Youngblood: A Modern Take on a Classic Film

A remake of the 1986 film of the same name, Youngblood attempts to reframe the story through the lens of more modern times, leaning heavily on the theme of racism on the rink. While the film aims to be the next inspirational hockey tale, the material fails to rise to the occasion, resulting in yet another paint-by-numbers tale that lacks the depth to truly make a difference. The story is centered around Dean Youngblood (James), a talented hockey player who joins the Hamilton Mustangs, hoping it to merely be a stepping stone to one day playing in the NHL. Travelling to Canada from Detroit, while his skill, honed in by his father Blane (Underwood), commanded respect and plenty of eyeballs, his arrogance quickly earned him a growing list of enemies.

Finding himself saddled with suck a toxic player, Coach Chadwick (Shawn Doyle) could only hold him back for so long, choosing to keep him on the bench game after game. As team captain Denis Sutton (Picard) decided to take Dean under his wing, the two struck up a sort of friendship as he started to shake off his father’s aggressive teachings on his way to becoming a more mature player by escaping his burdened legacy. Meanwhile, that newfound maturity spurred a relationship with Coach Chadwick’s daughter Jessie (Alexandra McDonald). As a whole, the story is fairly standard, hitting all the marks of an inspirational sports film, featuring a team of underdogs to root for, alongside a coach with a chip on their shoulder connected to a troubled past. However, it is a shame that the script isn’t stronger, as it truly holds the film back and prevents it from standing out amongst the fray. 

Though the dynamic between the Mustang players is fine, it could have been further expanded upon. Other than Sutton, Dean’s other teammates are not overly memorable. Similarly, the relationship between Dean and Jessie is fine, but could have easily been scrapped in favor of a deeper dive into the film’s themes, thus further cementing the bond between Dean and the teammates. Instead, that dynamic feels underdeveloped, predictable, and shoehorned in gratuitously. While not bad by any means, with Jessie offering equal representation in the game of hockey, the aforementioned writing did not do her nor Dean any favors. Looking at racism and toxic masculinity as it relates to hockey through the lens of the Mustang team dynamic and the romance between Dean and Jessie, it all feels underbaked. Where the film is most successful is the complicated relationship between Dean and Blane. Blane’s actions are never done with malice, but out of love for his son, as a single father trying to do his best to raise his kids. Trope-heavy, the dialog comes off as unnatural, but it is also one of its more interesting aspects, which is an unfortunate saying for a film about hockey. 

In the end, one’s mileage with Youngblood will ultimately lie with their overall opinion on sports movies, as those who care less for sports movies are likely to remain unmoved by a film that is very standard, as far as sports movies go. At least on paper, the possibility of its exploration of deeper themes may have separated it from other hockey films was certainly cause for some excitement, but, in reality, this was not the case here as the film never quite goes far enough with those themes. An unfortunate miss given director Hubert Davis’ racism in hockey documentary, 2022’s ‘Black Ice,’ one would think he would be the best choice to tackle much of the same subject matter in a feature film, given Dean’s unique position as the only black person on his team.

In the same vein, another missed opportunity is the lack of a deeper exploration of the toxicity embedded within the sport of hockey, and the heightened level of aggression present over the course of games. It’s no secret that hockey is an especially masculine-leaning sport but, here, the film argues a connection between that toxicity as a root for racism. However, that connection could have been explored deeper. Similarly, its depiction of the violence in hockey seems to be almost toned down, something irregular when it’s really the contrary and more so the norm.

For lovers of hockey and audiences looking for a simple, inspirational underdog tale, Youngblood will surely hit the right spot. For the sports adverse, or those looking for something deeper, the film unfortunately falls short. While it features some slick shots of the players on the ice, and a winning performance from star Ashton James that helps make up for most of the other losses, it misses an open shot to dig into such a popular sport that this particular nation loves so much.

still courtesy of Photon Films

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Jasmine Graham