We Can Be Heroes (2020 Film) Review

Robert Rodriguez returns to his roots with his first family feature in nearly ten years, "We Can Be Heroes."

When the Earth's leading superhero team, The Heroics, is captured by alien invaders, it's up to the children of those superheroes to rescue their parents and save the world from certain destruction.

"We Can Be Heroes" sports an ensemble cast, one which includes Priyanka Chopra, Pedro Pascal, YaYa Gosselin, Boyd Holbrook, Sung Kang, Taylor Dooley, and Christen Slater. Other cast members include Haley Reinhart, Andy Walken, Brently Heilbron, Nathan Blair, Vivien Lyra Blair, Adriana Barraza, and Christopher MacDonald.

Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids," "Alita: Battle Angel") wrote and directed "We Can Be Heroes" while Ben Ormand produced the film. Netflix distributed “We Can Be Heroes.”

Overall Thoughts

If you were a child of the late-90s/early-00s, chances are you grew up watching the films of Robert Rodriguez. His family films, that is. Whether that's the "Spy Kids" franchise, "Shorts" and, yes, "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl," you're likely familiar with Rodriguez's penchant of making imaginative small-scale films that possess distinct, if limited, visual designs. His hands-on DIY approach to filmmaking is an inspiration to aspiring filmmakers like myself, yet his latest work has seen him move on to productions that have grander scopes and expansive designs. This was the case with his "Alita: Battle Angel" from last year and even his recent work on the latest season of "The Mandalorian," in which he directed "Chapter 14: The Tragedy." So, after working at a more elevated scale, it's fascinating to see Rodriguez return to his roots with his first family film in almost a decade.

First and foremost, if you’re watching "We Can Be Heroes" to see Pedro Pascal kick butt sans his Beskar armor or to see Sharkboy and Lavagirl back in action once more, temper those expectations. Their role is to be the children's cheer squad as opposed to players in the action themselves, which works as this isn't their story. This film belongs to the child characters who learn to become heroes. Each of them bring their own energy to the story, even though some characters are admittedly more entertaining than others. YaYa Gosselin and Vivien Lyra Blair are the MVPs among the cast of child actors. As Missy Moreno, the daughter of Pascal’s Marcus Moreno, Gosselin is able to convey attitudes of someone beyond her years while Blair’s Guppy, the daughter of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, is a delight simply by meshing the innocence of a child with the attitudes that a child with such unusual parents would have.

The running theme between the young characters in “We Can Be Heroes” of expectation pertains to multiple facets of the film. Not just to the up-and-coming heroes in the story, but also within to the director himself, Robert Rodriguez. After directing “Alita: Battle Angel” and “The Tragedy” episode in “The Mandalorian,” one would expect him to continue directing along that same level. As he demonstrated in those previous efforts of his, Rodriguez brought his “less is more” approach to those franchise projects while also adding to them the scale and scope that they required. Going back to making these smaller family films, one believes that his experience from those previous projects would change and, in some ways, conflict with this other method of moviemaking that he has done. Instead, Rodriguez shows such versatility between projects. He doesn't direct his projects one specific way. He adapts his approach based on the needs of the production.

While the adult cast are underutilized, the decision suits "We Can Be Heroes" as it's about the passing of the torch to the next generation. In the same way that Rodriguez gave children of my generation the feeling of pure wish fulfillment with films such as "Spy Kids" and the like, he does so again for the children of today, telling new stories that those children can relate to. With an admirable and passionate effort such as this, one can hope that Rodriguez will continue to do that for this generation of youth.

Rating: ★★★½

Conclusion

This has been my review of "We Can Be Heroes." Have you seen the film? If you have, share your thoughts in the comments below. I'm Dallin, your resident film fanatic, and I'll return soon with another review. Thank you for reading.