Goal II: Living the Dream

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.

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

What makes football great is that it is a game of opinions. It is obvious from reading some of the postings on here that some people have judged the film on whether or not they like David Beckham. Yes, he does appear in the film, but then so do a lot of the other players. Like it or not David Beckham is one of the most bankable stars in football, so it inevitable. Lets face it anyone from Arsenal (as one of the postings is from) is not going to be a Beckham fan. Anyway, as for the film, I think the makers of the film are so intent on steering the film away from the predictability of most sports films, ie player/team starts off badly, then ends up winning an hour and a half later (well you all know what happens) that it leaves out any real moments of drama or tension. What we have left is a bit of footballers soap opera. Saying that though, I thought it was good entertainment.

Just watched Goal 2 and must say it was fairly predictable in all areas of the movie. Although somewhat entertaining with some good football created by some world class footballers, the story doesn't really turn any interesting corners. When you link it up with Goal, it begins with a talented player who makes good with Newcastle and finally becomes a star with some interesting scenes thrown in. In Goal 2 the obvious occurs, star player goes to a bigger club, gets caught up in the good life, loses his girl, gets injured, works hard and comes back to please everyone. Would I recommend this Movie? Yes and No.... The football is not bad and its interesting to see Beckam and company strut their stuff off and on the field but you would have thought they would have come up with a better storyline rather than churn out the same old stuff.

By the way, you don't see too many movies finish with a "to be continued" Scary stuff!

Not a classic by any means, but at least, in comparison to the first one (Goal!), a more accomplished film.

The game scenes were not as contrived as in the first movie, hardly surprising since some of the clips were straight off real matches.

Becker did not look out of his depth in the company of the likes of Zidane, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham -- as long as he did not have the ball, that is. In a dressing room scene inside the Bernabeu, for instance, Becker's time on the ball in a jolly juggling scene was thankfully limited to one touch.

I guess it's too much to ask for an actor who had real football skills, and I guess that realization kept the cameras more focused on the 'real' football players in game situations. This added more to a sense of realism, as compared to the first movie when Becker was scene doing all sorts of fantastic things -- corny to a trained eye.

This movie's real merit comes from the way it handled the human element: Santi's head getting a tad too big from all the media attention and from being in the company of Real Madrid's galacticos; the lover's tiff with Roz, doubtless echoed in many a professional football player's life; and the surprise of finding he has a half-brother living in Spain along with the painful reunion with a long-lost Mother.

Dramatic without going overboard, and without losing touch with the primary plot that this is a professional footballer's story.