There are plenty of DCOMs that only have nostalgia going for them, but "Brink!," in my opinion, is a legitimately good movie in its own right and holds up incredibly well.
The central conflict is well explored and perfectly reinforces the theme of "you are defined by the company you keep and how well you keep it," Val is a great villain and a perfect foil for Brink, and am I the only one who's impressed by how well this movie tells its story visually?
Take the worm-sandwich prank. The entire thing takes place over the course of two scenes, both of which unfold in oners. The classroom scene starts on the worm tank, does a crane and pan move to establish the space and how boring the class is, then cranes back down to end right back on the worm tank when Brink begins explaining his plan. Then for the prank itself, it's basically a mini "Ocean's Eleven," done in a constantly moving oner with solid blocking.
It's no "Children of Men," but this movie's cinematography shouldn't be dismissed just because it aired on Disney Channel.
My praise for the visuals also extends to the skating scenes, which are dynamic, well-paced, exciting, and do what all good action sequences should do: they move the story and characters forward.
My favorite element of the movie, though, has to be the father/son relationship. It feels infuriatingly honest, especially for a DCOM, and frankly it's refreshing to see a previously-disapproving parent just...tell their child they want to support them now? Like, how many other movies have you seen where the kid is at the championship, thinking they're on their own, and then sees the mentor/father figure in the crowd, and that gives them the motivation to win the day? Brink! Doesn't do that, and I think it's all the better for it.
So yeah. This is probably the most digital ink that's ever been spilt over Brink!, but I was just so delightfully surprised by how much I still enjoyed this movie as an adult that I just had to share.