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Incredibles 2 (2018) (90%)
Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Brad Bird
Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell
Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar movies (if not my favorite) as well as one of my favorite superhero movies of all time. I haven't gotten a chance to review it on here yet, but I very much plan to get to all of the movies Pixar has done at some point. Anyway, Incredibles 2 does the first movie justice, but it isn't near-perfect like the first one.
Story: The story of Incredibles 2 revolves around this rich brother-sister duo who want to make superheroes legal again, so they enlist the help of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone to help generate some positive buzz so that they can get the law changed. Elastigirl ends up being their main spokesperson, and she's essentially sent out with a little camera embedded into her suit that will record her as she saves lives and defeats evil. But there is a bad dude, Screenslaver, who comes into play and is the main villain. You can probably tell where it's heading from here.
The story is definitely different than the first movie. They didn't just do a role reversal and smack a 2 at the end of the title; there is a noticeable difference in how this movie plays out, at least for the first act. There's more of a focus on the family, and less of a focus on one specific character doing superhero stuff. The individual superhero sequences are still there, but it definitely has more of a family driven vibe than the first one, which I believe was the correct direction to go. As I get to in the next section, the villain is what really brought down my score for this one. The build up was good, the family dynamic was great, the humor was spot on, but the villain didn't bring that presence that I was hoping for. The finale also seemed a bit too easy for the heroes.
Characters: Jack-Jack is the star of the show here. He is the reason for most of the laughs, as he's at the center of most of the film's humor. I also enjoyed watching Mr. Incredible try to be a somewhat regular dad after always having some sort of job. It turns out even superhero dads are just...dads. It was nice to see Elastigirl get the nod this time around to be the main on-screen superhero and it was cool to see how she takes care of business. Mr. Incredible relies on his strength and determination, but Elastigirl relies on her intelligence and various stretchy abilities. The villain in this film was incredibly disappointing as a follow up to Syndrome. I was afraid that this would happen, considering how great of a villain Syndrome was, but they really went the generic route with the villain in Incredibles 2 and it disappointed me quite a bit. The villain still does its job and there are some interesting aspects to it, but...eh. Finally, I wish Frozone had more screen time in this movie...but I wish he had more screen time in the original as well.
Animation: It's crazy how great animation looks these days. I didn't think I'd notice that much of a difference between the first one and this one, but there's a lot more noticeable detail (apart from the fact that everything just looks better, more crisp).
Screenplay: Brad Bird wrote another solid one here. For an animated film primarily meant for a younger audience, he doesn't write the characters to where it feels like they're talking to children. I like that.
Overall: Incredibles 2 is a worthy successor to The Incredibles. It has a weaker villain and I feel like the finale was not nearly as enjoyable, but everything else comes together to make it one of this year's best films.
Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Brad Bird
Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell
Production Company: Pixar Animation Studios
The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar movies (if not my favorite) as well as one of my favorite superhero movies of all time. I haven't gotten a chance to review it on here yet, but I very much plan to get to all of the movies Pixar has done at some point. Anyway, Incredibles 2 does the first movie justice, but it isn't near-perfect like the first one.
Story: The story of Incredibles 2 revolves around this rich brother-sister duo who want to make superheroes legal again, so they enlist the help of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone to help generate some positive buzz so that they can get the law changed. Elastigirl ends up being their main spokesperson, and she's essentially sent out with a little camera embedded into her suit that will record her as she saves lives and defeats evil. But there is a bad dude, Screenslaver, who comes into play and is the main villain. You can probably tell where it's heading from here.
The story is definitely different than the first movie. They didn't just do a role reversal and smack a 2 at the end of the title; there is a noticeable difference in how this movie plays out, at least for the first act. There's more of a focus on the family, and less of a focus on one specific character doing superhero stuff. The individual superhero sequences are still there, but it definitely has more of a family driven vibe than the first one, which I believe was the correct direction to go. As I get to in the next section, the villain is what really brought down my score for this one. The build up was good, the family dynamic was great, the humor was spot on, but the villain didn't bring that presence that I was hoping for. The finale also seemed a bit too easy for the heroes.
Characters: Jack-Jack is the star of the show here. He is the reason for most of the laughs, as he's at the center of most of the film's humor. I also enjoyed watching Mr. Incredible try to be a somewhat regular dad after always having some sort of job. It turns out even superhero dads are just...dads. It was nice to see Elastigirl get the nod this time around to be the main on-screen superhero and it was cool to see how she takes care of business. Mr. Incredible relies on his strength and determination, but Elastigirl relies on her intelligence and various stretchy abilities. The villain in this film was incredibly disappointing as a follow up to Syndrome. I was afraid that this would happen, considering how great of a villain Syndrome was, but they really went the generic route with the villain in Incredibles 2 and it disappointed me quite a bit. The villain still does its job and there are some interesting aspects to it, but...eh. Finally, I wish Frozone had more screen time in this movie...but I wish he had more screen time in the original as well.
Animation: It's crazy how great animation looks these days. I didn't think I'd notice that much of a difference between the first one and this one, but there's a lot more noticeable detail (apart from the fact that everything just looks better, more crisp).
Screenplay: Brad Bird wrote another solid one here. For an animated film primarily meant for a younger audience, he doesn't write the characters to where it feels like they're talking to children. I like that.
Overall: Incredibles 2 is a worthy successor to The Incredibles. It has a weaker villain and I feel like the finale was not nearly as enjoyable, but everything else comes together to make it one of this year's best films.