Best Movie Heroes

The next entry into the list-aganza being done by me and Clint at Guy with a Movie Blog (check out his list here).

A best heroes list is kinda tough, for me. It's well trod ground, heroes and villains. But, it's also an essential part of the fabric of cinema and of storytelling in general. There don't have to be heroes and villains in a story, but the truth is that the majority of stories do indeed have a hero and a villain in some respect. However, just being the protagonist of a story doesn't make you a hero. Heroes and Villains are not the same as Protagonists and Antagonists. I think the character needs to do heroic things within that story. And even the term "heroic things" means something different based on the story and the hero. So......

Anyway, there are some standard choices on my list, but hopefully some surprises as well.

10. Sister Helen Prejean - Dead Man Walking

The most unconventional choice on my list is this first one. I consider Sister Helen Prejean (played by Susan Sarandon) to be one of movie's great heroes because she does the very heroic thing of daring to love a terrible person unconditionally. Sean Penn's character was a murderer and rapist and eventually Sister Helen gets him to admit to and ask forgiveness for his sins. People look at Sister Helen like she's an alien when she goes to counsel this man. How could she do such a thing? Doesn't she know what he did? Yes, but she also knows that we all deserve love, no matter who we are or what we've done. And that's about as heroic a thing as you can stand for or do for another person. Not to save their life, but maybe to save their soul.

9. Indiana Jones

The very first character that popped into my head when Clint suggested a top 10 heroes list was Indiana Jones. As I look at it, Jones is indeed a hero, saving the kid, getting the girl, beating the Nazis, all that good stuff. He's got his weakness, snakes, just like the superheroes do. But he's also Dr. Indiana Jones. He's a smart guy. He's funny. He's all the stuff Harrison Ford's Han Solo was, except a little less self centered and more altruistic in his motivations (it's why Jones is the choice here, not Han Solo). He's pretty much the archetypal hero. He's gotta be on here.

8. William Wallace - Braveheart

Scottish Jesus had to be on the list, for me. He showed up with his great "They can take our lives but they'll never take our freedom!" speech in my top speeches list, but he also physically leads his men into battle. He backs up his words with his actions. He bleeds for his men just like they bleed for him. He inspires, he leads, he fights the bad guys, and eventually he sacrifices himself for the good of his country. Maybe sacrificing himself isn't the best role model for kids (oh, also all the killing), but it's still heroic in this context of doing anything and everything to secure the rights of freedom for his people.

7. Robin Hood

Okay, maybe it's not Indiana Jones but actually Robin Hood that is the archetypal hero. He robs from the rich to give to the poor. He shoots a badass bow and arrow. He has a sense of humor. He doesn't care about authority and openly opposes the ruling royal. In The Adventures of Robin Hood, the best Robin Hood movie by many miles, he has this great exchange as he bursts into the castle dining room full of offended nobles:

Noble: "You speak treason!"

Robin: "Fluently"

He just doesn't give a fuck, and he leads a revolt against an authoritarian abusing his power. He gets the girl, he beats the bad guy. He does all of the classic hero stuff as heroically as it can be done.

6. Ofelia - Pan's Labyrinth

The hero of her very own fairy tale, as dark as it is, Ofelia goes on two classic journeys at the same time: the hero's journey, and the coming-of-age journey. She stands up to the evil Captain Vidal. She doesn't get scared away from The Faun, or the dark adventures he sends her on. She escapes from The Pale Man, she defeats the Frog, she saves her infant brother. And she embraces her growing power as she is on the cusp of womanhood. Ofelia has the heart of the hero, and she ascends to her kingdom. As fairy tales go, few have been more heroic.

5. Belle and The Beast - Beauty and the Beast

At first I was going to put The Beast on the list, as he saves Belle from the wolves, he defeats Gaston, and he goes on the internal journey of growing into his kindness and love. But then I thought "well, Belle is really the hero. She sacrifices for her father. She stands up to The Beast's anger and imprisonment. She stands up to Gaston, and eventually saves The Beast from his own internal imprisonment in the beastly mask he's been given to live beneath." So I went back and forth for a bit as to who should be put on the list before realizing that the only option was to put both.

4. Wall-E and EVE

So now that I broke the rules and included two heroes in one entry...

Wall-E just wants love. He just wants companionship. He's never actually trying to be a hero, which is what makes him one. He takes care of EVE when she is shut down, he brings her everywhere with him and makes sure she's protected. And when EVE begins to care about him, he constantly helps her with her "directive". She eventually saves him too, as he'd taught her to open a part of herself she didn't even know was there. The scene where she rebuilds him at the end of the movie gives me chills to think about and tears welling up in my eyes when I watch it. They save the day for humanity, but they really save each other and find the love they both needed.

3. Luke Skywalker - Star Wars

"I'm here to rescue you!"

Has there ever been a more standard heroic line than Luke's iconic intro to Leia? Luke doesn't save the day alone, he has plenty of help, but he's the classic save-the-princess hero. Like Legend of Zelda's Link in the video game world, Luke might not be the most interesting character in the series. He might not be the lovable rogue that gets the girl. But he's the one who goes on the heroes journey. He fights the bad guys. He might be frightened, he might be haunted, he might be underprepared, but he does it anyway. And that's what puts him so high on this heroic list.

2. Wonder Woman

It was hard to pick between Batman and Superman to represent the heroic acts and characters from the world of superheroes. Really, this whole list could've been populated by Spiderman, Captain America, Wolverine or any number of other superheroes. But I knew it had to come down to the most iconic superhero (Superman) or my favorite superhero (Batman). And then I saw Wonder Woman, and the choice was made so much easier. The cinematic Wonder Woman isn't as complex as Batman, and she's not as overpoweringly superpowered as the boy scout that is Superman (being defeatable only by the most contrived of circumstances has always made Superman's heroic acts ring hollow to me, he's not really risking anything). But Diana has no tolerance for intolerance, she has no stomach for fear. She loves and loses loved ones. She fights the bad guy and saves the day. And she will gladly go into "No Man's Land" to take the fight to the villains, because she isn't a man. She's a hero.

1. Harry Potter

The reluctant hero. Harry was thrust into the role of hero due to the choices of others coming up against his own inner principals and values. He chose to be a hero because others chose to be villains, and somebody has to stand up to the bullies and villains of the world. But Harry also never did it alone, he surrounded himself with friends, loyal friends, real friends. It didn't hurt that Hermione was the most brilliant witch of her generation either, Harry definitely benefitted from that. He also benefitted from always having his best friend Ron next to him. Ron, who gave Harry a sense of belonging in the world, his first sense of family and his first real friend. Harry wasn't alone, but he was the one with the most courage, the deepest convictions, the most deep seated wounds caused by being bullied. He was the conscience of the group. And he was the reason they did the heroic things that they did and saved the world.