The INCREDIBLES 2 has been a highly anticipated sequel for a whopping 14 years, and Pixar finally delivered! Was it everything we wanted it to be? Was it everything it could be? Was it GOOD? Yeah. It was good. Just good.
Before we go further, I try to make my reviews as spoiler free as possible, I just want to say that I am not going to give away anything that wasn’t in the first film, the publicly released information such as the premise, or any of the trailers for the INCREDIBLES 2.
The movie follows the Incredible family picking up right after the first movie left off, giving is a sense of the nonstop action that the movie will bring. After seeing the family taking on the Underminer, who showed up at the very end of the first movie, a wealthy businessman Winston Deavor (played by Bob Odenkirk) approaches the parents of the family about changing the laws governing superheroes. As you may recall, being a superhero out in the open has been illegal in this world, so politics would be need to be involved to change it.
So, businessman Deavor and his inventor sister Evelyn Deavor formulate a plan to use Elastigirl to make good publicity for modern superheroes to get them back in a positive light in the public eye because she makes the least amount of damage to the city while doing hero stuff. This leaves her husband Bob and his pride alone to take care of the kids, which leads to some hilarious scenes, relating to what it is like to be a single or stay at home parent.
It was quite enjoyable to see the whole super family and friends again, and have them ever so slightly expanded upon. The Incredible family was still very much themselves. Helen is focused on what’s best for her family, Bob still lives with his fragile ego being torn apart by having a family but still respects his wife and supports her, Violet likes boys, Dash is a snot nosed kid that runs fast, and Jack-Jack steals the show with his multiple superpowers. Just as Jack-Jack did in the previous movie and the extra short released afterward. Oh and Frozone, he still has that unseen sassy wife that yells threats at him from elsewhere in the house. Edna Mode returns in the sequel as well, with her wonderfully quirky personality. While there was a lot of nostalgia to enjoy, it was almost too much rehash which hurt the movie enough to prevent it from being great.
The sequel, however, wasn't completely devoid of anything new, though.
A handful of heroes were introduced and I would have loved to get to know them more, but I think that there simply wasn't the time for it. The movie was already a whole one hour and 58 minutes long, which is way pushing it for a kids movie these days. Surprisingly, it did not feel that long at all. There was always something interesting going on with a purpose. Perhaps the progression of the story was too crammed just trying to give enough screen time to the huge cast of characters they already had, and trying to develop the villain and the wealthy siblings at all at the same time.
Honestly, the movie felt like a bunch of ideas that would have worked better for a TV show, there was a lot of good stuff in there, but seemingly just not enough time for it all.
I would love to see an INCREDIBLES TV series, so long as it doesn't get too full of filler like the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON television series.
I actually waited way too long to write this review, because I didn’t find the movie to be particularly groundbreaking. It was a good, enjoyable time tied into some nostalgia and fun action, but not much beyond that. That’s not really a bad thing, I’m glad it wasn't a dumpster fire of hot garbage or I could see a lot of fans being very disappointed.
Though the INCREDIBLES 2 wasn’t everything that I hoped it would be, I still enjoyed every moment of it.
See the movie for the memories, new action scenes, and to have fun!
~Big Eyes
