SHADY MOVIE REACTIONS: Incredibles 2 trailer

So I've decided to add a new category to my already-impressive litany of categories: Shady Movie Reactions. If you didn't already guess, within this category, I'm gonna react to stuff. Although frankly I don't know if this label is ever going to get used again. Because this is a very special and unique time in my life. This is Incredibles 2 time.

Having spent quite literally 75% of my life waiting for this movie, I think it's fair to say that I'm fully stoked. Beyond stoked. I'm on a whole new level of stoked. I have been watching theory videos. I have been obsessively following their Twitter page (where they're inexplicably following three people: Disney, Disney-Pixar, and Lorde???). I've been zooming into every little detail of every new poster. I have been babbling non-stop about it on my personal blog, which I'm not gonna link here because it's embarrassing and I'm kind of a professional and I don't want you to see it. (Okay, it's a stretch to say I'm a professional, but it's not a stretch to say my personal blog is embarrassing.)

It's actually the babbling on my other blog that inspired me to create this post. After watching the new trailer, which dropped today, I realized I just couldn't stop talking about it. So I thought, "Hey, maybe I should take all this movie babbling to my blog that's actually dedicated to talking about movies." 

Here's the trailer. A warning before you watch: at around the 2:05 mark, there are a few seconds of brightly flashing images. For me it only bothered my eyes, but for some people, there is likely a real risk that this could trigger a seizure. I'm questioning Pixar's judgment as to why they didn't put a warning on this, but anyway, it didn't detract from my overall experience. I'm letting you know, just in case.

A thing of beauty.

First things first: my overall impression. I think this movie looks awesome. That's not just because of nostalgia either. The movie's first few trailers honestly didn't do much for me - the Jack-Jack one was okay but lacking in any interesting new footage, and basically only served to tell us, "Hey, this movie is happening." The Olympics one, meanwhile... I just don't know. I didn't feel much about it one way or the other. I was starting to worry that this movie was gonna be a rehash of the first one, in which Mr. Incredible stays home looking after the kids while Elastigirl goes on an adventure, instead of the other way around.

Today's trailer for Incredibles 2, however, really got me going. (I mean... like, in an "I'm excited for this movie" way. Not a sexual way.) It's action-packed, it's funny, it's visually stunning, and did I mention it was action-packed? Because it is. Its only problem is a major and disheartening lack of Edna Mode, who is a goddess. However, it makes up for this problem by giving us Frozone's wife. Thank god. 

There are a few things about this movie's marketing campaign that make me suspicious, the first and most obvious thing being the lack of new characters in the trailers and posters. There are three characters who were introduced in concept art - Evelyn Deavor (whose literal name is evil endeavor, gosh, I wonder if she'll be good or bad), Voyd (a new superhero), and the Ambassador (an advocate for supers) - who have not yet appeared in any trailers. Voyd has only been shown in the very background of one poster so far, and the others haven't made appearances at all.

This thing is glorious in all its detail. Anyway, Voyd is the first super

on the right in the background. The others haven't been shown at all,

whether in concept art or trailers. We only know their names from

toy collections and their appearances from this poster.

See why I'm suspicious? Three major characters aren't being shown in the trailers. Also, the six new supers in the background on this poster weren't featured in today's trailer, nor were the Ambassador or Evelyn Deavor. (Also, Rick Dicker doesn't appear, but he was a pretty minor character in the first movie anyway.) What secret is being hidden from us, Brad Bird? What crazy plot details are being hidden from prying eyes? My heart longs to know.

Anyway. Let's talk about the trailer. Which is fantastic.

The trailer gets things right, right off the bat, by starting with a brother/sister interaction between Violet and Dash. It shows that while we definitely care about the superhero action, the movie hasn't forgotten that the best thing about the first one was the family dynamic. And it doesn't hurt that this cold open is pretty freakin' funny.

Just let the poor kid have a goddamn spring roll.

Also, little details, but I love the way Violet says "With soap." She's just as bitter and awful as the first movie. I love her.

Second thought: as soon as Dash starts talking, it's clear that Pixar worked a miracle. The characters haven't aged, but Spencer Fox, the original voice actor for Dash, is 24 now. So obviously that wasn't gonna work out. However, Huck Milner, his replacement, sounds exactly like him. It's witchcraft, I tell you. Pixar did a great job.

I just love how this quiet family dinner instantly morphs into "Mom's new job," and we get a taste of the frenetic, kinetic action Incredibles 2 is gonna offer us. We get to see Elastigirl doing some badass moves. And thank god for it, because she is just as thicc as ever. (Everyone else is saying it. I'm not ashamed.)

And it's no exaggeration to say that the animation, the colors, the textures, have all improved

enormously since 2004. Just LOOK how great this looks. I command you to look.

We then see Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl entering this huge building, and they're in their glory days outfits. I repeat. They are in their glory days outfits.

I LOVE their glory days outfits.

Sadly, we only get to see these suits for a few seconds. This makes me think. You know what I'd love? An Incredibles prequel. How they met and fell in love. Their exploits in the good old days. Fighting crime in the 50s alongside all the heroes who Syndrome killed. I would LOVE that. Please god let Brad Bird see this.

Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl are meeting with Winston Deavor, a new character voiced by Bob Odenkirk who is definitely not evil. 

Shady businessman. Evil suit.

Evil eyebrows. Evil grin.

Nope, definitely not a bad guy.

Winston wants to improve the Incredibles' image and make them popular public figures again, in a plotline that is not at all reminiscent of Jason Bateman's character in Hancock. (If there is a higher power in heaven, this movie will not be a straight ripoff of Hancock. But sadly, it's looking that way.) According to Walt Disney, Winston Deavor has a sister, Evelyn, and they're both tech geniuses; she isn't seen in this trailer, however. Not suspicious whatsoever, that.

Remember how the first movie ended with the family fighting a new villain called the Underminer? In this trailer, for a few brief seconds, we're shown flashes of the Incredibles and Frozone fighting the Underminer together (who, thank god, is confirmed to NOT be this movie's main villain. I hate the goddamn Underminer). Then, Winston says that he wants to change people's perspective of supers, while a very telling image is seen for a moment in the background.

From this, it looks like the family ends up getting blamed for the Underminer incident, 

much like Mr. Incredible was sued by the people he tried to help in the first movie.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Winston chooses Elastigirl to be the poster girl for superheroes, to Mr. Incredible's immediate jealousy. And I really honestly hope that marital tension isn't a big plot thread in this movie. We had enough of that in the first one, in my opinion.

Being chosen for this "job" apparently means that the family gets an enormous new house, for some reason. 

GOD, this movie looks pretty.

We then see Elastigirl speeding off on a badass bike to do some derring-do, while her husband promises to watch the kids. Cue some homework cluelessness.

"I don't know that way. Why would they change math?!" I feel ya, buddy.

A brief thing I noticed: when Bob answers the phone, it says "Devtech" on the... I don't know, the wall thingy. Anyway, the point is that the Deavors obviously built the Incredibles' new home, and are therefore probably able to control the goings-on inside. That's not evil or suspicious whatsoever.

See it?

Elastigirl, away in some hotel somewhere (reminiscent of the first movie), calls to see how the kids are doing. Bob says they're great. Cue Violet throwing her super suit in the garbage disposal.

What would Edna have to say about this?

I kind of love the comedy in this trailer. This movie is gonna be funnier than Justice League, that's for damn sure.

Elastigirl inquires after Jack-Jack, we see a montage of the baby terrorizing Bob with his powers, and then Bob says "He's in excellent health" with this absolutely terrified look on his face. I can't deny I laughed out loud. Poor Bob.

Bob and Helen have a discussion; Elastigirl can't reconcile "saving the law by breaking it, helping my family by leaving them." Bob says, "You've got to - so our kids can have that choice." And here we get to the meat of the plot, in my opinion. Although the trailer definitely doesn't make it explicitly clear, supers are still illegal at this point in time, and Elastigirl's efforts to get them legalized again will mean that her children don't have to live in hiding. Deep stuff.

And let me gush about the visuals again. The color! The action! The movement! My! God!

Who gave you permission to be so PRETTY?

The only hint this trailer shows us of Voyd (Sophia Bush), the new superhero who was introduced with some concept art earlier this year, is this:

"Now you're thinking with portals."

This is a very brief two-second glimpse, and I'm not even 100% sure that this is Voyd's doing. However, this seems to reflect her powers, which are "the ability to divert and manipulate objects around her by creating voids that allow the objects to appear and disappear." 

Voyd's concept art was introduced along with the Deavors, the Incredibles, Edna, Frozone and the Ambassador, which leads me to believe that she must be an important character; however, she's not seen in this trailer, and was only seen alongside a bunch of other mystery superheroes in the poster above. So what's the deal with Voyd? Why aren't we been shown these new characters? The mystery continues.

We see flashes of more action, such as Violet protecting the family from an explosion, Elastigirl trying to stop a train from crashing, the Underminer destroying a bridge, the kids spinning out of control in a car, and Violet using her powers. It's all so quick that it's hard to make out individual details, but this movie looks very action-packed and I'm loving it, man. 

And it's at this point that we get our only glimpse of Edna. Bob sees that Jack-Jack is about to combust and doesn't know what that means. Jack-Jack bursts into flames, and Edna goes, "It means fire, Robert." She's such a queen. We should elect her president.

I love her.

And here, at the end of the trailer and after the title drop, is when things REALLY get interesting. Because here's where we see Screenslaver.

This baddie's identity was deduced by Jace Diehl (whose videos I've been watching religiously) long before it was confirmed. But here is where we get final confirmation that the Screenslaver is, in fact, the name of our villain. And he's SUCH a badass. He's about 500% scarier than Syndrome, and I just love him. I don't know what it is about this character who we only see for 10 seconds, but I'm pumped for him to start destroying everything. I almost hope the Incredibles don't win. He is that badass.

I would be his groupie.

From the very short clip we see, it's easy to deduce that the Screenslaver's schtick is that he hypnotizes people through TV screens. Hypnotizes them for what purpose and because of what motivation, we have no idea. I just really hope that he doesn't turn out to be Winston Deavor. In my opinion, that'd be a cop-out, only because Winston already looks so evil. If he turns out to actually be the bad guy, it'll be no surprise at all. I'm just hoping Brad Bird is smart enough not to do us dirty like that. I have faith in the Bird.

And here, we're at our last few seconds. Which are the best. FROZONE'S WIFE IS BACK. Frozone tells Mr. Incredible on the phone that he'll "be there ASAP," and we hear Honey go, "Where you going ASAP? You better be back ASAP." I fucking love her. I support her. She may well be one of the greatest unseen characters of all time.

I might be pissed too, if I was married to a bigger icon than myself.

Pixar knew what we wanted: more of Frozone's wife. And they gave it to us. Thank you. Thank you.

And that's the trailer!

This trailer was absolutely fantastic. It gave us what we needed - family time, humor, drama, action, beautiful visuals, the return of Frozone's wife, the introduction of a badass new villain... My only complaints are that it's clear something is being deliberately hidden from us. Where are Voyd, the Ambassador, Evelyn Deavor, and the new superheroes who are seen on the poster? How come we haven't seen them feature prominently in the marketing? WHAT SECRET IS BEING KEPT? I'm practically salivating. 

I know there are many details of the plot that haven't been shown yet, and this only makes me more excited for the movie's release. We're being shown just enough to interest us, while being kept in the dark about the stuff that really matters. That's how you do a marketing campaign. None of this "revealing the whole plot and putting every single funny moment into the trailer" nonsense. This is how it's done, guys.

That was my first Shady Movie Reaction! I don't know if I'm going to do this again in the future - probably only for movies I'm really excited for, and they only come around once in a blue moon. I hope you enjoyed this. And if you ever wanna talk about The Incredibles with someone, I'm probably your girl.