The Incredibles, the only Pixar movie that actually needed a sequel, has finally gotten a sequel and, after 15 years, was it worth the wait? No. No, we should already be on Incredibles 6 by now but noooooo… we had to have a Cars trilogy and a Monsters Inc. prequel.
Oh, hell… I guess I should be grateful that there was a sequel at all and even more grateful that it’s a good sequel almost…. just almost… as high in quality as the original film.
Yes friends, the Incredibles are back… not that they’ve actually had time to go anywhere because the new movie picks up right were the last one left off with the Underminer’s attack on the city but, this is not the story about that… this is a story about choice and how Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl want to make sure that their children have a choice to become superheroes by helping to get the law changed.
To help them, they are approached by Winston Deavor who wants to bring the superheroes back but, of course, there’s a supervillain in the mix as well with the Screenslaver who uses his powers of hypnosis through television screens to bend the city and the supers to his will.
Getting the cons out of the way first, I think that the main reason why I’m perceiving this movie as a slightly lesser followup to the original is mainly because of the villain and, the only reason for that is that the villain is following in the footsteps of Jason Lee’s Syndrome who was just… awesome. Screenslaver is fine. I like his eventually revealed motivations and I like the gimmick even if it’s not new and does end up telegraphing a very obvious twist in the movie, but damn… I do not envy this villain for the inevitable comparisons that myself and many others are making.
As for the rest of the film, honestly, I don’t know if it could have been better. Perhaps if The Incredibles were kept as a team and not separated, but then again… that’s what keeps the climaxes of these movie so special so, in a way, I’m okay with this deficiency.
Incredibles 2 is just a great movie. The action sequences are all clever and wild, the family dynamic is challenged and flipped on its head, and I even liked the not-so-subtle jab at today’s obsession with screen culture. This isn’t just a sequel, it’s a gift of a movie and now, I guess it’s time to start the next decade and a half wait for Incredibles 3.
I’ll be in my late 50’s by then, but I’ll be there on opening day. Just shut your kids up.
Jason Gaston 