A reader remarks on my review of The Incredibles:
Huh. I’m usually really critical about plot holes, but I’ve really enjoyed this movie, multiple times. I don’t see the flaws you spead of. Sure, Mirage has been helping Syndrome, but without knowing her motivations for starting that endeavor, we can’t say for certainty that she shouldn’t draw the line at innocent children. Maybe she has a grudge against the other supers. I also didn’t see any glaring editing flaws. It’s mostly a comic farce, so I’m not expecting depth.
I must have watched this movie more than a dozen times, annoyed that for all the excellence and thought that went into this, in the end it just doesn’t quite come together. Or isn’t quite perfect.
On Mirage I suppose we can agree to disagree. I was also bothered by Mr. Incredible’s lack of emotional distress over the murders of the other supers, though. Perhaps the social dynamics of being supers was such that one could laugh at the deaths of other supers (think of the discussion of capes with Edna), but it just rang a trifle false for me. Probably all they would have had to do to fix that, for me, was to have Mr. Incredible gently pat Gazerbeam’s remains on his way out of the cave. In fact, Gazerbeam’s final action, which is to burn the stolen password into the wall of the cave, indicates a certain social bonding, which Mr. Incredible could have reinforced, for the audience, through a simple sentimental action.
In terms of editing, I noticed a lack of flow during some of the escape from the island. It just seemed herky-jerky.
Comic farce, like most (all?) theatrical drama, has the capactiy for real depth and thought. Just think of Charlie Chaplin’s work.
