Film: ‘The Incredibles’

Incredibles do battle with unmonitered screen time in greatest threat yet!|

Some words to live by: “Boys are jerks and superheroes suck.” This is the considered opinion of Violet Parr (Sarah Vowell), the tween daughter of Bob “Mr. Incredible” Parr (Craig T. Nelson) and Helen “Elastigirl” Parr (Holly Hunter) who you remember from Pixar’s 2004 adventure “The Incredibles.”

While the first half of the line, from Brad Bird’s sequel “Incredibles 2,” is evergreen, the second half shows a sea change in the film industry from 2004 to 2018. When the original “Incredibles” hit theaters, superhero films were out of fashion, now they are the only thing Hollywood can be relied upon to make. They do not, financially-speaking, suck.

It’s therefore amusing that “Incredibles 2” begins with Mr. Incredible and his family being told to hang up their capes and codpieces. It’s a bummer for Bob and Helen, who are not keen to return to civilian life (and working stiff paychecks).

Enter Winston Deavor, an unctuous, pro-superhero impresario matched perfectly to Bob Odenkirk’s velvety voice. He knows the best way to get the heroes back into the American consciousness - media blitzes.

Behind every successful man is a quieter, more interesting woman. One example is Winston’s sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) who runs the technology and narrative building parts of the Deavor empire. She reassures Helen: “People have more trust in monkeys throwing darts than in Congress,” so the Incredibles team up with an incredible PR team.

As a first step in the rehabilitation program, the Deavors move the Parrs into their spare house, a mid-century modern pleasure dome with sunburst chandeliers and indoor water features. It’s the perfect architectural match for Bob, a lantern-jawed former cover model for Life magazine. The film’s backdrop is 1950s American suburbia with a little more tech - many sequences resemble an animated spin on “The Truman Show.”

To Bob’s horror, the Deavors decide to send out Elastigirl to foil bad guys alone, without Mr. Incredible. He says that superheroism defines who he is, so what becomes of Bob as a stay at home dad? He’s even more exhausted than he was fighting crime day and night.

In addition to looking after Violet, there’s little brother Dash (Huck Milner), a speed demon who struggles with math homework and, as Charlize Theron learns in “Tully,” the third kid can be a doozy. Jack-Jack (the goo-goos and ga-gas are voiced by Eli Fucile) cycles uncontrollably through nascent superpowers: multiplication, flame-throwing, shape-shifting, laser-shooting, and more. He has a fantastic standoff with a raccoon who absconds with a chicken wing from the trash can - the two combatants are equals in brainpower, hunger, and commitment - the resultant tussle is hilarious.

Dad laments, “I need some me time.” He gets help from old pals Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) and Edna Mode (Brad Bird) - the former to make fun of Bob’s stay-at-home dadding and the latter to design a costume that sticks with Jack-Jack in all his forms.

In a fair comment on the modern world, the villain in the piece is called Screenslaver, and he (or she!) works by placing hypnotic goggles over the eyes of victims. With the epilepsy-inducing lights in their eyes, the dupes become slaves to the commands of their master. It’s a terrible dystopian vision - at least until the return of Google Glass.

Bird’s narrative gets lots of juice cutting from the action-packed thrills and chills of Elastigirl’s exploits tracking down Screenslaver to Mr. Incredible at home sweating bullets over fractions and decimals.

Overall, sitting in a movie theater watching superheroes attempt to overthrow this particular villain reveals that Bird and Pixar might believe, however counterintuitively, that we will one day be free from the tyranny of screens.

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