Rated PG | 118 mins.
Directed by Brad Bird
Starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Samuel L. Jackson, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener
It took Disney/Pixar nearly a decade-and-a-half (14 years to be exact) to deliver the long overdue sequel to one of their best films in their entire history. There are high school freshman who were born the year the original movie made its debut and I was personally a high school freshman when it did! Being one of the best Pixar films also comes with the question of whether or not its sequel meets the same standards. And it does. With flying colors. Everything about Incredibles 2 checked off all the boxes: a great story line, (most of) the original cast, a broken villain, action, humor, gadgets, a baby fighting a raccoon, etc.
Picking up exactly where The Incredibles left off, the Parr's find themselves in a bit of a pickle. Supers are still considered illegal even after the family leaves behind major damage to their city as they were trying to stop super-villain, The Underminer (good luck charm John Ratzenberger). Enter Winston and Evelyn Deavor (Odenkirk and Keener), two siblings who want to restructure the public view of supers and to gain their trust and support once again. Elastigirl (Hunter) is selected to take on the first mission, leaving her beloved family behind, which means Mr. Incredible (Nelson) takes on the new role of a stay-at-home dad and hilarity ensues.
There's some sort of satisfaction watching the role of the mother and father swap in this film. The mother gets to do all the intense fight scenes, intense motorcycle rides, and chase down runaway trains while the father is stuck at home, having an ego crisis and trying to raise a teenage daughter, learn new math for his son, and keep watch on an unpredictable toddler. What made the movie work so well was it gave a spotlight to each member of the family almost evenly and we got to learn more about each one of them that we hadn't in The Incredibles.
On the technical side of things, Incredibles 2 hits a home run. It's no wonder why it took this long to get it out. Disney and Pixar have come a long way since Toy Story, and with technology constantly evolving, they were able to showcase everything they've learned and applied it to this film. The attention to detail that the art and design team is superior. The physics of things, the sound effects, the costume and set designs, and the 1950s architecture are all something to really appreciate and bask in. Everything about the aesthetic was so visually appealing.
In the end, the movie is simply (and obviously) about family, as cliché as it may seem. A lot of heart was put into this film and a lot came out. It takes having some sense of family to really feel like a superhero. You support each other no matter what and you're always there for one another. Each person has their own strengths and their own weaknesses and when you combine all of that into a team you get something, well, incredible. ★★★★★
★★★★★ Classic | ★★★★ Excellent | ★★★ Good | ★★ Fair | ★ Poor
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