Incredibles 2 (2018)

Incredibles 2

Written & Directed by Brad Bird

Accompanying Short: Bao

Written & Directed by Domee Shi

I’ll spare you the suspense and cut right to the chase: Incredibles 2 is a great example of a sequel that matches its predecessor, taking elements from the first film and expanding them and moving them in different ways. It’s still not perfect, but it’s just as good (and entertaining) as the original, and in some technical elements, even better.

The mother and her bao-child

A lot people responded extremely positively to Bao when it was released. For a little bit (like a week), it felt like that was all I was hearing about. And it’s cute, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like it might have been a tiny bit overhyped. A metaphor for a mother experiencing empty nest syndrome, it has a very sweet message at its center, but I suppose I went into it expecting something emotional, just based on everyone else’s reactions to it. In a sense, while the actual twist wasn’t spoiled, the idea of an emotional twist was, so it unfortunately colored my response to everything before it. From an artistic standpoint, it’s great to look at, and once again, it’s really great to have some diversity in these films and shorts, and I hope it continues to grow.

Incredibles 2 is the rare sequel that begins immediately at the end of the first film, which is successful in most ways, although there were times I had to stop and try to remember certain plot points from the original (such as why they’re living in a hotel). I think it’s more successful than not due to the fantastic chemistry of the characters as they are now; letting everyone become older changes the dynamics, and they all play well together here (as well as a slightly dysfunctional family with superpowers can).

Elastigirl in action

I think the best decision that writer/director Brad Bird makes is to put the action focus on Helen/Elastigirl. It’s (unfortunately) progressive to make the wife the star of the film, but I think it’s handled so well. In the first film, we spent so much time with Bob/Mr. Incredible and his powers and abilities; in this film, we get to see Elastigirl really stretch her muscles (pun somewhat intended) and show us all what she’s capable of (even more so than in the first film). It also allows for (a bit) of dialogue about the inherent sexism in the superhero genre, with Mr. Incredible struggling with not only NOT being the center of attention, but having that stem from his wife taking that place. The conversation isn’t really as deep as it could be (and one half of it is set up perfectly between Elastigirl and Evelyn, but sadly isn’t paid off after the primary twist and subsequent monologue), but it is a kid’s movie after all. Marvel, take a note, and carry the conversation forward, please.

Bob trying to keep the home life together

The film is timely also in its discussion of legality and the rights or wrongs of law. This boils down to a key conversation, the concept of laws being fair even if they’re unjust. It asks the questions: is a law really fair if it’s unjust? At what point are unjust laws broken? Is it okay to break an unjust law? What does the following of unjust laws teach our children? Again, it’s (primarily) a kid’s film, so those questions aren’t really answered, but I think (or at least, hope) that it gives the audiences, adult and child, something to think about.

Violet saves the family early in the film

From a technical standpoint, the film (mostly) improves on the first film, especially in terms of animation. Over the last 14 films since the original, we’ve seen some major breakthroughs in the quality of animation, so it makes sense that those improvements would be carried on here. It doesn’t hurt that by this film, Pixar is using an entirely different animation system than the original used, so everything had to be rebuilt in the computer. I don’t think there’s a MASSIVE difference between the two (it helps that The Incredibles franchise has a very stylized look to it anyway), but there are some definite improvements in the animation. The film isn’t technically perfect, however: the editing is very strange. The intercuts between Elastigirl’s plot and the shenanigans going on at home with Bob and the kids are placed at really awkward times, sometimes cutting in the middle of a moment of tension in one story to go to something irrelevant in the other. The use of cuts to relieve tension is a standard in editing, but here, it just feels…off. Not to mention that in at least one case, it creates a lapse in continuity in the timelines, as it’s daytime in one plot, then we cut to the other, where we montage to night, then we cut back to the first and it’s still daytime of the same day. It’s a minor detail, but things like that kept pulling me out of the movie.

Overall, I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. It’s funny, it’s cute, it’s got quite a bit of action, and it starts to inspire some deep conversations that one doesn’t always find in an animated film. It takes what works from the previous film, reuses what it can without over-saturating us (Edna Mode is, again, used JUST enough to make us want more), and takes the story into new places while remaining true to what made us like the original in the first place.

SHORT GRADE: B

FILM GRADE: B+