Incredibles 2, the long-awaited sequel to the 2004 movie The Incredibles, has been well-received by audiences of all ages, surpassing box office results of US$500 million (RM2 billion) worldwide.
Written and directed by Brad Bird, the plot of Incredibles 2 directly picks up from where the previous movie ended, with the same external conflicts prevailing.
Superheroes are still considered illegal, and in this sequel, the Supers are approached by siblings Winston and Evelyn Deavor, who attempt to revive all superheroes and overturn the laws on their prohibition, ultimately choosing Elastigirl as their ambassador for the cause.
With the reappearance of a superhero comes the emergence of a matching supervillain and Elastigirl soon comes face-to-face with the Screenslaver, a mysterious figure who hypnotises his victims through broadcasting patterns onto TV screens, turning them into puppets for his bidding.
However, in comparison to the villain from The Incredibles, Syndrome, whose motives were purely based on revenge towards Mr Incredible and living out his childhood superhero fantasies, the Screenslaver’s motivations appear to be more complex and sophisticated.
The Screenslaver’s name is a wordplay on “screensaver” and “slave”, which supports his evil motives – to turn people into slaves that do his bidding through technology.
In one of Screenslaver’s monologues, he gloats over the people’s addiction to their TVs, saying this only encourages passivity and complacency, and indirectly turns them into mindless slaves of the mass media.
“You don’t talk, you watch talk shows. You don’t play games, you watch game shows.”
“You eat chips and watch [other people] confront problems that you are too lazy to deal with.”
Applying a 21st-century take, it is obvious that the Screenslaver’s message targets modern audiences and their ceaseless reliance on handphones, laptops and other smart devices, all of which provide them ease and all-rounded solutions to their needs and wants, yet simultaneously compromises their privacy and turns them into thoughtless consumers and trend-followers.
This is especially the case with social media, where apps saturated with privacy issues like Facebook and Instagram increasingly form the centre of their modern social lives.
“You tell yourself you are being looked after …That your rights are being upheld. So that the system can keep stealing from you.”
Evelyn, who controls Screenslaver, has a similar motive, unlike her brother Winston.
Frustrated with her father’s over-reliance on superheroes to rescue him, instead of independently protecting himself which ultimately cost him his life in a burglary, she intends to banish superheroes for good to discourage people from becoming weak, and dependent on them for their safety.
Yet given the truth in her motivations, her exaggerated actions towards her cause eventually leads to her own downfall.
Despite being set in the 1960s, Incredibles 2 gives us a timely social warning – to refrain from being over-reliant on the “magical” qualities of modern technology, and becoming complacent with the idea of being given protection by social institutions.
There is, after all, much for us to learn in ditching the herd mentality and becoming independent consumers despite the often spellbinding, fast pace of modern living.
Most of the original cast members from The Incredibles returned to reprise their voice roles in this sequel, which include actress Holly Hunter as Helen Parr/Elastigirl, Craig T Nelson as Bob Parr/Mr Incredible, and Samuel L Jackson as the Incredibles’ family friend, Lucius Best/Frozone.
New additions to the Pixar franchise include Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk, who voices Winston Deavor, and his co-star Jonathan Banks, joining the cast as Rick Dicker, chief of the Super Relocation programme. Director Brad Bird himself plays the role of voicing the iconic fashionista, Edna Mode, the designer behind the Incredibles’ superhero suits.
The Incredibles 2 opened in Malaysian cinemas on June 14.