives Youngblood a fresh coat of paint in its new iteration. The sports film about the athlete trying to break into the big leagues and overcoming competitors willing to hurt them is old hat. If you’re going to remake a sports classic, you need to work hard to find new angles that open up the discourse about the sport itself. Every major sport has issues with racism or colorism, but Youngblood combines this with a hyper-emotional teenager to give the story more context.

Youngblood falls into a few clichés on the way.

At the same time, Youngblood occasionally dips into the cliché pool. The “overly angry and demanding father” character is present. Few actors could pull off what Underwood does by making the Youngblood patriarch a tragic figure. At the same time, explaining why “Dad doesn’t love the star athlete” is a tale as old as time in the genre.

Youngblood also keeps characters and moments from the original movie beat-for-beat. In doing so, the remake qualities actually cut away from the movie’s authenticity that it crafts for most of its runtime. We were hoping for a more grounded story set in the hockey arena, but instead, the remake qualities become inescapable.

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The tropes get out of hand by the time you see the star player on the team cheering from a hospital bed. Youngblood knows that it’s crafting the near-perfect crowd-pleaser by giving our lead love interests personal interests and a chance to serve himself by serving the team. Yet when you have too many moments like this, your film starts to hit too many moments of mediocrity for it to fully survive.

Is Youngblood worth watching?

Yes, the latest project looking to build on hockey’s American moment, Youngblood provides plenty of reasons for you to check it out. Ashton James is a legitimate star on the rise. The politics of the sporting world are undeniably relevant. While shaving a few of the clichés would have gone a long way towards making this a hit, Youngblood is still sure to gain a cult following.

Watch Youngblood in theaters today.
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