Wolverine, James T. Kirk and Harry Potter are great at cleaning up the bad guys, but that's what we expect of them. Whether it's a slash of the claws, leading the Enterprise into battle or a flick of the wand, these boys always take care of business. But what about those heroes that play it cool and unleash hell when we least expect it? It's the characters that are least likely to save the day that make your jaw hit the ground. With kids headed back to school and the last gasps of the summer movie season well and truly over, we're looking back at the summer that was. Here's to this summer's most unlikely heroes!
Shosanna Dreyfus Is A Nazi Killing Basterd
I've heard of holding grudges, but in Inglourious Basterds Shosanna strikes back at the Nazis with a vengeance. You'd think after seeing her family massacred she'd be traumatized and unable to function, let alone plan the event that would topple the Third Reich. The acme of Inglorious Basterds is by far the most climactic scene of the summer and is primarily due to an unsuspecting girl with a lot of guts.
Michael Cera Is Michael Cera
Michael Cera couldn't even save poor Becca's Goldslick Vodka from smashing to the ground in Superbad; how could he ever be dubbed someone's knight in shining armor? There's no way I was putting Year One on this list so the only other possibility is that I'm talking about Cera playing, well, Michael Cera in Paper Heart. I'm not referring to Cera as a hero in the typical sense of the term. He doesn't swoop down and rescue anyone, but rather salvage Charlene Yi's belief in love. While everyone she talks to is confident in his or her definition of love, Yi remains pessimistic that such an emotion exists. It isn't until she meets Cera that she realizes she is capable of feeling deeply for another person.
The More Sam The Merrier
Moon may not have any action sequences but it still takes you for one heck of a ride. Sam Bell is portrayed as a mere worker meant to keep the harvesting machines running. It's assumed that he'll be satisfied by watering his plants, watching video messages from his so-called wife and hanging out with GERTY, but this Sam has deeper thoughts than Lunar Industries could have ever anticipated. Sam II may be the muscle behind the operation but it's Sam I that discovers what's really going on even as he deteriorates physically and emotionally.
Stu Saves The Day, If Not His tooth
You might have been laughing too hard to notice, but Stu is definitely the hero of The Hangover. Even after a night of debauchery and a day filled with calamities, Stu is able to deduce that the only way the mattress could have been impaled by the statue is by throwing it from the roof because the hotel windows don't open. Therefore, they must have locked their marriage bound buddy on the roof! Is that genius, or what? If it weren't for Stu's logic poor Doug would be burnt to a crisp.
Dug Has Just Met You And He Loves You
What's more unlikely than a talking dog? A heroic talking dog of course! Not only is Dug (Bob Peterson) from Up a loveable pooch but he's valiant as well. Dug defies his evil master and his pack to do what's right and help rescue Kevin. Dug may not be the brightest dog, but he's loyal, loveable and is eager to be Carl's trusty sidekick.
What's A Wikus?
An obvious choice for this honor is District 9's Wikus Van De Merwe. The guy starts out as a devoted member of the MNU and is more than glad to keep the prawns in order regardless of whether or not doing so is ethical. Even after being infected by the alien substance Wikus is brutal and heartless sacrificing Christopher Johnson in an effort to save himself. It isn't until the last moment that Wikus has a change of heart and saves the day and possibly even the prawn race.
Mini-Christopher Johnson Knows His Alien Electronics
Wikus isn't the only hero of District 9. We never even learn his name, but he winds up being the one to give Wikus a fighting chance subsequently getting his father to the mother ship. You thought I was going to say Christopher Johnson, didn't you? Yes, Christopher is the one responsible for developing the technology to activate the ship in the first place, but if it weren't for his son he never would have been able to put it to use anyway. Who even knew the little prawn was so tech savvy?
George Kirk Passes Down The Heroism Gene
Chris Pine may be front and center as James T. Kirk in the majority of Star Trek, but we knew what a hero Captain Kirk was going in. What surprised almost everyone is that it's his father who's the real hero of the film, and he makes his impact in only ten minutes. George Kirk’s sacrifice is what makes Star Trek possible and it resonates throughout the story. If he hadn’t sacrificed himself by remaining aboard the Kelvin to keep Nero from attacking the ship carrying his pregnant wife, James Tiberius Kirk would never have been born.
