Incredibles 2

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Incredibles 2
• a review of Incredibles 2 completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 19 June 2018.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Incredibles 2 begins exactly where the first Incredibles film ends, with the superhero Parr family or Incredibles, Bob /Mr Incredible (voice of Craig T Nelson), Helen /Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell), Dah (voice of Huckleberry Milner) and baby Jack-Jack (voice of Eli Fucile) protecting the city of Metroville from its newest threat the Underminer (voice of John Ratzenberg). Unfortunately for the Incredibles, their intervention causes more mass destruction of property than if they had done nothing while the Underminer escapes with the city’s gold supply. As a result the Parr family is shunned by the people of Metroville and they are left homeless and jobless.

Luckily for the Parr family, billionaire telecommunications CEO Winston Deaver (voice of Bob Odenkirk and his tech genius sister Evelyn (voice of Catherine Keener) want superheroes back in the world, and offer the Parr family a chance to put superheroes back in favour. This opportunity brings new challenges for the family and they have to learn to work together to succeed.

Superheroes; good versus evil; family relationships

The film contains frequent intense action violence and peril throughout, some of which is cartoon-like and non-realistic, and some of which has comical intent. It is nevertheless scary for younger children. Examples include:

• We see intense violence and destruction in the film’s opening scenes when a giant drilling machine breaks through a crowded city street, catching cars and throwing them up into the air. The cars then crash down into crowds of people. A series of explosions destroys buildings which collapse to the ground, sending rubble and debris into the air. There is a fight between a superhero and a super-villain in which they exchange punches to the head and body, with the villain using his jackhammer-like fists to punch the superhero.  The villain escapes in his drilling machine, causing more chaos and destruction, derailing a monorail train and destroying a bridge.
• In one scene we hear a narrator describe how intruders broken into a man’s house, and see a gun pointed at a man and hear a shot fired. In a later scene we hear a woman recount how her father was shot and killed while waiting to be saved by superheroes.         
• A woman rides a motorcycle through crowded city streets, chasing a train that speeds toward the end of the track. The woman jumps across traffic and rooftops, through a window, on top of the train, goes through a tunnel and then inflates herself into a parachute to stop the train.
• A woman climbs on to a roof and jumps on to a helicopter to keep it from crashing; she flies low over water and throws all but one of the passengers out of the helicopter, then jumps with the last passenger as the helicopter crashes. They float down to the ground when she turns herself into a parachute (the passenger faints but is not injured).
• After acquiring superpowers, Jack-Jack has a fight with a raccoon. They throw each other about the yard, the toddler shooting laser beams from his eyes, burning up garden furniture and then multiplying into several toddlers who surround and tackle the raccoon to the ground.
• In one perilous and intense scene we see the Incredibles fight off several super-villains to save a boat from crashing and killing dozens of people. The villain crushes pipes where the three children are hiding. Jack-Jack morphs into a giant and breaks out of the pipe, landing on top of the villain.  
• A female superhero breaks into an apartment and is attacked by a man with a taser-like device. As she is zapped, she responds with a number of punches and kicks, and chases the man outside as the building explodes.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that are likely to scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Younger children may find the appearance of some of the superhero/super-villain characters scary and disturbing. One super-villain has a distinctly rat or mole-like appearance while another is owl-like. A toad-like superhero is able to vomit lava out of his mouth.
• Elastigirl is able to stretch her body as if it was a rubber band, with her arms and legs able to stretch to seemingly limitless lengths. In one scene she gets her arms and legs entangled in machinery, and is almost ripped apart before the machinery is stopped.
• In scary scenes, toddler Jack-Jack explodes in flames, turns into a demon-like toddler and transforms into a giant.
• One scene depicts a room full of cameras that resemble giant eyeballs.

Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes

Younger children in this age group may be scared by some of the above-mentioned scenes

Nothing of concern

Product placement

Nothing of concern in the film although associated merchandise is likely to be marketed to children.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• There is some mild verbal flirting between a teen boy and girl.
• A teenage girl becomes upset and moody when a boy stands her up. Her younger brother asks if she is “having adolescence”.

Nudity and sexual activity

• A husband and wife have a short passionate kiss.
• A female superhero kisses a male superhero on the lips to distract him.  
• Elastigirl wears skin-tight clothing

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Social drinking by adults
• We see two women drinking spirits and acting in a mildly intoxicated manner, slurring their words

Coarse language

There is some coarse language and name-calling, including:

• O my God; sucks; What the … ?(word not vocalised); crap; darn it; hell
• Freaky; jerks; stupid; idiot.

In a nutshell

Incredibles 2 is an action comedy that is likely to appeal to a wide range of people. The film is full of positive messages and themes with a humorous yet realistic look at contemporary family life. The spotlight is on Elastigirl trying to find a balance between her superhero work and being a mother, while Mr Incredible discovers that parenting requires superpowers equal to fighting villains. All of the favourite characters from the first Incredibles film are back with fashion designer Edna Mode and baby Jack-Jack having the funniest scenes in the film.

The film is not recommended for children under 8 due to frequent scenes of intense violence and destruction, and some disturbing characters, but is likely to be enjoyed by the rest of the family

The main messages from this movie are:

• Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to do the right thing. To fix a law that was wrong, the Incredibles had to break other laws.
• People çan be unwittingly manipulated as a result of becoming complacent about screen information, technology and advertisement.
• Parenting is just as challenging as being a superhero.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include team-work and co-operation.