Monsieur Incroyable! (The Incredibles)

I don't consider myself to be an expert on superhero movies. Especially all of the stuff that came out before Marvel really got going with X-Men. But lately I have been thinking about The Incredibles, and how, despite being one of the less popular Pixar titles, and not being live action, it sort of transformed the standard of the superhero movie. People seem to think that Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins was the first time a superhero was put into a very dark but believable reality. I would agree that the three-dimensionality of Nolan's interpretation of the classic characters made for a much richer and compelling narrative. But I would argue that The Incredibles gives us an equally macabre and believable story, more so when one considers that it is a kids movie.

In the universe of The Incredibles, you have a world full of supers (superheroes) and villains. But when Mr. Incredible saves someone who was attempting to commit suicide, a lawsuit makes it illegal to be a vigilante, and forces all supers to assimilate to normal society. Before this happens, Mr. Incredible is confronted by a boy who asks to be his sidekick. He claims that he prefers to work alone, and the kid grows up to become the villain Syndrome. Syndrome kills a bunch of the other supers until Mr. Incredible, his wife, and their two kids, who also have super powers, defeat Syndrome.

Doesn't that sound pretty dark? The world decides they don't want heroes anymore because they cause too much damage and interfere with people's lives. It is believed that the only reason supervillains show up and hurt people is to antagonize the supers; and in the case of Syndrome, this is pretty much true. In fact, in The Dark Knight, the Joker explains that Batman is the reason people like him even exist.

And then you have all of witty observations The Incredibles makes about the typical superhero story, my favorite two being monologuing and capes. It is pointed out that the downfall of most villains is the need to hear themselves talk; rather than outright kill the super while hes down, they go on and on until the super has a chance to retaliate. And capes are a terrible costume idea because they are always getting caught in things like jet engines and propellers. Every superhero movie after this had to give good reasons why the heroes wear their silly outfits (Captain America's suit is transformed to look like WWII armor; Batman loses the tights and has to meet with Lucius Fox every time he has a problem with mobility or defense; and it is finally questioned how Bruce Banner's pants stay on when he transforms into the Hulk).

And when a villain is monologuing, it removes all the tension from a scene, because it becomes painfully obvious. Talia's exposition at the end of Dark Knight Rises gave Commissioner Gordon just enough time to break the signal between the bomb and the detonator. In Thor and The Avengers, Loki is caught monologuing on numerous occasions, often resulting in him getting his ass handed to him.

My point is that for a children's movie, The Incredibles explores some of the more serious aspects of the superhero genre that have since then become mainstream. I think it is definitely one of the best superhero movies of all time, and it is unfortunate that it doesn't seem to be recognized as such.

Death Blow! (Bane)

This is a silly thought, but I feel like writing about it. I really like Bane as a villain, the way he was portrayed in The Dark Knight Rises. Let me rephrase that. While I think Bane deserved more screen time and more back story (and less love story), I found Tom Hardy's performance just the right mixture of menacing, disturbing, brutal, and smart. And since that movie, I can only ever picture Tom Hardy as Bane.

Lawless is Bane kicking the shit out of people in the Prohibition-era South. Warrior is Bane kicking the shit out of people as an MMA fighter. And Bronson is Bane kicking the shit out of people... because he enjoys the attention. I'm not saying Hardy is a typecast actor; on the contrary, he is very talented. But something about the character Bane left such an impression on me.

Lately my obsession over the Bane character has overflowed into other movies. I now envision Bane as the ultimate villain, finding his way into other movie franchises. For example, I am right now watching a Lord of the Rings marathon. The fell beast just grabbed Theodin and his horse and threw them across the battlefield. And as the Witch King of Angmar instructs the beast to "feast on his flesh", I, for some reason, picture Bane dismounting, cracking his knuckles and saying, in his raspy, slightly mechanical voice "now I will break you".

And then my imagination just gets out of control. Thus my envisioning Bane as every villain in Lord of the Rings. Or Bane as a Bond villain. Bane working for Gustavo Fring. Bane in the zombie apocalypse. Bane tasting half-and-half and getting some on his mask. Bane waiting on a bench at a bus stop in Alabama. Bane going through airport security. Bane on a blind date....

I think I have a problem.