Incredibles 2 Review
The Incredibles 2 was directed by Brad Bird and stars Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Samuel L Jackson, Catherine Keener, and Bob Odenkirk. It is a direct sequel to the 2004 film The Incredibles and it follows the Parr family mere moments after the finale of the first movie and it shows superheroes trying to be reintroduced into the world again in a positive light. Incredibles 2 is never able to reach its full potential, but it does make for an entertaining and memorable movie, even if it doesn’t quite live up to the first film.
Incredibles 2, in comparison to the first, is a significantly more “family friendly” movie and the tone and themes feel much more lighthearted and simplistic. While I do know that this is and was made as a movie for kids, it definitely feels like a step-down and doesn’t appeal to both adults and children as well as the first one did. Whereas The Incredibles had some much heavier and darker moments like failure to live up to goals, murder and vengeance, and feeling lost in one’s own life, Incredibles 2 never strives to reach similar complexity. Its ideas of technology taking over and working mothers, while interesting in concept, feel overdone and far from original. A great example of how this film appeals to children significantly more than adults was the inclusion of a number of heroes who met Elastigirl midway through the movie. They were all designed to be funny and crude looking and their unusual powers and stupidity were played for laughs, like with Brick, Kurshauer, and Reflux.
My biggest complaint with Incredibles 2, however, is that it has a major villain problem. This, again, feels like I step down from the original with Syndrome being an absolutely fantastic villain. This movie is unbelievably predictable and the big reveal of Screenslaver’s identity could not have been more obvious. I realized who the villain was the first time they stepped on screen and it was a let down to realize that I had figured it out so easily. This movie bases a large amount of its conflict on the fact that Screenslaver’s identity is hidden, so this predictability hurts the tension in those scenes and only makes the main heroes look unintelligent. Furthermore, to spoil the ending of this movie, the villain does not have believable motives which only makes her look weak. In films, one of the main causes of motivation for characters is loss and trauma which especially applies to villains. However, this doesn’t work in this movie since Evelyn bases her hatred for supers off of the death of her parents, but her brother Winston shares this same trauma which only serves to undermine her as a character. Winston took that same experience and turned it into optimism and hope to bring back supers like his father wanted and seeing Evelyn turn this same event into hatred makes the audience unable to sympathize with her cause. As cruel as Syndrome was in the original, being let down by his hero is something that the audience can sympathize with and the realism of his motivations made him a deeper character. This doesn’t ring true for Screenslaver though and her purpose for hating heroes only feels forced and unrealistic.
However, that is the extent of the negatives that I have since I truly liked the majority of this movie. It may have tried to copy the original too much by adding unnecessary scenes with Edna and including a similar overarching plot of superheroes being in hiding, but I had little issue with this since the main ideas of technology controlling lives and Elastigirl being the spokesperson for supers felt much different from the first. So allow me to mention the positives.
Incredibles 2 is beautifully animated and the attention to detail is absolutely stunning. It’s breathtaking to look at it and it’s interesting to see how much more advanced it is from its predecessor. I’m also very glad that this movie picked up directly where the first one left off since the Underminers were a large open ending so it was fun to see how the writers chose to handle that, and the direction they took with that minor villain was surprisingly different than I thought. Also, speaking of fun, this is an extremely entertaining movie and it is definitely enjoyable to watch. After being away from The Incredibles for 14 years, it feels great to once again see the Parr family fighting together on screen and it makes for some really great action. Frozone also fought alongside the Parr’s for a much larger portion than the first one which was great to see since he’s always been a fan favorite character, and it was exciting to see the writers play into that without overdoing what the viewers love about him. And while I’m on the topic of the family and Frozone fighting, I’ll take some time to discuss the action. This movie had some weird pacing for the first half of the movie, but it’s forgivable since the action comes on screen and makes the viewers forget about the slow parts. Scenes like the bike chase and the fight within the Parr’s house are extremely memorable and make for some great superhero action that honestly looks better than anything in the live-action Marvel or DC movies. Similarly, the first time Esastigirl fights Screenslaver is not just an entertaining part, but one that’s extremely stylistic as well and shows off Brad Bird’s talent as a director.
The humor of this movie is also a highlight for me and it was quite funny. Some of the best scenes in Incredibles 2 are attributed to Mr. Incredible being a stay at home dad and his struggles with Jack-Jack and his powers. It's an example of the writers giving into what the fans loved from the first, but without overdoing its inclusion. Also, Incredibles 2 is able to be both a superhero movie and partially satire the superhero genre at the same time. It showed people’s overreliance on superheroes in film and on screen and the power that these films have in the movie industry. However, it commentated on the superhero movies while still being a great addition to the genre on its own. Furthermore, its ideas of technology and screens taking over relate well to current times and I liked how the writers created a kids movie but were still able to make a statement about modern society.
Incredibles 2 is a beautifully animated and hilarious film that is a fun experience to watch and is a must-see for fans of the original. However, it lacks the depth and complexity of the original film and its villain problem and unoriginal themes and plot take away from some of the thrills. Overall, it's a well-done movie that never quite lives up to its predecessor but is still quite good on its own which is why I would rate Incredibles 2 a 7.5/10.
