Incredibles 2

Score:  B+

Directed by Brad Bird
Starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Bob Odenkirk, Samuel L. Jackson
Running time: 118 minutes
Rated PG

Long Story Short:  Pixar's latest is a sequel to its incredibly popular superhero story from fourteen years ago.  The whole Parr family is back, with Helen/Elastigirl taking the heroic lead while Bob/Mr. Incredible looks after the home front, including its new star, baby Jack-Jack.  While it's made with the studio's typical high quality and has a few standout scenes, Incredibles 2 lacks the creative juice that powers its kin.  Highly recommended for families, but it's optional for others.


The world's most incredible family, the Parrs, are still at it, doing their best to fight crime with their super powers.  After the family fails to capture a villainous master mind, though - and leaves quite a mess in their wake in doing so - the government is no longer willing to tolerate the damage done.  Fortunately for them, not everyone agrees.  Winston Deavor (Odenkirk), a technology tycoon, is a big fan, and is convinced that if people see exactly what it is that heroes do, public opinion will turn in their favor and allow "supers" to operate in the open again.  Equipping her with a personal body cam, Winston selects Helen (Hunter), aka Elastigirl (the least "messy" of the heroes), to serve as a symbol for his plan.  While Helen generates positive headlines battling a new evil force who hypnotizes his victims, Bob (Nelson), or Mr. Incredible, has his hands full at home with the children, including a difficult to control baby Jack-Jack.

All the favorites from the original are back in the Incredibles 2, along with some intriguing new characters.  Holly Hunter's Helen/Elastigirl gets the featured role, at least when it comes to the superhero parts.  She is a strong, tenacious, determined crime fighter, though the film doesn't really delve too deeply into her character.  Helen clearly relishes the return to her old life and the adulation it produces, while time spent on worrying about the family (a common theme when mother characters return to their previous work) is refreshingly minimal.  Craig T. Nelson's Bob gets the harried, single stay-at-home parent role here, producing some good humor.  Among the children, Sarah Vowell's Violet gets a fairly substantial side plot dealing with her crush, though brother Dash (Huck Milner) just, well, runs around a lot.  It's baby Jack-Jack who is truly the featured family member here, bringing a new level to the challenges of infant care as his powers emerge without any ability to control them.  Bob Odenkirk's Winston is pleasantly cheerful and optimistic, coupling well with his clever, more grounded sister, Evelyn (Catherine Keener).

Incredibles 2 has Pixar's typically high overall quality to it, yet it lacks the unique creative spark and consistent cleverness that has distinguished the studio's best efforts.  In fact, I found this sequel more beholden to its status as a general, family superhero movie than to the spirit of a Pixar film, whose subgenres tend to be secondary to the core, universal stories and themes.  Certainly, this is still a very fun family adventure movie.  Elastigirl's solo missions in particular are quite thrilling; via animation, it's capable of bigger stunts than even the biggest Marvel films.  Baby Jack-Jack's wild outbursts are also entertaining, and serve as an interesting contrast: where Elastigirl is in complete control, Jack-Jack is completely unpredictable.  His opening outburst - featuring a fierce battle with a raccoon - is my favorite part of the movie, both for the novelty and charm of his powers and innocent glee as well as for its classic, trademark Pixar cleverness (which somehow almost always involves an animal).  But there is much in the film, too, that is unusually derivative for a Pixar film, or merely flat and uninspired.  The movie's main twist - you know there's going to be one - is staring you in the face (and I fully admit I don't figure out most twists ahead of time) from the outset, and the climactic scene both goes on far too long and is not very fun on account of rehashing much of what we've already seen as well as being - again - too predictable.  There are interesting moments here and there throughout the film, but it doesn't all come together with the same drive you expect from a Pixar film.

***

Incredibles 2 is another enjoyable movie from Pixar, and a perfectly fine choice for a night at the movies - but not absolute essential viewing, like some others.  Some of the only Pixar films I've never seen are the Cars trilogy - they just seem to me like pure family fare, without the universal appeal of their other titles.  While I wouldn't say Incredibles 2 is entirely like that, it is somewhere in between.  It also rankles me a bit to read critics deriding all other superhero films as dumb and tired out while praising this film.  I would argue that Incredibles 2, with its lack of anything new to add or say about the genre (whether straight or parody), if anything proves Marvel's genius at keeping itself remarkably fresh.  Anyway, the main audience for this Pixar film is families, and I would recommend Incredibles 2 to them without hesitation.  If you're coming to it as an adult Pixar fan, though, you may not be quite as satisfied.




By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52190148