Staff Inquiry: Our Favorite Heroes

Superheroes may be all the rage, but we here at Film Inquiry know that it doesn’t take super strength to be a real hero. It sure helps, but standing up for what’s right is all that really matters.

Stories, no matter the medium, have always been full of heroes, so we’re taking a minute to highlight some of our favorites from film and television. Of mice, men, women, and teenagers, this is our ode to the characters that inspire us to be a little better each day.

Aaron Berry – Mrs. Brisby, The Secret of NIMH (1982)

There’s a lot of qualities that come to mind when thinking of a cinematic hero. The gifted leader, the powerful fighter, the underdog who doesn’t listen to the haters, the puckish rogue with a witty one-liner ready at all times, just to name a few.

Less appreciated are the ones who, against all their fears and worries, manage a great deal of bravery to help their cause. None go more underappreciated than Mrs. Brisby, the adorable field mouse protagonist from Don Bluth’s debut animated feature The Secret of NIMH.

When it comes down to it, it’s quite easy to be brave when you’re one of the archetypes mentioned above, usually strong and masculine. For a widowed mother with no experience outside of raising her children, a simple trip for medicine turning into a fight to save the lives of her family would put a great deal of stress on them.

Mrs. Brisby (voiced to perfection by Elizabeth Hartman, in unfortunately her last role) was shaken with such a discovery, but she was determined to make sure that she and her children saw the next day and from a safe place. This meant going deep into dangerous territories, encountering nature’s worst predators and man’s deadliest machines.

We see the fear across her face every time, along with a brilliantly-animated tic where she swallows hard upon entering somewhere out of her element, but we also see how she doesn’t falter and does whatever she must in such clever ways, like name-dropping her heroic late husband to a group of rats who offer their services.

Mrs. Brisby is the purest dedication to the fact that a hero isn’t always the biggest or strongest, but the one who will go out of their comfort zone and go even further to keep what they could risk losing.

Holly Edwards – Miles Morales, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

“What makes you different is what makes you Spider-Man.”

Though I’ve never been the biggest fan of comic book adaptations, I grew up watching the original Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, where the web-slinger was portrayed by Tobey Maguire. In the early 2000s, this series was received relatively well by general audiences and critics, though as time goes by the gimmicky nature of the films and Maguire’s whiny take on this iconic character fail to hold up.

Since then, we have seen both good (Tom Holland) and not so good (Andrew Garfield) film adaptations and interpretations of the character of Peter Parker, but neither of these compares to Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore.

Miles Morales IS Spiderman. Created in 2011 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, Miles is a charismatic, rebelliously inclined 13-year-old from Brooklyn struggling with the expectations placed on him by his overbearing father.

After being bitten by an Oz-Formula enhanced spider at his uncle’s house and discovering his newfound powers, Miles is thrust into a journey of self-discovery as he is forced to come to grips with the responsibilities of the life ahead of him. Beyond the visually innovative and colourfully intoxicating style of animation, the filmmakers behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the character of Spider-Man.

Unlike previous representations of Spider-Man, Miles embodies the sentiment that absolutely anyone can be a hero and put on that famous mask. He’s simultaneously self-assured and vulnerable, making him a sympathetic and empowering character, and his personality shines through in animation that frequently expresses his inner monologue.

With interdimensional help from various versions of Spider-Man, Miles serves as the heart of his team, learning from their strengths and inspiring those around him into action against crime. The timeless journey from reluctance to acceptance and boy to hero is perfectly translated here in a way that has yet to be replicated on screen.

Michael Frank – Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller from John Hughes’ 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the high schooler I never was but desperately wanted to be. He oozes cool, cares about his best friend, has a girlfriend (a novel idea for a middle school boy), and skips school to enjoy a day off in one of America’s greatest cities: Chicago.

Ferris Bueller has a wicked cool name (that’s the first time I’ve written the word “wicked”) and fakes an illness better than when I was truly sick growing up. His experience is what I thought high school would be and what I’d come to find out was far from my own teenage years. I mean, he drives a Ferrari, and you can’t get much more impressive than driving a Ferrari as a high school senior.

In one day, Bueller goes to the Art Institute of Chicago, Sears Tower, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and Wrigley Field for a Chicago Cubs game, all the famous spots in a famous city. He even joins a parade for Von Steuben Day, singing “Twist and Shout” to a massive crowd. I tried to recreate a similar day in Chicago while I was in college, and it was nearly impossible, further adding to Bueller’s style and groove.

Most important of all, he gets away with it, making him the ultimate high school hero! I looked up to Bueller. He cared about living life to the fullest and having the most fun imaginable.

I thought he could accomplish anything. The sky wasn’t even the limit. Every time I watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I’m reminded of the boyish excitement of trying to get away with something and having a blast in the process. I’ll never not look up to Ferris Bueller. It’s that simple.

Wilson Kwong – Jack Bauer, 24 (2001-2010)

For a television show that hinged on making viewers believe that any character death was possible, it’s somewhat perplexing that a character like Jack Bauer actually existed in 24. Riveting plot twists aside, it was always clear that the primary protagonist of the long-running television show would somehow survive the day. But having said that, the livelihood of the superhero-like Bauer surprisingly still felt threatened.

Despite being able to essentially neutralize any character or threat, and constantly perform death-defying acts that would stretch any human’s mental and physical capacities (and by extension, stretch viewers’ own imagination), at the end of each ‘day’, the possibility of 24 killing off its main character didn’t seem completely off the table. And this was simply because Jack Bauer performed superhero-like feats, but was still depicted as a realistic hero afflicted with the imperfections of any other human being.

Throughout the course of the show, we’ve seen Bauer be an unfaithful husband and neglectful father, in addition to battling addiction and crossing moral boundaries on a regular basis. He’s not perfect by any means, but this is what ultimately makes him a perfect hero, especially for a show like 24.

By being a flawed human being capable of doing extraordinary things, he also felt like a believable character capable of doing ordinary things, including dying. This was certainly not an easy thing to pull off, and the fact that Kiefer Sutherland et al. did what they did was nothing short of impressive. Jack Bauer is the perfect example of an imperfect hero, and that is what makes him so damn perfect.

Liaba Nisar – Grace Howard, Short Term 12 (2013)

Short Term 12’s Grace Howard (Brie Larson) showcases the kind of quiet but firm bravery we seldom see from women on the big screen. Grace works at a care home for at-risk teenagers and her love and loyalty for her work shines in everything she does, every word and action.

The film is ultimately about Grace, and we learn more about her struggles, both past and present, as it continues forward. Grace is dealing with a huge deal of trauma stemming from a troubling childhood, and although this is not known until later, the audience can see it in how she navigates her relationships with her boyfriend, her coworkers, and the kids in her care.

This was the first film where I saw a woman who was troubled, secretive, and scared but did it anyway, reserved and private and messy when she let herself be and a wild amalgamation of so many things.

But the film stays away from the “tortured hero who doesn’t let herself be defined by her past” trope, instead letting us know that it’s okay because that’s what trauma is. It is hard to let go of, hard to not let it permeate every facet of your life.

Grace does this but she is brave and loving and kind anyways. She works through her relationship problems and her trust issues, and through it all, she remains a hero to all the kids at her work, as someone who understands and won’t judge, and is willing to go down fighting to ensure their safety.

Lewis Punton – Han Solo, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

It’s 1977, an intergalactic voyage the likes of which the world had never seen hits the big screen. Star Wars is an all too obvious success, and an entire generation becomes wildly invested in the cosmic journey of a charismatic smuggler destined for greatness. That’s right, we’re talking Han Solo.

As on-screen characters go, Solo might just be the coolest of all them all, with a charm all of his own and a set of scripted counterparts tasked only with enriching his lone wolf persona. Harrison Ford’s portrayal remains effortlessly cool, setting a serious expectation around the idea of an individually hypnotic hero.

Whilst Luke indeed remains the undoubted hero of the original Star Wars trilogy, Solo can’t help but fill the role of generational idol, crafting a secondary hero’s journey all his own, a journey that whilst continuing finds a satisfying resolution in the closing scenes of A New Hope.

Entering the proceedings in an unfazed and resolute encounter, Solo spends the majority of his time in this first installment fighting an obvious impulse to carry out whatever the noblest act may be, wishing to do the right thing yet remaining fixed in the laid back leader role he’s found himself pegged to.

As the story progresses and those Death Star plans become the complete empirical disaster they’ve since proven to be, Solo returns to the fold, giving in completely to his heroic urges, taking the mantle of day saver with an unbelievable amount of ease, proving himself a relatable yet complex hero.

With Luke’s fantastical arc finding itself so rightly at the forefront of the original trilogy, the only room left for secondary development needed to be contained, slightly more collected, and as cool as humanly possible. Did someone call for a Mr. Han Solo?

Tynan Yanaga – Luke Jackson, Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Heroes are so easy to associate with the actors who play them and, in this case, I’m led to Paul Newman. He’s a bit of an enigma. He came out of the method acting mills of New York that gave us the likes of James Dean and Marlon Brando, but aside from the longevity of his career, he’s by far the most accessible of the three. In fact, he gained his lifelong fan base because he was such a charismatic hero.

Luke Jackson was one of his finest achievements, literally a Christ-like martyr on a southern chain gang. His exploits take on mythic stature, bluffing his way through card games and consuming exorbitant amounts of hard-boiled eggs. But he’s also anti-establishment. Just not in the way of the ’60s.

He stands up to authority because it’s his way. They don’t understand him, and he’s not willing to be cowed into the system everyone else seems to accept intuitively. Not only does it lead to a laundry list of escape attempts, it keeps him forever alive because he possesses that thing with feathers, that is, hope.

They can’t quell him with trips baking in the box. They can’t keep him down tarring roads. He turns it into a lark, and his vigor spreads like wildfire. Luke Jackson’s not simply a leader; he is someone you canonize and tell your children about. And to capitalize on the Christ analogy; he is not of this world.

No one understands him. The world is prepared to crush him, and the man willfully bears the brunt of their vindictiveness. Still, what we remember are those twinkling blue eyes. That laid-back laugh. The casual confidence. Because “nothing” is a cool hand. He’s a hero who makes something meaningful out of nothing. It’s magic. It’s hope.

Those are some of our favorite heroes. What are yours?