Rating: 4/5
This is going to be a somewhat “spoilery” discussion because I’m not sure how to voice my opinion without mentioning plot points. While I tried my best not to include specific details that will give anything away, I still feel like even mentioning non-pivotal scenes will ruin the viewing experience. So, if you have seen the film, feel free to read on about my thoughts and some of my friends’ thoughts as well.
If you’ve not yet seen the film, I would highly recommend you watch it. It’s really really fun, whether you’ve seen the first film or not. Bring your kids, your parents, the whole family!
Hope you enjoy the movie 😀
❤
!!Warning Spoilers ahead!!
Short film: Bao
I will say. It was not what I expected. I knew it was weird from the beginning obviously. What kind of a food sprouts arms, legs and a body???
When the MOMENT happens (that shocking moment), my friend next to me, CJ, SCREAMED. For real. It was kind of embarrassing but also made the experience doubly hilarious. But to be fair, the whole theatre exclaimed in their own ways. We were all shocked. Nonetheless, we quickly figured that it was probably a dream.
I think the story is quite relatable. Food and eating together as a family or group is an integral part of my life. Eating is pretty much what most of our gatherings are based around. The ending where her son comes back and looks apologetic but doesn’t know what to say, reminds me of myself and my parents. Affection doesn’t come very easily to me or my family, not like most American movies I’ve watched. Usually, a fight in my family thaws on its own, without emotion, when we just start talking together again at dinnertime. So in that way, I found the ending to be very sweet.
Movie: Incredibles 2
I think my friend, A, summed it up pretty well. “This feels more like Incredibles 2.0 rather than a sequel.”
And he’s right. He pointed out throwbacks to the first movie added in here and there. The biggest of which was the whole plot of the movie itself. However, I am willing to give it a pass because most superhero films have the same plot anyway. There were moments in the new film that echoed iconic moments in the first. Pixar knew how to play their audience, that’s for sure. It’s these moments that resonated and probably evoked a sense of nostalgia for old viewers like myself.
Naturally, this means that the story was pretty predictable. I could tell who the baddies were from the very beginning, or at least I was pretty close. Even so, I think A said it best yet again, “Honestly I cant even fault them for being predictable because it’s been 14 years since the last film.”
I think the story contains some “hidden messages” regarding things such as reversing traditional gender roles (Which in my opinion isn’t anything new anymore because my generation is already used to the idea. Who stays at home and who goes out to work depends on family to family.) , changing the laws, and being true to who you are. I’m sure the creators spent a lot of time and effort incorporating the messages and commentary about events happening in real life. I don’t think I managed to notice all of them, but maybe I will on a second watch. Anyway, this is not so important to me because I was only here for a good movie.
I really loved all the original characters. On the other hand, all the new superheroes were just meh. I really don’t like the insecure teenager, Claire/Void. Her power is cool but the way she acts is a bit cringy and hard to watch. It seems like an extreme caricature of the typical “shy” and “insecure” teenager. The other superheroes weren’t the most attractive bunch.
My favourite character in this film is obviously Jack Jack. When I was younger, I loved Violet. She’s still pretty awesome, along with Dash. But in this movie, Jack Jack definitely stole the show! I loved the interaction between Edna and Jack Jack. It’s downright hilarious!
Not including those scenes, I still laughed so hard and so often during the movie. It’s not just me either because I could hear adults and teenagers alike chortling at the humour in the film. The theatre was packed mostly with adults and teens, with young children making up a minority. I’m sure the film will be seen by a new generation of kids, but I can see that this film is largely a gift for the older fans.
Again, I think the film touched on some mature topics like spousal relations, work, rights etc. The conversation and tension between Bob and Helen Parr was nuanced and funny because we as teens and adults understood that kind of subtle humour. But this kind of humour is precisely the kind that would fly over a child’s head. I think scenes like Jack Jack vs the racoon and other slapstick comedy moments could help keep the kids engaged. I just found that the subtle humour was, ironically, more prominent than the slapstick. So perhaps the film did justice to the older fans but fell a little short on entertaining kids. But who am I to say, maybe the kids enjoyed it as well.
Colour-wise, I felt that the second film was brighter and more saturated. Another thing I noticed was that the fashion and technology in the film is something straight from the 1950s or 60s. I had never noticed it before. While the world has electric scooters, cool jets and hover trains, they still use old-school film cameras and Setron TVs. For the first time, I noticed the fashion of the other characters in the film were straight out of a vintage catalogue. Giant circle skirts for women and full-on suits and fedoras for men.
(I’ve found an article linked here that explains exactly which year the Incredibles movie is set in and why. How fascinating!)
The animation was good as usual. I think the studio had a tough time taking the new technology they had gained in the last decade and a half and reconciling it with the look and feel of the first movie. But kudos to them because I think they did a wonderful job. The world looks richer and more alive! Keep it up Pixar 😀
Thanks for reading and enjoy your movie ~
❤
P.S. Cool stuff I found while “researching” for this post:
https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/cinema-palettes-famous-movie-colors/
https://twitter.com/CINEMAPALETTES
https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/creative-movie-posters-film-art-peter-majarich/
EDIT (25/6/18):
What Brad Bird said about the Incredibles 2: https://hellogiggles.com/news/incredibles-2-feminist/
Some new stuff I found out about the movie. People have obviously been jumping on the idea that the movie is “feminist” and so have I. However, it seems that the creators didn’t intend to portray it in a feminist way. They were just hoping to recreate reality. I definitely agree with this because my dad is the stay-at-home dad while my mum works. I’ve heard similar stories from my friends and neighbours. It’s nothing new. My comment in my original post above was a tad annoyed because I felt like the creators were trying to shove political correctness down our throats. Now I see that perhaps I was being too sensitive.
Review of the film: https://www.dailywire.com/news/32234/review-incredible-y-feminist-letdown-michael-j-knowles
The above review seems a tad misinformed. Helen Parr was certainly more reluctant to leave her family than the review made it seem. Bob Parr did face trouble in his early time as a stay-at-home dad but later improves and shows that he is just as capable as the Mrs.
I do agree that the plot doesn’t really “thicken” over the course of the movie. I gave them a pass but I can understand why the writer did not.
I think there were plenty of “universal human problems” in the film. Dash struggles with math in school. Violet struggles with a new crush. Bob struggles to keep up with his 3 children. Helen finds it difficult initially to be away from the children and going solo.
Jaime consumes pop culture 