Two words: Modern Classic.
This movie was literally designed to be a classic in its viewer experience and feel. The musician in me is bursting at the seams at how rich this movie with its musical score. It has this fantastic rhythm that catches and snatches attention to nearly every turning point and climatic moment in this film. The producers of this movie clearly took notes from the animations of beloved franchises like Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, and then took a stroll along the Hollywood strip and through theaters worldwide in its own brilliant glory.
The first Incredibles was a smash hit in my eyes, I’m not even going to get into whether or not it was critically acclaimed by Rotten Tomatoes. Incredibles 2 did what movies with sequels usually squander; a second chance to prove to viewers what went right the first time around. The family friendliness both within and without this film fill up the space as it relates to ethics and morality, and then the addition of superheroes and superpowers turn this formula inside out. Sure, there are lessons to be learned in this movie, but we learn them through how we see a superhero family, be a family.
However, here is something I’ve consistently noticed on my travels that I need to mention concerning that line of thought:
The majority of this film much like the last shows us how the Incredibles cooperate with each other, and a lot of their cooperation does not require them to interact with the world through a direct challenge to their power, but rather through a connected sequence of thinking as a unit that their powers can adapt to. I’ve noticed this in other films where the problem is not so much the threat our protagonist faces (since they can just blow things up), but rather a discovery of an unconnected line of necessary, functional thinking that would allow for a specific flow of power that is fantastic and human in substance and control. This family CAN quite literally do it all, but they are in a society that does not need their powers if they cannot integrate them. Mr. Incredible’s powers would have been much more of a threat if it had cost a competing insurance company money on the market. Without that kind of sly navigation of his abilities in the eyes and interests of investors, Mr. Incredible is pretty much incredulous. Otherwise, if and when the threat becomes so large it cannot be thoughtfully contained, our heroes let loose like Superman did when he realized Darkseid can actually take his punches.
However, this movie challenges what I just posited in the first 15 minutes of this film when Mr. Incredible even couldn’t stop the Underminer’s treadwheel with just his superhuman strength. Although, what I’m talking about is a balance between how a hero reacts or responds to what they will and won’t do, over what a hero can and can’t do.
Many parts of this movie make me ooze with joy because of how fun and entertaining it is. I know the artists and editors had a blast on this project outside of how it made the box office feel. Sometimes you can just tell how engaged workers on a project felt because of how the movie itself feels, and when it’s easy on the eyes it’s a bonus. Take it from me, a producer himself.
Cheers!
At The Dinner Table 