The joy of growing up in the ’90s and early 2000s means that I got to experience the magic of Spy Kids and Sharkboy and Lavagirl at the right age. So, when I saw the trailer for We Can Be Heroes, which is in the same universe with Sharkboy and Lavagirl (who Taylor Dooley came back to play in the film), I knew it was going to be a movie I would be excited for.
The movie stars Pedro Pascal and Boyd Holbrook as two leaders of a group of superheroes, but their children actually take over as the stars. Marcus Moreno (Pascal) has decided to take a backseat from the superhero game when his wife dies, and he has to take care of his daughter Missy (YaYa Gosselin). But when a threat too big for this world comes, he must join his fellow heroes to take it on, leaving all their kids behind.
Missy takes on the role her father left behind and rallies Guppy (Vivien Lyra Blair) and the other kids of the heroes to rescue their parents and save the world.
Getting to talk with YaYa Gosslin and Vivien Lyra Blair, it was refreshing to see how both of these young actresses knew how important characters like Missy and Guppy are to kids. They’re not just girls in an action movie, but they’re two heroes, and little kids get to look at someone their age taking on the big bads, and it’s inspiring!
“I loved that Missy, you know, in the beginning she’s—well, throughout the entire movie, she is powerless. But I really like that she kind of finds her own power throughout the movie, and that’s teamwork and leadership, and I think that’s so special for everybody to have—for them to be a leader,” Gosselin says, and it is an important part of the film. Exploring these characters and seeing the importance these kids have is important to the younger audience as well as the adults, because we often underestimate just what kids can do.
Robert Rodriguez, who wrote and directed the movie, is back in this fun world that many people my age remember because we grew up with the Spy Kids franchise. This action-kid genre is uniquely Rodriguez, and getting to revisit this world had me longing for a new Spy Kids franchise. (I will gladly let Robert Rodriguez take my idea and cast Pedro Pascal in the original Antonio Banderas role.)
“I would love to play with these because I’ve just created my own superhero team but adult and young,” Rodriguez says about the universe created in We Can Be Heroes, and I honestly hope he does go back to it.
You can watch We Can Be Heroes on Christmas day on Netflix, and I highly suggest you do! It’s family fun!
(image: Netflix)
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