Suffers from predictability, but the presentation is still very good.

Rating: 6/10 (11 November 2018)

"Incredibles 2" sees the Parr family split up: Helen 'Elastigirl' is now given the crimefighting to do, while her husband has to manage the family. If I recall correctly, their roles here are slightly reversed from the original, which is interesting because both parents get to show off facets of their characters that were not fully touched upon in the older movie. That's what a sequel is supposed to do, after all.
The necessary result of the split-up is that the film is divided into A-story (superhero shenanigans) and B-story (domestic stuff) that have to come together in the last act. Unfortunately, the A-story is rather predictable and underdeveloped, the B-story lacks structure, and the connection between the two feels a bit forced.
But before I get too down on this film, let me talk a bit about the good things, of which there are many: This is still a thoroughly entertaining film! I did not see it in its original language, so I can't comment on the voice acting (the German dub is pretty good, if anyone cares), but the animation is nice to look at; just detailed enough to make the world tangible, but never to the extent that the film forgets it's a cartoon. There are some very neatly designed environments and set-pieces that ensure the film never looks dull, and though there are funnier Pixar movies, they never go too long without cracking a joke or two. There are also a great number of visual jokes and clever camera angles. The only negative to the visual presentation of the film is that some of the action scenes don't follow any rules of physics, so there is very little tension to them.
What made me have a rather middling reception to the film (at least compared to the first one) had mostly to do with the way the story was told. In the first act, the movie touches upon some interesting themes (Do we have to follow the law if the law is unjust? etc.), but it never gets too far in developing them before throwing in the generic villain of the week. The conflicts between the family are generally well-developed, but their solution is forced due to the formulaic structure of the movie.
Another big issue to me was that the Helen-goes-crimefighting storyline was painfully predictable. Though it had some cool visual ideas, you can see almost all of the plot points coming from miles away. The family subplot was far more entertaining, mainly thanks to the larger number of jokes. None of the character arcs were too far out of the ordinary (Violet's crush doesn't like her back, Jack-Jack discovers his powers, Bob is in over his head being the stay-at-home dad), but from the storytelling in these scenes it is clear that Brad Bird and company cared more about the character interactions and dynamics than the story. As a result, some of the shifts between the family drama and the action-heavy fight against the villain are less than fluent, because the themes are so disparate.
Like many other kids' animation films, this movie feels like there are two stories that weren't strong enough to hold its audience's attention on their own, so they threw them together and tried to make that work. As a result, "Incredibles 2" is a disappointment, but a minor one and measured against its (great) predecessor. So it's still miles above the last couple "Despicable Me" movies or similar films. I wouldn't rush out to buy the blu-ray, but the next time I watch the original, I might just make it a double feature.