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The kids will love Incredibles 2 but you’ll relate on a spiritual level, darling

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Incredibles 2 is a film the kids will enjoy and parents will relate to.
Incredibles 2 is a film the kids will enjoy and parents will relate to.

The Parrs – that is, The Incredibles – are just like any other family. You’ve got your macho dad and nurturing mom, your sheepish and shy teenage daughter, your overly energetic son and baby Jack-Jack, a spirited little one who can’t stop laughing, pooping and refuses to go down easy. Sounds familiar? The Incredibles is just your average family, with your average family problems. The only difference? They’ve got superpowers.

The sequel to the hit animated film comes 14 years after we were initially introduced to the superhero family. In Incredibles 2, dad Bob Parr (Mr Incredible) has to stay home with Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack, while mom Helen (Elastigirl), goes out and saves the world. Being a superhero is actually illegal in Metroville so Elastigirl, along with a few new friends, attempts to change the city’s perception that superheroes tend to do more harm than good.

There are massive explosions, edge-of-your seat, will-they-won’t-they, stop-that-train-from-crashing stuff, and quirky new characters with reflux-like superpowers (you read that correctly) in tight, bright, latex costumes. The kids will love it. They might even relate to Dash and Violet.

Dash has super speed which is th.e perfect outlet for a hyperactive little boy who wants nothing more than to have a massive playground to run free. Violet is a socially awkward teen and while she isn’t as shy and apprehensive as she was in the first film, she’s going through a phase every teenager does: trying to talk to boys when she’s at school and challenging her parents when she gets home. Just as Dash’s, her powers seem to reflect her personality, or at least, provide her with an escape – she can put up force-fields whenever the need arises and become invisible too.

The film highlights their weaknesses, then turns these into their greatest strengths. I mean, who didn’t wish they could just disappear when they were dealing with raging hormones and a boy who made you weak in the knees just by looking your way?

via GIPHY

But even if the kids weren’t old enough to watch the first film, you were.

And even if they don’t directly relate to the film, you probably will.

With Elastigirl attempting to save the world, Dad is left at home to take care of the kids. Obviously, he’s not too happy about it – he is the super strong Mr Incredible, so he’s supposed to be the macho breadwinner in the family (even in 2018, of course). But he does so nevertheless because the times they are a-changin’.

But we all know the struggle that is keeping your adolescent daughter happy, getting your baby to just go to sleep (and stay asleep) and helping your son with his maths homework even though the methods have completely changed from when we were growing up.

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Parenting is exhausting and you’ll laugh, and maybe cry, at how spot on the film gets it. Because, to quote Edna Mode, “Done properly, parenting is a heroic act.”

So this truly is a feel-good family film and it offers a good way to spend Father’s Day, because the whole family will enjoy seeing the superhero family come together and use their abilities, or rather, gifts, to save the day. And isn’t that exactly the message you want your kids to take from a good film? That no matter how difficult life may get, juggling school, work and family, there’s nothing you can’t get through together, and your good will always be good enough.

So Violet tells her dad, going through your average family troubles but feeling all too ordinary in the greater scheme of things, “You’re not good. You’re super.”

Will you take the kids to watch Incredibles 2? Did you watch the first film? What are some of your favourite childhood movies? Tell us by emailing chatback@parent24.com and we may publish your comments.

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