REVISITED: The Incredibles & Super 8

Good day to you ladies and gents, time for some film reviews and today I’m going to start a new series of reviews under the title REVISITED, and what that means is that I’ll be reviewing films I haven’t seen for a while and checking out how they hold up since my last watch. And today’s reviews will be of films I’ve been meaning to rewatch for a while and they are The Incredibles and Super 8.

So first we have The Incredibles, a film that is not only in my top 3 Pixar films but also one of my favourite animated films ever. Funnily enough, I never watched this film in a conventional way, I missed it in the cinema and saw at least the first half of it on a pirated DVD and then saw it properly on TV a few years later. I’m pretty sure this film was made for me, it is a superhero film with elements of the spy genre and family drama mixed in too. I loved being introduced to this world of superheroes learning about how they operate, how they were phased out and how it affects the main characters down the line. For all of the fantastical elements, this film has a lot of realistic material at its core. This film deals with a lot of issues relating to death, revenge, missing the simplicity/glory days of youth, having marital issues, being able to truly express yourself and sacrificing your wants and needs for those you love. This film does a good job of balancing between the humour, drama and action, and there’s a lot to enjoy for audience members of all ages. The characters are all great, they all have wonderful quirks, strengths and weaknesses, confidence issues and specific personality traits that make them shine, like Dash for example. Also, the voice work is really good especially from Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter as Mr Incredible and Elastigirl, Jason Lee as Syndrome, Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone and of course director Brad Bird as Edna Mode. Visually the film is so very beautiful, artistically the film is very distinct and colourful, the animation is super smooth and the camera work used during the action sequences is very kinetic and has some amazing tracking shots. Oh, and the creativity in the use of the abilities of all the superpowered individuals was so creative and badass. Equally as good is the film score from the brilliant Michael Giacchino, besides Star Trek (2009), The Incredibles has my favourite Giacchino score overall as it is some of the sassiest, upbeat and bombastic material of all his compositions. The score has a varied sound that works in all situations, besides having a deliciously jazz-inspired soundtrack that harkens back to the days of old spy films, there are also lovely dramatic and emotional moments that stick out a lot too. My favourite pieces were during the action scenes with Dash and Mr Incredible training montage. In the end, this film is still as fun as the day I first saw it.

Ah Super 8, I remember this film well, the hype behind this film was quite notable because of the mystery surrounding the film and the well-crafted yet intriguing trailers that had a lot of interesting shots but no major plot details revealed. I recall upon this film being released that the reception was quite mixed, a good few people liked it, but a lot of people found it boring and unengaging especially given the lack of information about the film beforehand. I remember enjoying the film for the most part but thought it the reveal of monster and main story towards the end lost some steam. Either way, I haven’t seen this film since it was in cinemas 2011 and I’ve wanted to check it out again for ages. So how was my experience 6 years later? Pretty good actually. I feel like Super 8 is one of those films that benefit from a second viewing, once you understand how the story works in terms of the style, pacing, mystery and character arcs I believe it is a more enjoyable experience. I found it interesting how this film combined a coming of age story with a sci-fi plot and I feel like it works for the most part. You have a story dealing with friendship, growing up, dealing with traumatic events of the past, mysterious events that have dangerous ramifications and the search for truth. I enjoyed the adventure, while there were some issues with the hit and miss humour and some less than interesting story stuff when the kids weren’t involved, I thought it had some really cute, funny and dramatic material that worked well. I thought the cast of kids were good, they acted well and had good chemistry, bouncing off of each other in a natural way, Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, were really good, and I also liked Riley Griffiths and Ryan Lee too. As for the adults, they were fine, but Kyle Chandler was the most memorable even those his character wasn’t very likeable. Visually the film looks nice, the lens flare is less than usual, and while it was a little too dark during the night scenes, there were some really cool-looking action sequences including one of the most impressive train crashes I’ve ever seen put to film, it is a beautiful massacre, so much crashing, smashing, flying debris and explosions. It is truly a wonderful spectacle. Also the film score from Michael Giacchino is really nice, Super 8‘s score feels like it has elements of Jurassic Park and Star Wars, but most notably has shades of Lost in the sense that there are subtle/emotional vibe moments mixed in with these uplifting and hopeful sounds that swell and engulf the scenes they’re used in. Overall I was glad I saw this film again and if you’re interested to give it a watch.

So have you seen these films and if so what do you think? Also if you’ve seen them more than once do they hold up better, worse or the same as before? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀