LogFAQs > #969068704

Mirage shows she's charmed by Bobnd (okay, yeah, that wasn't funny, sorry - but this is why she's a Bond Girl: She betrays the Big Bad upon realizing he is bad) after he refuses to choke her after grabbing her by accident, and she recognizes it's not because he's weak: It's because he's a good guy. He could never kill someone who isn't trying to kill him. She comes in later to free him... followed immediately by Helen, who catches Bob embracing Mirage to thank her for the freedom. She completely misunderstood, but thankfully let this go once Mirage helps them procure an "aircraft" and informs them where her boss is headed (this is after Violet epically frees everyone by abusing her force field to nullify the shock absorbers, something Syndrome couldn't have planned for). She really is on their side, since she's wanted to get away from Syndrome and his advances, since he's an immoral superhero serial killer who is bent on making himself into the greatest hero there ever was. There's a layer here: Syndrome went around killing superheroes for funsies so he could kill Mr. Incredible later. But the reverse wasn't true - Mr. Incredible wasn't going to kill Syndrome's secretary and supposed lover because his beef wasn't with her. It was with Syndrome. (It's also never explained how her name is Mirage or what her powers are, but that's a question for another day.)

The climax is FUN. Syndrome, despite his genius with inventions, is a moron. He taught his robot to learn from an opponent but forgot to make himself an exception; the robot quickly picked up the remote as a threat and shot it off his arm, knocking him out in the process as the Incredibles (despite Bob and Helen having a fight now of all times, because dysfunctional sitcom family) + Uncle Frozone (despite Mrs. Frozone's true to life attempts to get him to come to dinner) took care of the robot old-school style. Everyone was appreciative, and superheroes had their day once more... and Syndrome wasn't a part of it. BACKFIRE! Love it.

Syndrome apparently knows where the Parrs live so he goes to relieve their sitter, "Mozart makes babies smarter" girl (hilarious), and surprises them with a force ray. He's about to abduct Jack-Jack the baby to be his sidekick, spreading lies as he grows older, but Jack-Jack has a few powers, as the babysitter had discovered. One of them is an ability to sense malice, it seems. He can tell that Buddy isn't his buddy. He can also change his molecular composition, so he becomes a fireball, a metal version of himself, and a little imp in a short span of time. This leads Syndrome to have a fit mid-air and accidentally kick one of his hover boots off. Jack-Jack falls and Helen saves him, then Bob throws the spy car as a weapon (that's okay, Q Branch can always fix that) and knocks the plane off balance, leading to more payoff: Syndrome, having chosen a cape as part of his attire, gets caught in the suction of the plane engine, much like a different superhero had in Edna's "No capes" rant. The engine tears him to shreds, and the world breathes a sigh of relief that they won't have to experience a fake superhero, one the government was putting the kibosh on anyway as a con man.

After this, there's a quick array of closure: Dash finally tries out for track, but is unable to know how fast he's supposed to go without tipping people off to his mutant powers. Violet finally gets asked out by the boy she has a crush on, in large part because she "looks different" thanks to the headband and a huge boost of confidence she got from having both eyes able to see at once... and from killing many of Syndrome's thugs before they got her, probably. And then, a supervillain finally decides to come out of hiding: The Underminer, who's the Big Bad in a follow-up video game, since they didn't make a sequel to this movie for far too long. Something which I'll be watching eventually.

Honestly, this is Pixar perfection. There's a great Big Bad in Syndrome, and Mirage is a great character as well. Edna Mode is awesome. Violet's great too. Bob's very real struggles with corporate nonsense shook me, and that's a good thing - it makes him relatable and likable. Frozone is Samuel L. Motherfucking Jackson, minus the cussing. This entire cast is great! And, to add, gags like the cop telling Frozone to "freeze" only for him to get iced, or the thug who told Violet to "show yourself" like a certain Disney Princess, or the bubble gum kid witnessing Bob totaling the little car and later seeing Syndrome die before the plane crushed their house (but not them, because Violet) add a lot. And then the credits is awesome, a sort of "Mission Impossible meets comic books" sort of reel. Again, this is part spy movie (as Brad Bird has stated), and that's one of the reasons I love it. 5/5, gold. No surprise. Glad I watched this again!

@Zachnorn @MetalmindStats I have moved your nominations appropriately, to Incredibles 2 and Ratatouille, respectively. But I thought I'd tag you both anyway