Incredibles 2 Movie Review

Whenever a follow-up to a movie that was a huge hit a decade ago comes around, people tend to get worried that the hands of time will consume any chances of its success. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting Mad Max: Fury Road to be as huge of a hit as it was. The Incredibles was one of Pixar's biggest hits back in 2004, and people were begging for a follow-up ever since. You'd think that 14 years later, that demand would have died down, but judging by the fact that my girlfriend and I ran into a sold out showing on our first attempt to see this, I'd say that demand is still in place, and it's completely warranted, as The Incredibles 2 is not only better than the first film, but it's easily one of the best films of the year.

THE PLOT
Superheroes are still illegal, and the Parr family is running into issues with Bob being out of a job and the supposed Superhero Reinstatement program that protected them at the end of the first movie is being shut down. However, a representative played by Bob Odenkirk wants to help make superheroes legal again by using Elastagirl as a symbol of good hope to spark the public's interest in superheroes again. So, while she goes on missions, Bob stays behind and watches the kids with, as you can guess, disastrous results. However, bigger problems come about when a "mysterious" villain known as ScreenSlaver is hatching a plot to keep superheroes illegal forever.

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT?

-Family Matters

One of the biggest things that could have been improved upon in the first movie is how much time they spend with this superhero family. In this film, there's much more focus on the family as a whole. Helen gets separated for the most part, but seeing Bob look after the kids leads to tons of family drama and discussions that flesh them out more as not only characters, but as a family of characters. One of my favorite scenes is towards the beginning when the family is having a discussion about the current situation of superheroes.

-Jack Jack is a Riot

I couldn't exaggerate this less even if I wanted to. The hilarious bit with Jack Jack attacking Syndrome that lasted about 30 seconds in the first movie is expanded upon greatly in this film, and I cannot remember the last time I laughed this hard in a theater before. I can't say much else without spoiling anything, but needless to say he was one of the best highlights of the movie.

-The Action is Energetic and Fun

One of Brad Bird's biggest advantages as an animation director is his ability to create larger-than-life scenes while maintaining a tangible physical world, and this film is no exception. While the first movie had some memorable and energetic action, the best bits came from the family (Dash running on water, that part where the family was fighting together, etc.), and the rest of the action mostly involved Mr. Incredible punching things. This film has a lot more of the family fighting, along with some new superheroes, and the amount of creativity that went into those scenes makes for some fun action.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK ABOUT IT?
-The "Mysterious" Villain

One reoccurring trope in a lot of Disney films nowadays is the surprise villain, someone who you think is a good guy but is really a bad guy, and this film unfortunately falls under that category. The only difference is that with Disney's other films, the tone of the character changes as soon as they reveal that they're the bad guy. Here, they try to keep the tone consistent with the character, but without spoiling anything, it comes off as too obvious too early. I looked at the character and I knew in an instant that (he/she, no spoilers) was the villain. The reason the surprise bad guy in the first Incredibles worked was because we didn't see him (at least, not as the bad guy) until his reveal; we saw the people who work for him, but not him individually.

CONSENSUS?
Despite the flawed villain, I still had a blast with The Incredibles 2, and while it's nowhere near Pixar's best film, I would definitely call it their best sequel. Check it out while you still can!

RATING: