Familiar but familial

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2018)

I adore The Incredibles. In fact, I'd say that of Pixar's early 2000s movies, it would be my favorite. Understandably, I was hyped for this movie when it was announced, to the point that I watched its prequel again in order to prepare myself for continuity errors here. After a bit of deliberation, my father managed to find a Friday evening that worked for both of us. Now that we have seen it, what is my personal opinion?
Admittedly, the already familiar plot does draw back on the potential of this movie as a sequel, since it pulls some of the same plot points from the first one but with drastic tweaks. Fundamentally, it's very similar to the first Incredibles, but when carried out, it's a tad more interesting than it would seem. It trades some of the originality and witty, insightful commentary for humor, which is actually a very acceptable trade-off. Sure, there are the clichÃ© jokes such as hand washing, but many of the others are fast-paced. I could actually recall most of my fellow audience members chuckling at some parts. Of course, we also have the family focus side, which is conceptually identical to the first movie but is twisted. Again, not original, but the edits are just enough to save it from being a retelling of the first movie. As time has drawn on, Pixar has continued to upgrade their films, and here, the aesthetics actually received some very glorious upgrades. The environments feel like more attention was added to the detail, and the effects take advantage of the 14-year gap with light flashes and real world tech like VR (the hypnotism goggles). As one of the first film's officers would say to Pixar regarding the overall animation, "You've done it again." I won't talk much about the main characters since they're the same, but I do admire the slight development of Jack-Jack and how the focus on the legal status of supers affects the returning characters. I was disappointed that we didn't see Mirage, Bomb Voyage, or some other characters from the original movie, but I do feel like the new supers and the Deavors made up for it in the end.
If you are a fan of the first Incredibles, you will either love this film for its action, humor, and improved animation, or hate it since, considering its similar plot to the prequel, it may as well have been a (n honestly well thought) fanfic of the first movie. For everyone else, this is more of an older kids' film due to its language and slightly more mature subject matter, but it still has the action, humor, and consistent commitment to family and life that should make it a solid bet for entertainment. I personally enjoyed it, and I expect that families will, most likely, end up satisfied.