I'm going to be direct about this
and just tell you straight that I enjoyed The Incredibles tremendously. It's a well-made piece of entertainment. I know this isn't a bold, out-on-a-limb position. Lots of people share it, after all.
If you're among those of us who are fans, you're probably glad they're finally working on a sequel. Creator Brad Bird said he wasn't going to work on a second unless he could produce something worthy of the first, so that's cool to know he's concerned with quality. He's built himself a decent track record of films, so I imagine he doesn't want to start fouling up the list with stinkers.
As much as I enjoyed it and still enjoy it, the film has still left me with a couple of nagging problems. Believe it or not, they have nothing to do with the amazingly atypical body count for a Disney film. That part I can live with. Those characters knew they were getting into dangerous jobs when they signed on.
No, the first thing to bug me were the legal issues that drove the heroes underground. First, Mr. Sansuite was attempting to commit suicide. This is a serious matter and typically illegal. No matter how much he wanted to end his life and blame Mr. Incredible for messing up his plan, he'd still have little legal traction in court and would more likely have ended up under protective observation. The litigious train passengers would likewise have found themselves with little support as their hero would have been shielded by the Good Samaritan doctrine and any good lawyer should've been able to coherently argue that he wasn't responsible for their injuries.
Still, with all those tricky maneuvers having to take place to force the heroes out of action being allowed, we're still left with the next issue. My follow-up is that I want to know why the super-villains dropped out of sight. What happened to the major crime sprees that should've erupted to take advantage of the hero vacuum? Where was the subsequent clamoring for the return of the heroes? Fifteen years? By that standard, it took virtually no time at all for people to beg for Hancock to get back off the sidelines. Hancock! And that was before he'd been able to redeem his public standing.
These things make me ponder.
Comments welcome, especially from Mr. Bird ;)
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