The Incredibles 2

Family Movie Night

By Karyn Bowman

This past week we made what might be our last trip to the drive-in for the summer.

You never know, we could make another trip because one must watch scary movies at the drive-in. In reality, I am guessing we are done.

But it was a great one to finish off the summer season – a double feature with The Incredibles 2 and Christopher Robin. I will talk about the latter sometime in the future. But right now I want to talk about the long-awaited sequel to what I think is one of the best movies of all time.

Why did Brad Bird wait so long to make this sequel? I am sure he has some good reasons. Timing was not right, didn’t want a fake storyline to drive the plot, couldn’t figure out how to make Edna a crucial part of the storyline.

I am sure the reasons were endless.

Luckily what we get is a great storyline.

The supers remain in hiding. And when a bad guy shows up, the family tries to stop him. However, their attempts are futile; the bad guy gets away despite our favorite super heroes managing to save the capitol building.

That is when Lucius meets this rich guy named Winston Deavor. He is super rich and super crazy about supers. Winston is the salesman of the company while his sister, Evelyn, is the creative genius who invents items for the future of right now.

They want the supers to be supers again.

And their choice for this job is Elastigirl – Helen.

The reason why becomes clear. Elastigirl is smoother, more about finesse than bombast power. That means less damages, and more feel-good moments.

But for Helen, it is also about guilt. The guilt of not being there for the kids while breaking the law to help supers be legal once more.

Frozone, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible meeting with Winston Deavor

What I loved about the first Incredibles movie is that it explored the idea of giving participation trophies and making everyone feel they’re special.

This movie is exploring the guilt of life. Helen deals with working mother guilt even though she is smart and good at her job. Bob is guilty over not being out doing superhero stuff while wondering if he is doing a good enough job as a dad. Two other characters deals with the guilt of the should-of’s and could-of’s we all face in life when something tragic happens. Their individual response may be different to that guilt but how they deal with it is interesting.

Yes, these guilt issues are a part of the subtext, but we also get a ton of great action scenes. Elastigirl is the star, people love her, even fellow heroes. Jack-Jack is starting to display all of his powers which can be frightening and exciting. Edna is fascinating for all of her fashion personality quirks.

Can you have a movie that is fun and exciting while dealing with all of these emotions? Yes! Just because we are getting a lot of great action scenes with super-powered people doesn’t mean we can’t handle a few emotions along the way. Everyone knows that emotions are so much messier than the end results of a great battle. But dealing with them and coming to a new understanding can be a great adventure.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

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The Great Gob Smack

Family Movie Night

by Karyn Bowman

Today I am going to share the big secret I rediscovered in the last few weeks. Every now and again this one has to smack me upside the head. But every time it does, I swear I have the same shocked reaction.

Time moves on, kids grow up, and I keep getting older.

It hit me seeing pictures of Mallory Boomsma’s wedding from a few weeks back. Our family know Mallory from 4H and I remember when she loved to hold the new baby in our house. That baby is now 13-years-old and doing the same as Mallory. She loves to play with babies.

When did that happen? How did Mallory get old enough to marry and my girl old enough to be as Mallory was way back when? And why do I keep finding gray hairs mixed in my dark locks?

Well, this realization really smacked me in the face, again, when my youngest did not want to watch The Incredibles with me. There was a time when I could bring home the latest animation flick and be called a hero. Nights on the couch with popcorn was the norm and everyone was happy.

Image from IMDb.com

But when I brought home that movie recently, I got snarky comments and rolled eyes. A few days later, I brought home a Goosebumps movie and was a hero once more.

Except, I wasn’t going to watch that movie with them. I was not the least bit interested. This series is poorly made and watching PG horror flicks is not in my wheel house at all.

The pushing of Mom away with youngest child has started. Time is moving on.

Well, at least I can watch The Incredibles if I want and I do.

This is one of those movies that borders on perfection. It lands on my list of perfect movies because the characters mix well together, the angst/conflict is something all of us can relate to (have I settled in my day-to-day life as a grown-up), and the action scenes are, well, incredible.

The story is about how superheroes are put into hiding because of fear and financial damages. It is not easy to go into a 9-5 life when you are used to saving the day.

But that is what Bob and Helen (Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl) do with their three children in a nice quiet suburb of a large metropolitan area somewhere in the USA. A job loss and a potential new sideline throws the family, going through normal isolation issues, into something more serious, more dangerous and potentially bringing the family closer.

I love the dialogue of this movie, the way the family interacts and gives conflicting messages. I enjoy the active discussion about what makes people special and what makes us all ordinary. I love how, for once, the villain is done in by his own callous behavior. And the actions scenes really pump me up whether it is in a burning building or with a giant robot.

It is a movie that I will watch again. Until grand kids show up, I guess I am watching it alone.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.