Film Review: We Can Be Heroes影评：《我们能成为英雄》

A group of superhero offspring team up to save their parents and the world in Robert Rodriguez1’s fantasy adventure.

Most parents think it’s a big deal to take their kids to Disney World or Universal Studios for some family bonding. Sorry， but Robert Rodriguez has you all beat. When this prolific filmmaker wants to spend some quality time with his children， he makes a superhero movie with them. The result can either be labeled a sort-of sequel2 or quasi3-spinoff4 of 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Either way， We Can Be Heroes should provide fun holiday family viewing after all the presents have been open.

As usual， the prolific5 Rodriguez has personally taken on most of the film’s responsibilities， serving as writer， producer， director， director of photography and editor. But he’s also outsourced6 many of the creative chores to his children： son Racer Max， who created the characters of Sharkboy and Lavagirl when he was only 7， serves as a producer and has an onscreen cameo; son Rebel composed the film’s score; son Rogue designed the alien spaceship that figures prominently in the extended climax; and daughter Rhiannon came up with many of the female characters’ attributes. Try not to think of that next time you get all verklempt7 hanging your kid’s drawings on the refrigerator.

Oh， and then there’s the film itself， which is fast-paced and funny enough to satisfy even those adults on Christmas morning who haven’t gotten enough sleep. The aspect that should particularly please younger viewers is that the superheroes are not only the adults， dubbed the “Heroics，” but also their children， who save the day when their parents are kidnapped by giant tentacled alien invaders.

Among those captured is Marcus Moreno， played by Pedro Pascal， who with this， The Mandalorian and Wonder Woman 1984 is firmly cementing his status in the fantasy/sci-fi market. He had retired from being a superhero in order to raise his young daughter Missy （YaYa Gosselin） with the help of her loving abuelita8 （Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza）. Marcus has good company when he’s taken prisoner; his fellow captive superheroes include Miracle Guy （Boyd Holbrook）， Tech- No （Christian Slater） and yes， Lavagirl （Taylor Dooley， returning to the role after 15 years） and Sharkboy （JJ Dashnaw， filling in for Taylor Lautner）.

After her father is taken， Missy is transported to a secure underground government facility headed by the officious Ms. Granada （Priyanka Chopra Jones， relishing her role）. There， she’s introduced to a roomful of kids equipped with a wide variety of baroque9 superpowers， including Rewind （Isaiah Russell-Bailey）， who can turn back the clock a few moments; Fast Forward （Akira Akbar）， who can predict the future; A Capella （Lotus Blossom）， who can do amazing things with her singing voice; Noodles （Lyon Daniels）， who can stretch his body in miraculous ways; Facemaker （Andrew Diaz）， who can alter his appearance at will; and even Sharkboy and Lavagirl’s progeny Guppy （Vivien Blair）， who can manipulate water … or something like that.

Frankly， it’s hard to keep track， although parents should be very grateful for the abandonment of the film’s original plan to have one of the kids’ superpowers be the ability to emit toxic farts.

Figuring out that they’re the only ones who can save the day， the kids escape from the facility and eventually engage in combat with the aliens aboard their giant vessel. The extended， elabor-ately staged action sequence10 provides the film’s biggest set piece11 and should inspire no end of copycat12 alien battles among the small fry13 at home.

Much like Rodriguez’s Spy Kids14 films， We Can Be Heroes proves silly， light-hearted fun for its target audience， blissfully free of ponderousness15 and enlivened by antic16 humor. The filmmaker also once again proves he’s a technical whiz17 with a relatively small budget， infusing the proceedings with brightly colored special effects resembling a cross18 between comic books and videogames and making them effective despite their artificiality.

The movie also delivers a wholesome message as the superhero parents look on their similarly gifted children’s alien-battling efforts with pride. In the fun fantasy world of Robert Rodriguez， there’s no better way to bring families together than by saving the world.

在罗伯特·罗德里格兹执导的奇幻冒险片中，一群超级英雄的后代团结一致，共同拯救了自己的父母和整个世界。

在绝大部分家长看来，为了促进家庭关系和睦，带孩子去趟迪士尼乐园或环球影城已经很了不起了。很抱歉，罗伯特·罗德里格兹采取的办法完胜你们所有人。每当这位多产的电影制作人想要跟自己的孩子度过一段美好的亲子时光，他就会与子女携手制作一部超级英雄题材的电影。而他们这次合作的成果既可视为2005年上映的电影《立体小奇兵：鲨鱼男孩和岩浆女孩》的续篇，也可被当作该片的准番外篇。无论怎么看，影片《我们能成为英雄》都会在所有圣诞礼物揭晓后，为全家人奉上一次充满乐趣的假期观影体验。

和往常一样，多产的罗德里格兹这次又是一个人承担了电影的绝大部分制作任务，兼任编剧、制片人、导演、摄影指导和剪辑。不过，他给自己的孩子也分派了许多创造性工作：儿子雷瑟·麦克斯，7岁就创造出鲨鱼男孩和岩浆女孩这两个电影角色，这次担任制片人，并出镜客串了一个小角色;儿子勒贝尔，负责配乐;儿子罗格，构思设计了外星人驾驶的太空飞船，在扩展的高潮部分，这飞船至关重要;女儿里安农，则赋予了片中女性角色许多个人特质。下次激动不已地往冰箱上贴自家宝贝的画作时，尽量不要去想别人家的孩子了。

哦，接下来就谈谈电影本身吧。影片节奏紧凑，趣味十足，甚至都可以取悦那些在圣诞节上午严重缺觉的大人。而让年幼观影者尤为满意的部分则是那些超级英雄不仅仅包括冠名“英雄战队”的成年人，他们的下一代也位列其中。当这些孩子的父母被巨大的多脚外星入侵者劫持后，是他们挺身而出力挽狂澜。

马库斯·莫雷诺是众多被俘超级英雄中的一员，由佩德罗·帕斯卡饰演，帕斯卡凭借该片及电视剧《曼达洛人》、电影《神奇女侠1984》正逐步筑牢自己在奇幻与科幻题材影视圈内的地位。影片中，为抚养幼女蜜西（亚亚·戈瑟琳饰演），马库斯早已卸下了超级英雄的重任，而蜜西亲爱的祖母（奥斯卡提名获得者艾德里安娜·巴拉扎饰演）也一直帮衬着这对父女。被俘期间，马库斯还有一众狱友做伴，包括超级英雄战友奇迹侠（波伊德·霍布鲁克饰演）、工程师（克里斯蒂安·斯莱特饰演），是的，还有岩浆女孩（泰勒·杜雷在15年后再次出演该角色）和鲨鱼男孩（J. J. 达什诺代替泰勒·劳特纳出演）。

蜜西的爸爸被掳走后，为安全起见，蜜西被转移到一座建在地下的政府避难所，该机构由喜爱发号施令的格拉纳达女士（普丽扬卡·乔普拉·琼斯饰演，她很喜欢自己的角色）掌管。在那里，她认识了一屋子拥有各种千奇百怪超能力的孩子们：“倒带”（以赛亚·拉塞尔·贝利饰演）可以让时光倒流片刻，“快进”（阿基拉·阿克巴饰演）可以预知未来，“阿卡贝拉”（洛特斯·布洛瑟姆饰演）能利用自己的歌声做些不可思议的事，“面条”（莱昂·丹尼尔斯饰演）可以神奇地伸缩身体，“面具人”（安德鲁·迪亚斯饰演）可以任意改变容貌，甚至鲨鱼男孩和岩浆女孩的后代“古比鱼”（薇薇安·布莱尔饰演）也在这里，她能够操纵水……或者类似水的物质。