Everyone's Hero

My wife and I took our 3-year-old to see it and all three of us enjoyed it very much. The animation was incredible...the story was very great and the awesome message that the movie gives is applicable in not only children's lives but it's something that we (adults) could adopt as our own "motto." I had no idea that Chris Reeve directed this movie until the end credits. I see now that he died while working on it. His wife and son did voices in it too. It certainly was refreshing to see a story like this after being bombarded by all these animated animal movies that seem to be a dime-a-dozen lately. I think we need more family shows of this caliber. I can't wait to see it again.

Everyone's Hero is charming kiddie fare. I didn't hate it but the story sorta screamed straight to video. However, for a film about a talking bat and baseball, I think I was a little more entertained then I expected to be.I like others thought the premise was a little ridiculous, but it gives the feeling of a Saturday morning cartoon where inanimate objects talk for no reason. Fair enough. The premise was still box office poison. Still, the film has some characters that aren't gratingly annoying, and of course the exaggerated one dimensional villains that you would expect. Aside from the lukewarm story, I was a little disturbed by some of the sequences involving young yankee irving in situations that are quite dangerous, aside from the realistic overall film. There is a looney tunes-esquire train segment where characters are jumping from train to train at full speed, and the end where yankee seems to acquire superpowers. Also, the very idea that he travels across half the country and it's kind of downplayed, it just doesn't mix well with the "you can do anything" theme of the film. It suggests to young children that they can literally do anything. It just doesn't seem like the best message to convey. Other than that, it's cute and not terribly original. The animation reveals obviously that this film wasn't done on an 100 million dollar budget, I think what they came out with matches the tone of the film. I'd recommend it to anyone with young children who enjoy baseball or for anyone who needs just a fun little film to pop in the DVD player to distract the kids for a little while.

With a co-directing credit for Christopher Reeve (yes that Christopher Reeve), a great subject matter (not the biggest baseball fan but it's fun to see film and television revolving around it every now and again and a voice cast that includes Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin and Forrest Whittaker, 'Everyone's Hero' promised a lot.

Unfortunately, this promise is not fully lived up. 'Everyone's Hero' is not awful, it is a little bit better than has been said but the criticisms against it are to me not hard to agree with, and has elements that make it worth a one-time watch, but not enough to be worth fully getting on base for. It could have been much better, the cast deserved better and while there are things that Reeve has done that were worthy of him and worth remembering him for (like his iconic portrayal of Superman) his posthumous co-directing credit for 'Everyone's Hero' is not one of them sadly.

'Everyone's Hero' is watchable, despite major short-comings. It is a very well intentioned film, not giving up in the face of adversity (an everyday struggle to overcome) is not a new idea but is a very easy to relate with one for particularly anybody who has been there like me. The positive messaging is not always subtle to put it lightly, but they were very much appreciated and are important values for anybody regardless of gender and age and regardless of how many times they have been dealt with in media.

Some of 'Everyone's Hero' is funny and touching in equal measure, the baseball setting is beautifully realised and fun to watch. There are some interesting ideas and some colourfully portrayed characters, especially the relatable lead characters and a truly enjoyably vile villain. The animation is bright and colourful with some nice attention to detail, the soundtrack is dynamic and uplifting and the voice acting is enthusiastic and fitting, especially the barn-storming turn of Macy who truly relishes the film's juiciest character. The target audience is clear and the film does its best to attract a wider audience, including those not big on animation but are die-hard fans of baseball.

For all its good things and good intentions, 'Everyone's Hero' to me was heavily flawed. The story does tend too often to be too formulaic and lacking in spark to stop blandness from creeping in, it too is rather too pat and nice for any conflict to be convincing and there are elements that are under-explored or not made clear enough, coming over as strange instead. The twist agreed is too ridiculous to be taken seriously, one of the most unbelievable twists personally seen in a film seen recently.

Despite some moments, there are too many cheap and predictable gags that one can see coming from miles away. Complete with references that really don't hold up well, and would go over the heads of even much older audiences who lived during the period the film is set or close to it. Even they are likely to be unfamiliar with who and what some of the jokes are referencing or find them too mean-spirited to be clever and funny (that Eleanor Roosevelt joke was a good example).

Although the clear target audience and attempts at wide audience appeal are to be applauded, it's almost as if the film tried too hard to cater to fans of old-time baseball that are the most likely to completely get the portrayal of the sport at that time and some of the jokes and even they may question the strange choices the film makes and the lack of accuracy. While most of the animation is good, some of the character designs are crude, stiff and lack focus and generally it's all very striking and competent but not always imaginative.

On the whole, watchable and laudable for its good intentions but uneven lacklustre. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Far from a masterpiece, but boy did I love this film. Liked it when I was 8 when it came out, and I still like it 13 years later at 21! There's just something about it taking place in the 1930s and all about the ballgame that I love. Sure it's goofy and unrealistic but it's a kids film, and it does touch on some bigger topics.

All I can say: This movie is a guilty pleasure. I think it's way better than people give it credit for and I really wish I hadn't lost the DVD for this movie..... :(

"I lost Interest at the talking baseball."? "It wasn't realistic"? If you went to an animated KID's movie expecting "Citezen Kane" You're loony.

I liked this movie, it was quite fun. Not everybody likes every film, but some of the reasoning here escapes me. Babe Ruth stuff was cool, the nod to the negro leagues was neat. The characters were interesting. I watched it on pay-per-view with about 7 kids who stayed up late to watch it, everyone had a good time. It seems that some people go to the movies mad at the world, and it's the film's fault they have a bad time.