RogerBW's Blog

2018 animated superheroics, dir. Brad Bird, Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter; IMDb / allmovie. I know, let's give the chick something to do!

This is a 2018 film, and everyone involved knew that superheroes were thoroughly overexposed, so they had to do something different. So instead we get a "dad isn't the big provider any more, and is stuck incompetently looking after the baby" comedy plot straight out of the 1970s. Why yes, Brad Bird is a white American man born in the 1950s, why do you ask?

(Also the baby's superpowers were made very clear at the end of the first film. So now you're saying none of the people watching noticed? Uh-huh.)

I can't help wondering where the police are supposed to be in this scenario of "people broke into my house, I called for superheroes but they didn't come". Or why you don't hide in your vault while waiting for the superheroes to arrive. But hey, we have a second black character on screen, so yay I guess? (Also an eccentric tech billionaire who actually isn't the villain, which obviously dates the film badly.)

More of a concern to me is the way that, while Elastigirl does indeed get to do things (even if only as part of a publicity stunt), women spend most of their interpersonal time here as fun-police: Elastigirl is telling Mr Incredible to be sensible, Frozone's never-seen wife tells him not to go out superheroing, even Evelyn is telling her brother to do the boring useful stuff rather than the flashy gestures.

I did like Team Newbie. Shame they never really got a chance to work together.

I talk about this film further on Ribbon of Memes.