A Great Sequel but Just Falls Short of Incredible

Rating: 9/10 (22 June 2018)

The animation in the original was great but this movie took it another leap forward. Having seen the original so many times, it took me a bit to adjust to it, but the movie never ceased to beautiful or have something imaginative. The attention to detail is insane (Bird has a reputation for being nitpicky, so much so that the animators of the original partially modelled the character Syndrome after him) and there was never a moment was I wasn't impressed or even blown away by how stunning this movie was. Adding on top of that, I would stack the action scenes in this movie up against any modern superhero blockbuster. They are thrilling, and I would even say astounding. My favourite was the runaway train scene. I hate to keep playing the same note, but I think the visual style in Incredibles 2 is as impressive if not more than any animated movie I've seen in the past couple of years. I also understand the worry about triggering epilepsy because one of the fights features a lot of flashing lights. I thought it was a sensational scene but the warning is warranted.
Moving from the animation to the characters, Bird and his team do a good job developing the familiar and introducing the new. Instead of Bob/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) being the main character, the focus shifts to Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter). I was worried when I saw the trailer, not because Helen was the hero, she's a great character and my trepidation was never about the story having a feminist slant. But the husband not being able to handle the family duties is a tired thing, it's been done over and over and this movie calling attention to it seemed counterproductive. Is anyone offended by a stay-at-home dad? It was a temporary arrangement and I feel like we've gotten past that being weird. Anyway, Elastigirl is a great hero and her narrative was compelling. I liked how she bounced off of her new corporate backers Winston Deaver (Bob Odenkirk) and Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener) and while those character play to the actor's strengths (Winston isn't Saul Goodman but he's not too far off), they had plenty of personality. I'll talk more about Bob later, but I also liked how Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner) hugged the line between having issues yet not being too bratty. Violet is pretty moody throughout the course of the movie, but they give her a nice moment near the end that compensates. Luscius/Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) is a funny returning character but he drifts in and out of the movie, I would have liked him to have more screen time. Everyone's favourite characters are back in Edna Mode (Brad Bird) and Jack-Jack. Jack-Jack was a riot and I loved almost every second we got to spend with him. Edna stole the show in the original and while she doesn't get more screen time, her appearance is pitch perfect. They go with the less is more plan with her and she's just as effective as Bob's suit designer/confidant.

Looking back on the trailer, a lot of the more annoying moments actually ended up being some of the better bits of the movie. Bob trying to handle Jack-Jack's endlessly varied power set was hilarious and although the movie centres around Elastigirl, the war on the home front occupied my attention completely. I still did find some minor problems however. Incredibles 2 shows off Helen's abilities superbly and she capably anchors the film. But on the downside, I thought the movie betrayed Bob's abilities as a superhero. He defeated a robot in the original that killed dozens of other heroes, yet he can't handle someone who has never tested their abilities in the field? I approve that the movie put Mr. and Mrs. Incredible on more equal footing (I'm also good with Helen being the more professional hero which is what Incredibles 2 seems to insinuate) but they didn't have to bring Bob down to build up Helen. I wish we had gotten more opportunities to see the family fight together as a team. As the trailer shows, the family each has their moments but rarely as a group. It doesn't detract from the action but the fight scenes with the group together were wonderful in the original and I wanted more of that. I would also comment that a lot of the subtext is going to fly over a younger kid's head. Its nice that they include adult friendly banter about complex issues, all the best family movies can appeal both to adults and kids. But I doubt kids are going to understand much of the debate that fuels the villain's motivations.
I watched the original entry before going to see this and it only inflated high expectations. The Incredibles is a masterpiece and it should be regarded as one of the best superhero movies ever made. This movie had a lot to live up to and despite some minor stumbles, I think Incredibles 2 comes close. It boasts some phenomenal action, the animation is top notch and while some of the story elements were better handled then others, I still left the theatre impressed. At worst, I took a couple of small issues with the progression of some of the characters, which is a relatively minor complaint. If you've been waiting for another adventure with the Incredibles, I think you're going to be pleased. Pixar makes phenomenal movies when they're firing on all cylinders and this movie is no exception. I highly recommend this to fans of the original and newcomers alike.