I just saw Goal II: Living The Dream. Despite its wild inaccuracies, it was a highly entertaining movie that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any soccer fan.
I had seen the original Goal: The Dream Begins but I didn't realize the sequel had come out. Where Goal I is more of a feel-good, poor-boy-from-the-streets-(of the U.S. via Mexico)makes-good story; Goal II explores the darker side of stardom as protagonist Santiago Muñez hits the big time with Real Madrid.
Goal II also gives you much greater access to the stars of the game and the surroundings of a top-flight club. Steve McManaman was brought on as an associate producer and offered access to the Real training facilities, locker room and even the field of Santiago Bernabeu. Awesome!
As if access to the players and field weren't enough there are appearances by many of the top stars of the game. The Galacticos of Real Madrid make numerous appearances with David Beckham and Steve McManaman getting significant screen time. The locker room scene in Bernabeu is highly realistic but awesome nonetheless! Imagine kicking the ball around before the game with a happy Roberto Carlos, Zidane and Beckham. That's cool (even if you're not fan of Los Bancos)!
The game action looks much more realistic than the first movie. Real games footage has been blended with footage of our movie heroes so that it looks like Santiago Muñez and Gavin Harris are really receiving passes from or setting passes up for Raul, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham.
The on-ball moves might be a bit overdone but the dramatic effect doesn't ruin the movie.
One thing that bothers me bit more is that real games been re-worked with the magic of effects to be the reverse of their actual results. The opening scene shows Barcelona beating Real in Bernabeu 3-0. It's the game where Ronaldinho earned a Golden Ball and Bernabeu applauded his genius. It's the last real game you'll see.
When Real plays a Champion's League Final against Arsenal it's actually their first-elimination round against Arsenal from the 2006 Champion's League. For some reason Nic Cannon is added as an Arsenal forward. Real playing in the Champion's League final in 2006? Nic Cannon giving the Real defense fits? I guess they couldn't put Muñez on 2006 Barca because there's no way he'd break into the lineup.
Another plus for Goal II is the appearance of Leonor Varela as Spanish report Jordana Garcia.if you remember being impressed Job's girlfriend in Season 1 of Arrested Development, you'll enjoy seeing her here. I'd love to see here in more movies.
So check out Goal II at your favorite movie purveyor or you could probably even watch it (in poor definition) on YouTube.
Part 1
Part 2
You get the idea...
If you don't want to start watching the whole movie on YouTube, here's the trailer. Enjoy!
If you're looking for another good recent soccer flick, I'd recommend The Damned United,which chronicles the meteoric rise of Brian Clough and his hiccup of a tenure at Leeds Utd when they were kings of English football. Netflix has it available for streaming. It's an all British cast but it still has lots of familiar actors. It had me thinking that a movie about Jose Mourinho would be worth greenlighting.
ReplyDeleteWhat would they call the movie about Mourinho? The Translator? The Special One? I'd watch that and I'll check out your recommendation as well.
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