Like most of you, I love superhero movies and by far my favorite part in superhero movies is the superhero/kid scene. The scene we get that shows the superhero and some kid having a moment. It's the moment of the film that makes us feel a bit more for the hero because we are seeing the hero through a child's eyes. The kids in these five scenes, to me, are all of us when we were younger, when we looked to the heroes as larger than life people who could not only save the day, but inspire us. These scenes work so well not only because it domesticates these larger than life superheroes, but because the kids who watch these movies get to see their favorite superhero interacting with someone their age. And relatability in my humble opinion is the most important thing while story telling. So without boring you further, these are my top five favorite of all time:
5.(post from stilinskings June 22, 2011) "The boy was a huge X-Men fan, and Cyclops was his favorite. The scene originally called for Cyclops to look at the train schedule, but according to Bryan Singer the boy could not stop smiling at James Marsden. Finally, during one shot, Marsden just looked back at him and smiled, much to the boy’s delight. Bryan Singer liked the idea so much, he kept it in the film, and told the actress playing the boy’s mother to react the way she did." Perfect example of how the kid just gets it, even though his mother doesn't.
http://questionableliterarymerit.tumblr.com/post/6810344767/the-boy-was-a-huge-x-men-fan-and-cyclops-was-his
4. Blade: This one might seem like an odd choice, and maybe it is, but I loved the scene in Blade that had Frost trying to convince Blade that people aren't worth saving. That we are all cattle to them. We're their food after all. Frost has a little girl by the neck and threatens to kill her if Blade comes too close. Blade than throws it right back at him. Why should he care about a little girl, after all their all just cattle right? Blade goes for a head shot as Frost throws the girl right into traffic. Blade, with vampire speed, leaps in front of traffic saving the girl just in the nick of time. Showing that under all that anger, is a guy who does care. And that's cool.
*Sorry. Couldn't find a video. You'll have to go watch the whole film. Which is actually a great film, so you'll thank me.
3. Batman Begins: Every kid wants to meet a superhero. And when you finally do you know all your buddies won't believe you. So what does Batman do to rectify that? He gives the kid an x-ray device that can see through walls and probably cost millions of dollars. Pure class act Bats. Pure class act.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ9aIqk4Aaw
2. Iron Man: Tony Stark flies in to save a small village from The Ten Rings. After saving a man from certain death at the hands of a terrorist, the man's son runs over to hug his father. And while the young boys thoughts should only be on his father who he almost lost, he can't help but look at the "thing" that just saved his father. The look the kid gives Iron Man as he walks by is perfect. "Should I thank him, should I be afraid of him, what is he?" It works so well because of the fact we don't know exactly what's on his mind during this scene, all we know is he can't take his eyes off the Iron Man who saved his father.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o2ACEr9NmQ
1. The Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Man saves a kid from falling to his death while trapped in a car thrown off a bridge by the Lizard. For me what makes this scene so special is the fact Peter Parker didn't hesitate in taking off his mask so he could calm the kid down. Peter knew that if he was going to save this kid he needed to calm him down, and one way of doing that quickly was showing him his face. "Hey look, I'm just a normal guy." It not only calmed the kid down, it also reinforces for the audience one of the things that makes Spider-Man one of the most popular superheroes ever, he's just a normal guy. Everything else in the scene just clicked. From Peter letting him hold onto his mask, to the fact Spider-Man made sure he called him by his name. Jack. It all mixed perfectly into a scene that made you forget a superhero was saving a kid, and made us see that a responsible young man from queens was saving a kid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8kssPdg2u8
Thanks for reading. What are your top 5 Superhero/Kid moments.