Year: 2004
Synopsis: After public opinion turns against superheroes for leaving unintended messes, the government forces them into hiding. Years later, Mr. Incredible and his family must deal with a supervillain created through hubris.
Pros:
• A truly fun thrill ride with a self-aware old school charm.
• Succeeded in being a family film that worked as well with adults as the more adult-oriented superhero films.
• Samuel “Frozone” Jackson.
• Successfully avoided being derivative of the superhero genre, while never shying away from its inspirations.
• Was surprisingly human at times, particularly through its depiction of hubris and unintended consequences of automatically trying to save people.
• The underlying 1960s spy feel fueled the film.
Cons:
• Lacked much of the often now expected darkness found in many superhero films today.
• The apparent physical durability of characters other than Mr. Incredible can feel like a stretch, for lack of better words.
Discussion:
Frozone!
This film might just have been the best example of how a superhero film could work before the MCU reinvented the genre in 2008 with Iron Man. It was bright, it was fun, it was a clear right and wrong, and perhaps most importantly, its was human. As is certainly still the case, some of the best supervillains were created by the superhero in some way, often either through some kind of miscalculation or that sense of challenge. Syndrome was representative of both scenarios, with Mr. Incredible spurning him in his hubris and him directly needing to challenge Mr. Incredible many years late. It probably was no coincidence that Syndrome looked a lot like Mr. Incredible, too, but familial connections were never officially stated. Ultimately, this film was all about dealing with mistakes that might not have always been obvious in the moment. Such issues cannot always be dealt with alone. Mr. Incredible, his family, and Frozone came together to fix what they learned went wrong, becoming just that much better people.
Rotten Tomatoes — 97%
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