The Incredibles
To be or not to be, that is the question that plagued the lead characters of The Incredibles, a movie about a family who all had super powers forced to live normal lives in deep suburbia after a spate of lawsuits.
Ironically, these lawsuits were handed down by the very people they saved and, to add insult to injury, the Incredibles and other super beings were punished to mediocrity by the very government they helped to fight crime.
(Sidenote: I can think of parallels here about the relationship between big nations and small nations, and how an assailant nowadays can sue whoever comes to the rescue of their intended victims but I’d leave that as a sidenote.)
I really enjoyed this movie and had to stop myself from howling all through out. It had all the ingredients of a brilliant comedy (to me anyway): exceptional animation, sharp dialogue and hilarious laugh-out-loud scenes. Best of all, The Incredibles was also a voyage into self-discovery and identity. So much so that I keep forgetting it’s just a cartoon!
But as the movie said to me, many of us try to hide our superpowers within! :P
The flipside of course is that 'ordinary' people are threatened by those who are capable of extraordinary things. And they would much rather see such extraordinariness fade into oblivion.
Okay, now we all know it’s just a cartoon. But I loved how Brad Bird, the movie’s writer and director, interspersed humour with powerful messages about identity and self-acceptance.(And there are other themes but we'll skip those shall we? :P)
The son Dash, for example, represented the excitement and confidence of youth, when we are growing up and feel like we can do everything. He knew what his power was and wanted to use it. Show it off even. Unfortunately, his parents won’t allow him to realize his potential so he ended up being the disgruntled kid who gets into a lot of mischief in school.
The daughter Violet was Dash’s complete opposite. She was filled with self-doubt and hid her true self behind her hair. Her self-doubt undermined the true potential of her ‘shield’ power. If not for the drastic change in circumstances, she would have happily lived the life of the unfulfilled. Head down, hair hiding her face and keeping herself invisible from those she really wanted to see (Tony-loaf that is!).
The dad, Mr Incredible is the protagonist whose archrival is his former-number-one-fan-cum-vengeful-deluded-Incrediboy-superhuman-wannabe Syndrome.
We all know that Mr Incredible would eventually defeat Syndrome but not without first realizing what’s really important in his life: his family. A lesson that most people can all learn from too.
I cannot talk about this movie without talking about Frozone, Mr. Incredible’s super friend. (Sidenote: was he a side kick or an equal? How else could have Bird included a black character? Just wondering.) Anywho, Frozone was cooooollll. Boom boom. I didn’t realize Samuel L. Jackson was the voice but no one could have played Frozone but him. This is a personal choice but I think his best scene was at that point the giant robot came to town but he couldn’t find his Frozone costume. His brief dialogue with his wife where he was asking for his clothes was hysterical. ”Where is it woman?!?!” Okay, now I’m lusting after a cartoon character. That’s just wrong.
Finally, finally, finally Elastigirl. I have to save her for last because I am a woman and it’s her character that I can identify with. Women have to be a lot of things all of the time. Wife, mother, friend, cook, cleaner, superwoman. I am not even going to talk about the fact that she had to stay home to look after the kids but as her character shows, women have to be very, very flexible.
We have to be hard yet soft at the same time, strong yet vulnerable and forceful yet patient. On a lighter note, I loved how she can transform herself into a parachute or motorized life raft if need be. Hehehe. Now that’s power. (Sidenote: Whoever created her character had to be an ‘ass’ man or woman. Elastigirl’s butt rocked!)
I want to rave on about the Incredible baby’s powers, Syndrome’s super sexy girlfriend, the water scenes with Dash running the motor boat and running away from the bad guys, Edna Mode’s character and how I laughed when she said ‘Ed-na-mode…and guest”, Edna’s design of the super suits and how I knew Syndrome was going to die because of his cape at that very moment he stepped out in his Syndrome costume.
But I won't. Instead, I will talk about the scene where Elastigirl warned her children to wear their mask at all times to protect their identity. She said: “Your (secret) identity is your most valuable possession.”
Why? Because even people who want to save the world also want to watch a movie on a Saturday night once in a while. :P
***
Meet michcapish aka Zebra Girl. She is yet to discover what her super powers are. In the meantime, she would (grudgingly) pose for her mom who thinks diagonal pics like this are cool. Zebra Girl helps save the world by assisting elderly people carry their grocery bags and listen to their stories about days gone by. Sometimes, she would pick litter from the streets and give people who spit in public places the evil eye. Just to be safe, she vows to go to church more regularly this year. :P
Ironically, these lawsuits were handed down by the very people they saved and, to add insult to injury, the Incredibles and other super beings were punished to mediocrity by the very government they helped to fight crime.
(Sidenote: I can think of parallels here about the relationship between big nations and small nations, and how an assailant nowadays can sue whoever comes to the rescue of their intended victims but I’d leave that as a sidenote.)
I really enjoyed this movie and had to stop myself from howling all through out. It had all the ingredients of a brilliant comedy (to me anyway): exceptional animation, sharp dialogue and hilarious laugh-out-loud scenes. Best of all, The Incredibles was also a voyage into self-discovery and identity. So much so that I keep forgetting it’s just a cartoon!
But as the movie said to me, many of us try to hide our superpowers within! :P
The flipside of course is that 'ordinary' people are threatened by those who are capable of extraordinary things. And they would much rather see such extraordinariness fade into oblivion.
Okay, now we all know it’s just a cartoon. But I loved how Brad Bird, the movie’s writer and director, interspersed humour with powerful messages about identity and self-acceptance.(And there are other themes but we'll skip those shall we? :P)
The son Dash, for example, represented the excitement and confidence of youth, when we are growing up and feel like we can do everything. He knew what his power was and wanted to use it. Show it off even. Unfortunately, his parents won’t allow him to realize his potential so he ended up being the disgruntled kid who gets into a lot of mischief in school.
The daughter Violet was Dash’s complete opposite. She was filled with self-doubt and hid her true self behind her hair. Her self-doubt undermined the true potential of her ‘shield’ power. If not for the drastic change in circumstances, she would have happily lived the life of the unfulfilled. Head down, hair hiding her face and keeping herself invisible from those she really wanted to see (Tony-loaf that is!).
The dad, Mr Incredible is the protagonist whose archrival is his former-number-one-fan-cum-vengeful-deluded-Incrediboy-superhuman-wannabe Syndrome.
We all know that Mr Incredible would eventually defeat Syndrome but not without first realizing what’s really important in his life: his family. A lesson that most people can all learn from too.
I cannot talk about this movie without talking about Frozone, Mr. Incredible’s super friend. (Sidenote: was he a side kick or an equal? How else could have Bird included a black character? Just wondering.) Anywho, Frozone was cooooollll. Boom boom. I didn’t realize Samuel L. Jackson was the voice but no one could have played Frozone but him. This is a personal choice but I think his best scene was at that point the giant robot came to town but he couldn’t find his Frozone costume. His brief dialogue with his wife where he was asking for his clothes was hysterical. ”Where is it woman?!?!” Okay, now I’m lusting after a cartoon character. That’s just wrong.
Finally, finally, finally Elastigirl. I have to save her for last because I am a woman and it’s her character that I can identify with. Women have to be a lot of things all of the time. Wife, mother, friend, cook, cleaner, superwoman. I am not even going to talk about the fact that she had to stay home to look after the kids but as her character shows, women have to be very, very flexible.
We have to be hard yet soft at the same time, strong yet vulnerable and forceful yet patient. On a lighter note, I loved how she can transform herself into a parachute or motorized life raft if need be. Hehehe. Now that’s power. (Sidenote: Whoever created her character had to be an ‘ass’ man or woman. Elastigirl’s butt rocked!)
I want to rave on about the Incredible baby’s powers, Syndrome’s super sexy girlfriend, the water scenes with Dash running the motor boat and running away from the bad guys, Edna Mode’s character and how I laughed when she said ‘Ed-na-mode…and guest”, Edna’s design of the super suits and how I knew Syndrome was going to die because of his cape at that very moment he stepped out in his Syndrome costume.
But I won't. Instead, I will talk about the scene where Elastigirl warned her children to wear their mask at all times to protect their identity. She said: “Your (secret) identity is your most valuable possession.”
Why? Because even people who want to save the world also want to watch a movie on a Saturday night once in a while. :P
***
Meet michcapish aka Zebra Girl. She is yet to discover what her super powers are. In the meantime, she would (grudgingly) pose for her mom who thinks diagonal pics like this are cool. Zebra Girl helps save the world by assisting elderly people carry their grocery bags and listen to their stories about days gone by. Sometimes, she would pick litter from the streets and give people who spit in public places the evil eye. Just to be safe, she vows to go to church more regularly this year. :P