From director Allie Sultan and writer Sarah Michele Bailey, Incognita’s Infamous Adventures is the story of Anna Jane Pazeski (Sarah Michele Bailey). As a young child, she was endowed with superpowers thanks to her talisman, the Crystal Ball of Judgment, and now dubs herself the hero Incognita. Supported by her best friend and sidekick, Connie (Darci Wantiez), the pair head off to the big city to compete on the reality competition show Superhero Idol. Booted off early for having powers that were too vague, Anna and Connie find work at the Place Where Things Are Edited.
Lamenting/singing about how her life is droll and mundane, Anna meets the nerdy yet somewhat handsome Adam (Christopher Bailey), an IT technician and apparently font guru. Anna is immediately smitten with her new cubical mate. But little does she know that Adam’s secret identity is the evil teleporting villain, Baddio, hellbent set on taking down their supervisor Ms. Witz (Carla Christina Contreras). When Connie accidentally discovers Baddio’s true identity over a random phone call, she’s abducted by Baddio’s gadget guy and henchman, Buddy (Tyler Evick). Now Incognita must find Baddio’s liar, rescue Connie, and fall in love/defeat Adam/Baddio.
With the current state of superhero films today, Incognita’s Infamous Adventures is a breath of fresh air. Of course, it’s not the hypermasculine battle between good and evil that you’d expect. It’s a musical, for crying out loud! But Sultan and Bailey’s tale has all the feel-good charm and romance desperately missing from Zach Snyder’s Justice League.
“…Incognita must find Baddio’s liar, rescue Connie, and fall in love/defeat Adam/Baddio.”
I am looking forward to season 2 of Incognita’s Infamous Adventures. What works is the commitment of the cast to “put on a show.” As low budget as this series is, nothing in the production looks cheap, including the basic office set, the superhero costumes, lighting, the camera work, and the music. It’s also more than clear the cast believes in this project and puts the effort in to perform like professionals. I may be overstating this a bit, but I’ve seen many indie musicals where “just passing” is the modus operandi.
What also works is that creator/star Sarah Michele Bailey knows exactly what the narrative is. It’s a silly love story about a superhero with less-than-stellar powers. The filmmaker is thankfully self-aware of this fact and embraces it. Anna wants to do good, find a higher purpose in life, and maybe find that special someone… all the true marks of the classic musical.
So let’s talk about the musical elements. Every song in the series is composed well and catchy. I hate to say this but thank you for rhyming your verses (a lost art). My problems with the songs come as more of an indictment of the current state of musicals today that lean too heavily on story exposition when they should focus on the emotional journey of the lead characters. I come from that old school of musicals where songs are sung because that is the only way characters can express themselves versus musical dance number of “here’s the situation” or “here’s the plan.” So instead, I’m looking for songs about the problems with having powers (a la “Let It Go”) or why I have to be evil (“Gaston”).
If you’re not into romances or musicals, Incognita’s Infamous Adventures is a hard pass. Though Allie Sultan and Sarah Michele Bailey’s musical can be found way off-off Broadway, it’s good old-fashion fun and worth giving these indie creators a chance and some eyes.
Incognita’s Infamous Adventures is available on Amazon Prime VOD. For screening information, visit the Incognita’s Infamous Adventure official website.
