Heartwarming / Bush Whacked

• During the fire scene, Max’s first instinct upon seeing the blaze (aside from panicking of course), is to make sure the man who lived in that house is alright.

• Early on in the film, Max, desperate to avoid the authorities, steals a car from a lady running into a nearby store, presumably to try and flee the country. Seconds before he can drive it off into the sunset, he hears the woman’s eight year old son in the back seat speak up. One Jump Cut later, said kid is sitting, still in his booster seat on the sidewalk while Max takes off with the car, but it’s very important to note that while this is more hilarious than heartwarming, Max makes no attempt to threaten or harm the child during his car theft.

• The scout troop in general. They’re willing to help Max out even when he very clearly hasn’t a clue what he’s doing while posing as their scout leader.
  • Later, when the truth comes out? They’re even more supportive of him.

• After being captured by Agent Palmer, who’s revealed to be a Dirty Cop in league with the man Max supposedly killed , Max is forced to the edge of a cliff to be shot. He’s told by Bragdon that he was picked because “nobody gives a damn about him”. Cue the Big Damn Heroes from the entire scout troop.
  Gordy: Well you’re wrong! (Pulls back a makeshift slingshot filled with rocks with the other kids, aiming for Bragdon .) We give a damn! FIRE!
  
  • It’s crucial to note that the kids, while having helped apprehend Max in the first place, immediately stepped in to help him once they overheard what Bragdon and Agent Palmer were saying.

• At one point, the gang are forced to leap off a cliff into a river. Fishman is the last one to do so, and naturally has a bit of hesitation, even when Bragdon and Palmer are gaining on him. What finally motivates him to take the leap is something Max taught him earlier, and he finally does it while yelling “SUPERSTUD!”.

• When the gang are swept down a raging river towards a waterfall, Max makes a point of getting every last kid in the troop to form a chain with him so they don’t get separated again, all the while frantically trying to snag something attached to solid ground and get them out of there. It’s a stark contrast to when he first met them and only saw them as annoying brats.

• While sheltering together from the pouring rain in a cave, the scout troop plans aloud what they’d like to do to Palmer and Bragdon as revenge. Max steps in, arguing that taking them on is too dangerous.

• Gordy’s near-heroic sacrifice at the end. This kid was willing to almost take a bullet for his mother and a random stranger who he knew for maybe three days .
  • To add to this, the reactions of Gordy’s mother and Max immediately afterward. When Max notices Bragdon making a run for it , he goes full on Papa Bear and proceeds to tackle him down the steps. Three days ago, he wanted nothing to do with any of those kids, but in that moment? His Berserk Button was pressed.

• Right after rescuing Gordy from plummeting down a steep mountainside, the first thing Max says to him is “I’ve gotcha, kid! I gotcha!”