Goal II: Living the Dream (2007) Reviews

• Not What I Would Have Liked To Happen ........ Predictable

  mfmacken2007-02-16

  Firstly I would like to say that I have given this film a 7 out of 10 due to its try hard effort. The film itself is quite stunning, the effects that they use to integrate Santiago Munez and Gavin Harris into the Real Madrid team would almost have you thinking that they were receiving passes from Raul and Zidane. Some of the sequences where the players have the ball at their feet though are totally un-realistic. I mean for example at certain times Santiago pulls off runs and tricks that just wouldn't happen in football. After around 3 step overs and a Cruyff turn followed by dribbling around two more defenders would just result in you being hacked to the ground. They seem to have made Santiago invincible with the ball at his feet, if they were to ask Cristiano Ronaldo what happens when he runs at defenders he would tell you that 99% of the time it would result in him being kicked! The film has an interesting storyline though, which is cleverly left with a lot of questions to be answered in the third film. A surprising twist at the end before the Champions League final certainly caught me out. However the story lines seemed to get tangled up and at times seemed a bit silly. Santiago seems to have too much going on too quickly, and you only have to look at the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Sol Campbell and even David Beckham, to realise that with all of the things going on off the field does not mean you are going to be scoring goals from 30 yards every match. Gavin Harris for me in this film has a far better storyline than that of Santiago. The football side of things in terms of the film got too predictable very quickly. I mean I don't want to spoil the film but at times I was left sat watching thinking, OK that was so blatantly obvious that it was going to happen it was unrealistic. The Champions League final will be a prime example of this. I think that the acting in this film though was all around better in the sequel than the original. I think that Kuno Becker does a good job again as Santiago, making sure that the audience feel what is going on in his head is portrayed on the screen. Alessandro Nivola is superb as the ever arrogant/soft Gavin Harris, I think that Nivola does well to express what Gavino is going through in his time at Madrid, he almost makes the film feel as if it is about the pair of them, not just about Santiago. Anna Friel is stunning as ever as Roz and I think she did well in the role of Girlfriend to the superstar. The cameo's in the film were a bit limited and to tell the truth I am quite glad. The film so easily could have ended up as Real Madrid the movie. I think that only Guti and Illker Casillas have speaking parts and even then it is whilst winding up Gavino. The Casillas part actually had me laughing. All in all I thoroughly liked the film, as a football fanatic it seems only logical to love the film. However with some silly story lines and un realistic action they nearly spoiled the film.

  More

• Good sequel, the saga continues . . .

  misteradelaide2007-02-09

  Just saw Goal 2 earlier today, opening day across the UK. I must say that it was a solid sequel to the first, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Anyone who liked the first Goal movie should enjoy this. It continues the story of Santiago who gets transferred to mega-team Real Madrid in the opening sequences and follows his new life in Spain. Massive paychecks and beautiful women begin to get to Santi's head and we see a darker, perhaps weaker side of our hero in this chapter. All the main characters from the first Goal have roles in the sequel as well as cameos by superstars like Zidane, Ronaldo, Raul and Beckham. Solid sequel that is recommended to all fans of the original! If you haven't seen Goal yet, you should catch that before seeing part 2.

  More

• Expectation levels too high!

  brys062007-04-13

  I couldn't wait for this to hit the big screen but to my disappointment, the film wasn't half as good as i had expected. After seeing the first i didn't know when the super subs dream was going to end, but at Real Madrid with superstars surrounding him, i thought i was in for a treat. But to my mistake, the storyline steers of course of the footballing world bringing in a twist of family life which was almost suddenly killed of by the stress of which football brings. Every little boy's dream is to play football at a professional level but this film gives us an inside view as to what goes on off the pitch and in my opinion doesn't have enough twists in the story. As i'm a football fanatic i loved the matches they played and the 3-2 comeback in the Champions League final was amazing but so predictable. Overall i feel the film was a failure but is still worth watching so that there is some hope that GOAL III can impress and revive the disappointment of GOAL II. Daniel Bryson

  More

• One big, product placing, non-speaking-cameo-filled film. Great Football Action, Poor Screenplay, Rubbish Movie.

  lertad-12007-07-25

  First of all, I have to say I quite enjoyed the first Goal! movie. However, while Goal! II improves upon the great football action portrayed in the movie, all elements of storytelling are lost. In this installation, Santiago Munez gets his big break when Real Madrid are interested in signing him from Newcastle. His imminent decision to move to Spain causes problems which reflects the real life of a professional footballer, for example; Santiago plays in the same position as his friend, Gavin Harris, who has already settled in Real Madrid,and therefore his competitor is his own best buddy; the allures of coming with living in a posh celebrity lifestyle (there's probably about a hundred chicks included in the film, 90% of them quite hot); plus a few other points the movie brings out such as his family ties. In fact, the movie tries to focus more on the emotional and personal impacts so much they never really give any importance to winning football matches at all. Moreover, despite the attempts at focusing on the changes to his personal life and the emotional impact he must endure, the movie never follows throughly with these subplots and we're left out in the cold. You never get to see the tension build between Gavin and Santiago and even feels like a non-issue sometimes, yet it's conveniently resolved at the end. In fact, everything gets so conveniently solved or left to forget it's often irritating. The only real issue the movie tries to explore is between Santi and his fiancée, and that is left to be resolved in Goal 3 when he goes to the World Cup with Mexico. But despite these minuses, Goal II can probably be ranked amongst the best football films, not just because of a dire lack of them, but also because of its great football action and intelligent improvisation of real life situations. The swap-transfer of Santi is humorous, and the on-field action sequences are great. Yet the movie's strength can also lead to its downfall. While it contains a vast number of football stars, it gets irritating how none of them ever really talk, and how Beckham is somehow suddenly forced into the film as a major character without him ever needing to act or open his mouth. In fact, I got irritated at being forced to look at Beckham doing nothing so much I grew to dislike him more from this film alone than from anything else (personally, I admire his footballing skills and especially his professionalism). Overall, it's one big high-end product-placing film with sub-par acting, bad character development, horrible screenplay, but great football action and beautiful camera work at times. It could be a pretty good watch during the off-season, but if you're not a football fan, I highly recommend you to avoid it.

  More

• Big step back

  markokristic2007-03-21

  I loved the first Goal!. I found it to be the best football movie since Victory,and was glad to know that it would be followed by 2 sequels that will take our Mexican Pele to Real Madrid to play Champion's league final and then to the world cup. Sorry to say,or write,and sorry for myself,this one is a step back,a big one.The only part that isn't worse in this one is Alessandro Nivola,the guy knows what he is doing and does it good.For everything else...hmmm.. First-the script is rather clumsy,making our "hero" deal with such problems as meeting his mother that left him when he was a kid,dealing with a jealous girlfriend,an injury,loss of a friend and an agent....and in a mix of all this he does actually play for Real Madrid and meets Becks,Raul,Roberto Carlos....almost like that isn't the most important thing here and the reason why me and lot of other people want to see this in a first place. The chosen director wasn't the happiest choice because the guy has serious problems with pacing and working with actors like he has already showed in his debut,the 2005 remake of Hause of Wax.I saw that a third Goal! will be directed by Michael Apted and that is a good news,at least I hope so. Well it's not all bad,after all there are so few football movies these days(unlike boxing or American football)that I cherish even a flawed one like this and will definitely check out the third Goal! once it's out.

  More