I was very excited to receive an email last week inviting my family to a preview screening of Incredibles 2 in The Gate Cinema in Cork. Held by Vodafone Family Firsts, the event was screening the movie a week before the Irish release date of July 15th. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance and headed along to the screening at 11.30 on Sunday morning. We’ve watched the first Incredibles movie with our four year old, and he is mad about all things superhero so the going was good. He’s also a happy cinema goer, which is always a bonus.
Armed with our popcorn and drinks (and a rather foolish purchase of a bag of Haribo left in the four year old’s care), we got our seats in the packed screen. Clearly knowing their audience, the ads were thankfully restricted to just one (for Vodafone, of course), before the Pixar short before the movie began.
The Short
Pixar are known for their beautiful animation and thought provoking storylines, even in their shorts, and this one is no different. Bao tells the story of a Chinese mom whose homemade dumpling magically turns into a baby boy. (It isn’t automatically obvious to everyone – including me – that it’s a female character from the beginning, but it is). Get. Your. Tissues. Like many of these things, the symbolism and meaningful moments will go over the kids’ heads but it is really beautiful and has laughs within it for the whole audience. Here’s a small clip of what to expect.
The Movie
And the feature, the thing we’ve all been waiting for. Even with a 14 year wait for the movie, time within the story hasn’t moved at all from where the last one left off. I strongly suggest watching the first one beforehand, although it’s not necessary for enjoying this movie. The family of superheroes is still fighting dangers, but as being a superhero is against the law, staying under the radar is of prime importance.
While in the previous Incredibles movie, dad Bob is the one striking out to be the hero, this time it is his wife, Helen, who is in the spotlight with a new job which she hopes will not only allow her to save the day, but to also make it so that their family and other Superheroes can use their powers legally. This leaves Bob to play stay at home parent – which any parent who has ever spent time at home with the kids solo knows is a whole lot tougher than anyone thinks. Juggling Violet’s teenage angst and boy troubles with learning new methods of working out Math Equations with Dash, as well as keeping up with Jack Jack discovering his powers drives Bob to the brink in a way that as a parent was all too realistic.
Incredibles 2 tackles themes of the roles of parents in the home and working mothers on top of an active hero-saves-the-day plot while keeping up the humour shown in the last one. While the original Incredibles movie showed Bob having a slight mid life crisis (yes, still a children’s film), this one adds a whole new identity crisis in by changing up the roles that everyone plays in the home and in family life.
It’s got lots in it for everyone – not everything is heavy, in fact, little is, that’s the beauty of it. A shot where an upset teenage Violet treks to the fridge for a tub of ice-cream and slams her bedroom door behind her is VERY familiar. The wonderful thing about The Incredibles is that while it has the whole superhero smash bam routine down – and does it really well – the normality of life is in no way taken away from. Even Superheroes have to deal with moody teenagers and babies who refuse to sleep!
Eliott stayed put in his chair for most of Incredibles 2, aside from a VERY short toilet break. He was glued to the screen and was happily chattering about it afterwards. Good reviews all around!
If your kids are sensitive to flashing lights/strobe lights, definitely pay attention to the warnings at the beginning of the film. There were some sections that I (a non-sensitive to these things adult) was a bit taken aback with the level of strobe effect, so it’s one to be heeded. Better to be safe than sorry.
Final Thoughts?
Bring on the third installment! Pixar hasn’t announced one yet but I’m hoping they will. Hopefully they won’t wait another 14 years to do so like they did for Incredibles 2!
Thank you so much to Vodafone for inviting us to this preview screening as part of Vodafone Family Firsts. We received complimentary tickets to this advance screening but were not asked for a review or any write up. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I have not received any payment for them.
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