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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
When we first got the announcement of Netflix’s newest superhero film, We Can Be Heroes, it was reported that Robert Rodriguez’s famed superpowered duo Sharkboy and Lavagirl would be returning to the director’s unique universe. Earlier this month, we’ve seen Rodriguez’s work on Disney+‘s The Mandalorian “Chapter 14: The Tragedy,” which was structured as simple as it could be. If you aren’t too familiar with his previous projects, you’re in luck. In this non-spoiler review, we shall mention some of them, along with how they relate to this film.
First, let’s return to 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, the popular children’s film about a boy who dreamt up a world full of possibilities. In WCBH, Taylor Dooley suits up once again in her role as Lavagirl. Her speaking lines are reduced, although they are few more than her partner, Sharkboy’s. Taylor Lautner doesn’t reprise his role as the blue hero, but the actor who replaces him — J.J. Dashnaw — has no lines whatsoever in this current movie, and Sharkboy leaves his mask on throughout the story. This decision paves the way for Lautner to appear in future projects, in the likelihood that they do come to fruition. “Max” (originally played by Cayden Boyd in Sharkboy and Lavagirl) returns in this spiritual successor, now going by the name Marcus Moreno and played by Pedro Pascal. Although he remains a leader of the heroes, it’s unclear as to whether he’s retained his “daydreamer” powers.
The original trio of heroes is joined by others: Miracle Guy (Boyd Holbrook), Tech-No (Christian Slater), Blinding Fast (Sung Kang), Ms. Vox (Haley Reinhart), Crushing Low (Brently Heilbron), and more. The heroes’ mentor is Moreno’s mother, “Abuelita” (Adriana Barraza), originally played by Kristin Davis in Sharkboy and Lavagirl; and their Nick Fury-ish director of their organization is Ms. Granada (Priyanka Chopra).
UPDATE: The information about Marcus and his mother being revealed as Max and his mother from the Sharkboy and Lavagirl movie was originally posted and discovered on Wikipedia but has since then been edited out of the article page.
We Can Be Heroes follows a group of children embarking on a mission to rescue their superhero parents from an armada of alien entities. This plot detail of children saving their parents from evil is similar to those of Rodriguez’s early-2000s films, Spy Kids and its sequel Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. The children are led by Moreno’s daughter Missy (YaYa Gosselin). Oddly enough, the other youngsters have already established their hero names: Ojo (Hala Finley), Noodles (Lyon Daniels), Wild Card (Nathan Blair), Facemaker (Andrew Diaz), Rewind (Isaiah Russell-Bailey), and Fast Forward (Akira Akbar) to name some. As shown in the trailer, Sharkboy and Lavagirl have an adorable little girl named Guppy (Vivien Blair).
A couple of issues about this team-up present themselves. There is a member of the group named Wheels (Andy Walken), who is in a wheelchair…and I guess he’s just cool with this being his name. He has a good representation of handicapped persons, but there is one scene that could have been written better so as to make him come off as more heroic than how it actually turned out in the film. Would that even be a good thing? Take Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over‘s Grandfather character, for example. Then again, this is a children’s movie, so anything goes…but this can be conflicting in itself.
The other issue in the team of superpowered children is a character named Slo-Mo (Dylan Henry Lau), the son of Sung Kang’s speedster character. He doesn’t speak much and there is a reason behind this, but his mere inclusion in the story adds to the list of silent Asian heroes that we’ve seen earlier this year with The Umbrella Academy and The Boys through their respective characters Ben Hargreeves and Kimiko Miyashiro. Reducing the lines of Asian characters places them into a certain trope, which needs to be broken completely. Asian representation is just as important as the representations of other minorities and groups in any form of media.
The movie’s crucial plot aspects — such as their short and unrealistic race against time — along with its twist reveal are also reminiscent of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), Marvel’s The Avengers films, Life is Strange, as well as Rodriguez’s past works (other than those noted above) such as The Faculty, Spy Kids 3, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, and Sharkboy and Lavagirl. It seems the director is recycling these elements, which is okay if we get to see it every now and again, but instead they’re very prominent throughout the movie. I’m not really mad about it; I’m just confused. Perhaps, it could be argued that this movie is a celebration of the filmmaker’s career over the past few decades.
In addition to this, Christopher McDonald reprises his Spy Kids 2 role as the President of the United States, which begs us to wonder if Chopra’s character Granada summons literally “all” the heroes than just the parents of the children…because if Rodriguez’s aim is for Spy Kids & Sharkboy and Lavagirl to have a shared universe, then it would be weird to not see some spy characters in the movie since we only see superpowers in place of gadgets. This is even confirmed by the opening line of the film.
The overall lesson to gain from the movie can be taken as a form of response to our current political climate: children are the future leaders of the world. As Marcus Moreno and his mother say, “The next generation is always more powerful, more evolved.” We Can Be Heroes has some issues here and there, but it’s up to the viewer to disregard those and appreciate Rodriguez’s service to the fans. (Where is Machete Kills Again and Machete Kills Again…In Space, Robert??) These flaws don’t preclude us from the moral to be had in all of this: “[A] good leader leads by example.” If this movie is a set-up for a potential crossover between Rodriguez’s Spy films and Heroes films, then so be it. You have my full support, Mr. Rodriguez!
What are your thoughts? Is Rodriguez a genius? Have you seen this movie yet? Let us know! For more action, superhero, and Robert Rodriguez-related news and reviews follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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