Following the massive success of The Incredibles and given its open ending, many people were excited about a possible sequel. However, Pixar decided to focus on other projects instead, many good, i.e. Ratatouille, Up, WALL-E, Toy Story 3, and Inside Out, and some not so good, i.e. the Cars movies, Monsters University, and The Good Dinosaur. In the meantime, there was a massive resurgence in superhero movies following the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When it was finally announced that a sequel was in the works, Brad Bird faced many challenges, such as making this film distinguishable from other superhero movies, as well as following up such a beloved movie. So, 14 years later, we finally have The Incredibles 2. Is it a worth successor to the first film, and was it worth the wait?
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Rating
To put it simply, yes! This film is both a worthy successor to the original and is definitely worth the wait. Before going any further, just a fair warning: this review will contain spoilers for the first film. If you haven’t seen the first Incredibles, STOP READING THIS REVIEW and go watch the original. Then you can return and read this further.
Anyway, the film opens right where the first movie left off with the Parr’s fighting with The Underminer, once again voiced by John Ratzenberger. While being unable to capture him, the family manages to stop his giant drill from destroying City Hall. However, instead of being treated as heroes for saving the day, they’re arrested since this is still a world where superheroes are outlawed. Since their house was destroyed at the end of the first movie and the “Superhero Relocation” program has been shut down, the Parr’s have to live in a motel for two weeks. Hope seems lost until Bob (Mr. Incredible), Helen (Elastigirl), and Lucius (Frozone) are invited to meet with a multi-billionaire and head of DEVTECH Winston Deavor, voiced by Bob Odenkirk. Along with his sister, co-owner and designer Evelyn Deavor, voiced by Catherine Keener, Winston is a major fan of superheroes and wants to get the law against them turned over. They hire Elastigirl, since she’s the least destructive of the three, to be their ambassador and do her thing as a superhero while wearing a camera on her costume to show her super-heroics in action. In exchange, Winston has the Parr’s move into a brand new home, a huge mansion that Winston happens to own as a summer home. While Helen goes off to save the day, Bob offers to stay home and raise the kids. As the movie goes on, Helen has to fight off a new supervillain known as the Screenslaver, while Bob has to learn how to raise three kids on his own, especially when Jack Jack starts showing off his numerous powers.
That’s all I can say about the plot without giving away spoilers. Suffice it to say that the movie has a few twists throughout that, while somewhat predictable, can throw people for a loop. To get into the positives, basically everything that worked in the first film is still here. For one, this has most of the returning cast from the first film, including Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible, Holly Hunter as Elastigirl, Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, Sarah Vowell as Violet, and Brad Bird as Edna. While they did replace some of the actors, including replacing Spencer Fox with Huck Milner for Dash and replacing Bud Luckey with Jonathan Banks as Rick Dicker, unless you’re really looking for it, it’s practically night and day. Also returning from the first film is composer Michael Giacchino, whose score retains that 60s spy caper feel from the first film. The original actors definitely fit into their roles almost as if this sequel came out just two years after the first film, and the new actors are a welcome addition. It is also refreshing to see Elastigirl getting the spotlight since the first film was primarily Mr. Incredible’s story. There’s also some great slapstick involving Jack Jack as the family tries to deal with the numerous powers he has. Like the first one, this movie does explore a lot of similar themes, such as the struggles a family can go through, how difficult it can be to balance family life with work life in a way, and the struggle single parents especially go through in raising kids on their own.
Now while I do enjoy this film as whole, there are a few issues I had with the film. The film does play like a bit of reversal of the first film, just replace Mr. Incredible with Elastigirl, to the point where much of the film feels like an animated version of Mr. Mom. That being said, it is still fun seeing Bob struggle with helping Dash with his homework, getting on Violet’s good graces after a date gone bad, and again dealing with Jack Jack’s new powers. Also, there’s a point in the movie where the kids are the main heroes and, while they’re not necessarily bad or annoying, it is a shame to not see Mr. Incredible or Elastigirl doing any heroics, even if it’s for a short while. Lastly, this might be a personal thing, but part of me feels like this movie was more so made for audiences who grew up with the first film rather than being for both them and today’s kids. Not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that, but I think it would’ve been better if there were more of a balance.
Problems aside, I am still glad this movie was made in the first place. While it certainly would have been alright if the first one was just a standalone film, it’s great that we at least have some kind of follow-up where we get to see the family in action one again. In summation, The Incredibles 2 is a worthwhile sequel that still has the fun and spirit of the first film, even if it doesn’t quite live up to the original.
