MY HERO ACADEMIA: TWO HEROES

MY HERO ACADEMIA: TWO HEROES is an animated superhero movie from Japan based on a Japanese TV series and comic book. The movie, which takes place after the first season of the TV series, is about a group of teenagers who attend a high school for superheroes in training. The teenagers must help the world’s most popular superhero foil a plot by some supervillains to steal a secret new device on a man-made island city run by scientists who create gadgets and devices to help professional superheroes defeat supervillains.

As a title card in a flashback later explains, the movie takes place in a time when 80% of the people on Earth have developed special powers, or Quirks, both strong and light. However, some people use their Quirk to do evil. Happily, these supervillains are opposed by professional superheroes, who go to school to earn a superhero license.

TWO HEROES mostly takes place at I-Island, a man-made floating island city run by scientists who study Quirks and develop devices and gadgets to help professional superheroes do their jobs. The island is protected by a super fancy security system designed to keep out supervillains. The world’s greatest superhero, All Might, has invited his protégé, Izuku Midoriya, or “Deku,” to attend a special party for the opening of a big expo of superhero devices and gadgets on the island. All Might’s special Quirk is called the One for All. He is the eighth in a line of superheroes who, before they get too old, must transfer the One for All powers to a worthy successor. All Might has transferred the All for One powers to Deku, who’s learning to use those powers so he can become a professional superhero like his mentor and idol. All Might still has remnants of the One for All powers, but he’s losing those powers because of a previous injury and old age.

After arriving on the massive floating island, Deku finds out that all his classmates have also traveled to the expo, because their families are either rich or their parents are themselves superheroes. He also meets Melissa, a beautiful American girl, and her father. Melissa’s father, Dave, a brilliant inventor, turns out to be All Might’s former, equally famous American sidekick who helped All Might fight evil supervillains in the United States and also became famous. Deku and All Might learn that Dave has invented a new device that will help All Might enhance greatly his superpowers so that he can remain the world’s most beloved and most powerful superhero.

However, just as the grand opening party for the new expo begins, a group of supervillains take over the island’s security system and incapacitate the superheroes at the party, including All Might. They want to force Dave to hand over the new power-enhancing device he’s made for All Might.

Meanwhile, Melissa, Deku and Deku’s classmates, including two boys who are lost in the hotel tower, haven’t gotten to the party in the hotel ballroom yet. They learn what’s happened, however. Led by Deku, Melissa and Deku’s classmates decide to help All Might. Instead of fighting the supervillains directly, they will sneak into the top floor of the hotel and take back control of the security system. Of course, their plan is easier said than done. The rest of the movie is given over to a lot of battles, including a couple battles with the security system’s little robot guards.

MY HERO ACADEMIA: TWO HEROES is an exciting, heartwarming story that highlights the qualities that make a hero – discipline, courage, a willingness to help anyone in need, and giving it everything you have inside of you. There is also a message that the means don’t justify the ends when the villain tells a flawed character, “No matter what you had planned, you dirtied your hands with evil.” Also, the superheroes send a strong message about the importance of sacrificing yourself for others. Finally, All Might always does things with a huge smile.

However, the plot in TWO HEROES is a little convoluted, and the battles are sometimes filmed in a confusing way. So, it’s not always easy trying to be fully engaged with the story. Also, although TWO HEROES has some strong moral elements, the movie implies a humanist, evolutionary reason behind the appearance of superpowers in the human race. At one point, one superhero cries out in frustration that her failure in performing a task means that she’s failed “Creation.” Also, Deku really wants to help other people, but he also wants personal fame and glory. MY HERO ACADEMIA: TWO HEROES also contains some obscenities and some comments about pretty girls by a couple of the male teenage superheroes. In fact, one of the boys gets a timid boy to do something by telling him that he’ll become popular with girls if he does it. The boy even comically mentions the possibility of having a “harem.” Also, whenever the boys first meet Melissa, they stand in awe at her beauty in a comical way. Deku becomes tongue-tied when he first meets her, but they soon becomes good friends in a more normal way, though it’s clear that Deku and Melissa could become more romantic later. All in all, therefore, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children for TWO HEROES.