It's not up to par.

Rating: 5/10 (21 July 2018)

'Incredibles 2 (2018)' - sans 'The', for some reason - is essentially just a worse version of the first film, with its narrative playing out so incredibly closely to that of its predecessor that beat-for-beat comparisons are almost easy. How it took Brad Bird fourteen years to come up with this is anyone's guess. Its character arcs and overall messages actually feel as though they backtrack upon the original's, only to reach the same conclusions. Both this picture and even the first (or, at least, its finale) actually seem somewhat redundant due to this. The two narratives don't really feel like they connect all that well, considering where one leaves off and the other picks up, despite them carrying directly on from one another. What I mean is, while the main plot may flow from one piece to the other, many other threads and character arcs don't come together quite as cleanly. The only real positive this picture has going for it are some genuinely exciting and, at times, suspenseful action sequences. These moments tend to flow fairly well and provide some real, if brief, entertainment. In general, though, the film feels very subpar. There are some very poor character designs. The new heroes are honestly some of the worst characters I've seen, from a visual stand-point, in some time. They are actually difficult to look at and don't fit the aesthetic at all. Pixar should be producing better original characters than this. It may just be me, but the film seems slightly over-animated, too, and loses the 'realistic' look of the first, even if it is more impressively rendered. The flick's main issue is the writing, though. It feels off from the start. Overall, the movie lacks the narrative strength to stand on its own - thanks, in no small part, to some strange plot holes, poor motivations and weak characterisations. It fails to fully capture the quality or even spirit of the flick it follows. It also has a bizarre underlying philosophy that holds its very genre (or a subsection of it) - as well as the audience that enjoys such fare, which is apparently now oversaturated and underdeveloped (a debate best saved for another time), and even the increasing demand for that fare - seemingly in contempt while also playing entirely into the worst aspects of it and becoming the very thing - in concept, execution and intent - it appears to dislike. It ends up just another entry into a fading 'fad' with nothing new to add. 'The Incredibles (2004)' certainly can't be described as this, even all these years later. It's a shame, too, because this film didn't need to be better than that original feature, just a good one in it's own right. Honestly, it doesn't do a great job at that. 5/10