Incredibles 2 (Review)
Incredibles 2 Gives Us Everything We Loved about The Incredibles and More.
The Incredibles was easily one of my favorite Pixar movies of all time simply because I’m a huge comic book fan and getting to see the animation studio tackle the superhero genre was everything I could have wanted. Of course, Pixar has been a little wobbly when it comes to sequels (talking specifically about the Cars franchise) so I was more than a little nervous that there was no way Incredibles 2 was going to be able to live up to the original. Luckily though, Brad Bird has returned to helm the sequel featuring Pixar’s first family.
The Incredibles are back in action but there’s still the little problem that supers are illegal. So, the family of five is forced back into hiding, at least until they’re approached by a billionaire named Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) who wants to change all that. Of course, Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) is eager to jump back into action, but he’s not the one who Deavor wants to be the new face of supers, it’s actually his wife Elastigirl (Holly Hunter). Being the supportive type, Mr. Incredible encourages her to get out there and fight crime for the sake of their children. The only problem is that beating up baddies is a lot easier than raising a superfamily, something that Mr. incredible is going to learn the hard way.
Pixar has always had a way of tackling big issues while keeping them neatly packaged in fun animated films. Incredibles 2 wastes no time jumping on modern gender roles as Mr. Incredible finds himself a stay at home dad while his wife goes out to bring home the bacon. Not sometimes especially contemporary, but given the dated setting of Incredibles 2 it’s still something that is more than relevant for the story. While we’re getting a bit better in American at recognizing that women can be the breadwinners in the family and that dads care capable caregivers when it comes to their kids, there’s still those that subscribe to ideas of toxic masculinity when it comes to gender roles in the family. While Elastigirl might be having the more dramatic adventure, Mr. Incredible and his children (voiced by Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, and Eli Fucile) have the much more heartwarming adventure. Especially since Mr. Incredible has no idea what he’s doing in the beginning.
Incredibles 2 plays very much like something you might see in a vintage superhero comic. The plot isn’t really that complicated when it comes to the villain and their evil plan to ruin supers forever. In fact, it’s very much a boiled down version of what you might expect to see in one of the new Marvel movies. The bells and whistles are stripped from the villain and their monologues with more emphasis placed on the family dynamic and the struggles they undergo adjusting to their new situation. Personally, I wasn’t nearly as thrilled by the villain this time around, because Syndrome was such a great one in the first Incredibles film. This time around the baddie is much more of a cliched continuation of what we’ve seen before. While I’ve said a few times before that heroes are only as good as their villains, the Incredibles are very much more than their villain this time around.
At its heart, Incredibles 2 is a film that is all about family. It’s not easy growing up and growing up with powers can make things even more complicated (as so many comics have shown time and time again). To make matters worse, Violet and Dash are forced to keep their powers a secret which has made their lives more than a little difficult. Toss in the fact that their dad seems to be more concerned about getting out there and being a hero again than with the trials and tribulations of being a pre-teen, and they don’t really have a shoulder to cry on. That is until something clicks for Mr. Incredible. In his exhaustion, his brain clicks off and he seems to switch into unintentionally great dad mode. For me, this is very clearly a message about how our true self, what we are supposed to be doing in our lives, is something that we are at our best at when we turn our brains off. I’m not sure if Brad Bird was going for a message of this magnitude, but he certainly hit the nail on the head, once again. When things seem to be at their worst, Mr. incredible manages to be at his best and offers his kids two huge shoulders to cry on by the end of it all.
Of course, Pixar brings back fan favorites like Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) and Edna Mode (Brad Bird). However, Incredibles 2 is not a movie that relies on gimmicks like fan favorites to connect with audiences. Instead, it focuses on giving fans what they want without succumbing to their demands. Pixar is a studio that does what it wants when it wants to, and that has been a recipe for success for them over the years. Incredibles 2 might not stack up to some of the more recent films from the studio, but it’s definitely a lot of fun and a film that the whole family will enjoy. I had high hopes for this sequel and I left the theater with a big smile on my face. I have a feeling you definitely will too.
