Incredibles 2 (2018) Movie Review and Film Summary

Review: Incredibles 2 is about as action packed, well-conceived, and carefully executed as sequels can get in the superhero (and animated) genre. Brad Bird and Pixar Studios manage to inject new life into a world we haven’t visited in well over a decade.

incredibles 2 pixar film 2018 — Incredibles 2 (2018) from Pixar Studios

I often look back at this era of Disney movies and feel brainwashed. I’ve been told Disney was in a decline and that their glory days were long gone. Perhaps that may be true to a point, but I’m beginning to think that says more about how great their original movies were twenty-ish years ago (Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille) and less about what their releases were like in the late 2010s (Finding Dory, Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2).

Now you’ll notice the three I listed out as examples of their 2010s output are all sequels, and that’s because Pixar Studios dabbled heavily in sequels as the decade began to wane (there was also Cars 3, which we choose not to talk about if possible). There’s an inherent hesitancy to accept sequels on face value – many are often cheap cash grabs and insincere regurgitations of the same themes over and over – but Pixar was mostly managing to get it right; adapting new ideas to characters and set pieces and actually finding their own pockets.

I wrote extensively about Toy Story 4 a couple days ago, which is probably my favorite of the bunch that came out around this time, but Incredibles 2 is not far behind. Incredibles 2 is often quirky and admirably childish similarly to how the original was, but it extends far beyond that now, feeling like a commentary on our current state of superhero fare without falling into the same pitfalls as its genre contemporaries so often do.

There’s a rather conceivable scenario where Incredibles 2 turns out the same way Iron Man 2, Wonder Woman 1984, and an endless stream of other superhero franchise sequels did. Those movies struggled to inject new blood into themselves and introduce characters and storylines that feel as necessary as the ones presented in the original. They feel like microwaved versions of a better meal being consumed as mediocre leftovers of the actual thing.

Incredibles 2 noticeably doesn’t do that. It moves the Parr family out of their home and into the big city. It has themes that differ from the original, this time using the context of modern gender politics to dive into the relationship between Bob (Craig T. Nelson) and Helen (Holly Hunter), as well as the trials of adolescence with Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner).

It helps that Incredibles 2 is often very funny and engaging. The movie doesn’t feel phoned in or insincere as a concept. There’s a raised floor knowing Brad Bird directed it, and that the same care was instilled in Incredibles 2 as there was in the original, as well as his other Pixar film Ratatouille. He’s got one of the better filmographies of the directors that have spearheaded multiple Pixar movies. He feels in-tune with where to build tension and where to build character, and how much time to spend on both and when to interweave the two.

The voice acting in Incredibles 2 is also on par with the original, often exceeding it with the new cast that falls perfectly in line with the mainstays. I honestly think these two movies have some of the best voiceover work in any of the studio’s projects, and while it may not feel as starry as some of the other franchises, the quality level is as consistent as any.

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Bob Odenkirk (as Winston, leader of a world-class telecommunications company insistent on bringing superheroes back to the spotlight) and Catherine Keener (as Evelyn, Winston’s sister and the brainchild of the whole operation) are the two biggest edition to a cast that already includes Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, and more, and they fit like a glove in a movie that always feels light and never gets bogged down in superhero politics and expansive worldbuilding.

Huck Milner is a seamless new addition as he takes over the voice of Dash, and Sarah Vowell effortlessly appears as Violet once again, not feeling out of place as the teenage daughter despite the time in-between the production between these two films.

And frankly, Incredibles 2 is about as action packed, well-conceived, and carefully executed as sequels can get in this genre. It may work a bit too hard for its ending, as well as choreograph a third act plot twist that feels all too obvious, but the road to get there is entertaining, nonetheless. It grabs your emotions and senses and doesn’t let up until the final frame. Good job by Pixar for proving us wrong about sequels once again.

Rating

Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation, Family, Superhero

Watch Incredibles 2 (2018) on Disney+ and VOD here

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