A Second Chance Rivals is the sequel to A Second Chance, set 10 years into the future. However, the film can also be watched without seeing the previous one.
Set 10 years after the events of A Second Chance, the now grown-up Maddy Cornell has to go on a sabbatical following her injury during her Olympics qualifiers. During her downtime, she decides to coach girls at the local gymnasium for the state championships. However, the girls are rough in their skills and require a lot of skill to stand any chance at beating their rivals.
The film has a run time of just a few minutes over an hour and a half. It is written and directed by Clay Glen, and is an Australian feature film. The target audience for the film is pre-teen girls around the age of 12 to 14. It stars Emily Morris, Nina Peirce, and Sally Pearson among other cast members.
Netflix describes it as:
Crushed when she doesn’t qualify for the Olympics, a now-grown Maddy Cornell finds new purpose coaching young Gymnasts Going against a rival team.
Via Netflix
– A Second Chance Rivals Review does not contain any spoilers –
What’s Good and What’s Not
What’s Good
The film is largely based on gymnastics but does a good job at keeping things less technical. It also tries to address certain topics of importance, especially among pre-teen girls. The film includes and addresses bullying, cyberhate, eating disorders, body image, and insecurities, and death. Although, even while approaching these topics, it is kept in mind that the target audience is, of course, young girls. So, things are kept simple and light but drawn out enough to leave an, if slight, impact.
Also Read: Netflix’s Feels Like Ishq Review: 6 Episodes of Some Good Ol’ Love
What We Didn’t
I’ve seen my fair share of children’s movies, and although they’re no Damian Chazelle, I’ve ended up enjoying a lot of them. To name a few: Feel The Beat starring Sofia Carson, Adventures in Babysitting starring Sabrina Carpenter, or even Zapped starring Zendaya. Now we know, all of these are Disney productions, and that means they have the big bucks.
You can tell right off the bat that this was a low-budget production. The editing is sloppy, the acting is less than average and the director likes to really spell out things for us. However, considering the target audience, these are things no pre-teen would nitpick about.
Sure, the movie is predictable. But tell me which sports films aren’t. Even the ones made for adults follow the same linear trajectory most of the time, and this one is something meant for only young teens to watch. So really, this isn’t a bad watch, it’s just a little too boring for an adult to actually enjoy.
The gymnastic sequences were actually pretty great. In fact, the three main girls (Tess, Tayla, and Alkira) are all actual gymnasts themselves. It’s definitely not a bad watch for children between the age bracket of 7 to 13.
Also Read: Netflix’s The Last Letter From Your Lover Review: Epistolary and An Affair To Remember
Final Verdict: A Second Chance Rivals
Not having seen the original, I find A Second Chance Rivals a little difficult to judge. While I don’t want to be overly critical of a children’s film that is ultimately entertaining, the quality of production is not the best. Major flaws can be found within the acting, the script, and most of all the lighting and cinematography. But like I said, young children would never really notice unless they were a Kubrick prodigy.
If you are under 13, go ahead and watch it, but if you’re any older, maybe browse a little more…
A Second Chance Rivals is now streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: Amazon Prime’s Sarpatta Parambarai Review: Pa. Ranjith’s Sports Drama Is An Absolute Gem