14 Years Later, Pixar Delivers

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2018)

This was a long time coming. It was 14 years between the original Incredibles and the long-anticipated sequel. Who would have thought back then that Finding Nemo would have a sequel before the Incredibles? Heck, the Chicago Cubs would win the World Series before Incredibles 2 came out. What makes the wait especially bad is that Incredibles ends with a cliffhanger. For 14 years, we were anticipating this movie. Pixar's standards are as high as they can be for one studio. To that extent, Incredibles 2 is a good movie, but it's far from Pixar's best. It's not as good as the first movie. It's not as good as Coco or Inside Out either. But it's still a very good movie.
Most of the new characters from the first movie returned. Here, Elastigirl goes out to save the world while Mr. Incredible stays home with the kids. It's pretty much the first movie, but with the roles reversed. And because of that, it often leads into territory where characters feel more like stereotypes than anything else. This is most evident with Violet and Dash, who fall into middle/high school stereotypes, whether it be bad grades or an upcoming first date. However, Elastigirl makes up for it by being a solid protagonist. She finds herself at crossroads, torn between parental duty and the superhero life. It's also interesting because she does begin to enjoy being a superhero again, which she actively spoke against in the first movie. Perhaps the most notable character is Jack Jack, who has dozens of powers, which he gained at the beginning of the first movie. However, he's still a baby. That being said, his few action scenes evoke classic cartoons, which is welcome in a modern movie. For instance, the Jack Jack/Racoon scene is very reminiscent of the Snoopy/chair scene from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Edna Mode returns, and she remains the fan favorite she was before. I'm not even sure what makes her such a good character. She's just Edna Mode. We also see the return of Frozone, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who's just as hilariously lovable as before. There are a whole host of new superheroes, most of which aren't particularly memorable, aside from their powers. The most notable is Void, who's essentially Syndrome, only not evil.
Speaking of villains, Screenslaver was a bad villain. Disney/Pixar really needs to stop with the whole "surprise villain" trend. It worked in Frozen because no one saw it coming. However, by my count, they've done it 3 additional times (Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Coco) between Frozen and now, so we've come to expect it. It happens more often than it doesn't now, and it's more of a game of figuring it out first. I figured out Screenslaver's identity almost immediately. Disney villains aren't as good as they used to be. Old Disney villains like Hades, Frollo, and Maleficent, to name a few, worked because they were fully developed characters. We don't really have those in Disney movies anymore. Speaking of villains, what happens to the Underminer? He just vanishes.
As you would expect from Pixar, the animation is immaculate. Obviously, the best looking parts are the action scenes, with the variety of characters and their abilities. Since its animated, the action scenes can be much more fast paced than a live action superhero movie. The film's climax worked so well because of the way individual superheroes teamed up and used their powers cooperatively. But even still, the animation has even noticeably improved from the first movie. Pixar, in terms of animation, is the industry standard, and they've earned that title for a reason.