I first saw Incredibles when I was six years old on opening weekend. Right from first viewing, I absolutely loved it, and that love continued to grow stronger over the years. As of now, after watching the film 20-30 times, I can safely say that Incredibles is one of my favorite movies of all time, as well as being my favorite superhero, animated, Disney, and Pixar movie of all time. It combined great characters, animation, and action with a story what was both funny and heartfelt. It's one of those rare films that that gets better and better after every viewing.
Incredibles 2 was my most anticipated movie of 2018. I had been waiting 14 years for this sequel, and I really do mean that. Ever since I saw it, I kept talking with my dad how excited we were for a sequel, hoping that Pixar would one day make one. We speculated for years and years, but we eventually started to lose hope. But now, we have it, and I was ecstatic. How was it? Well... it's really good. As good as the original? No, but I wasn't expecting it to be. Incredibles 2 was still a lot of fun to watch and I had a big grin on my face throughout the entirety of the picture.
Incredibles 2 takes place right where Incredibles left off. The government still has a ban on superheroes, and all the supers are in hiding. After their spat with the Underminer, showcased at the end of the original film, an entrepreneur and superhero enthusiast gives them an opportunity to change the government's mind by doing hero work. He brings in Elastigirl, leaving Mr. Incredible to care for their kids alone. But, when a supervillian known as the Screenslaver attempts to bring chaos to the world to rid the resurgence of the supers, it's up to the Incredibles to stop this maurader.
There are some aspects of this film that I found to be better than the original. One of them is the animation. It is absolutely gorgeous, with so much color and vibrancy to the environments. Brad Bird does some really cool things with the lighting and how they add flair to the shot composition. It looks stunning, and the movie as a whole looks beautiful as a result. It looked like a comic book come to life, and it's awesome.
Speaking of visuals, I found the action scenes to be better executed than the first. They are a lot quicker, a lot snappier, and a lot more fluid. Incredibles 2 combines great cartoony stunt work with some creative and well utilized superpowers that make each action scene feel exciting. They are some of the best fight scenes I have seen all year.
The technical side of this film is phenomenal. The score is just as good as the previous, the shot composition is well assembled, the editing is exhilarating, and the universe is just as captivating as it was fourteen years ago. Seeing the world established so long ago in a nicer palette is breathtaking. It was nice to come back to this world. I missed it.
The characters are still all great. I love the family and their interactions with each other. They each have their own distinctive personalities, and the way they play off of each other is great to watch. What makes them stand out is how real their relationship is. Even though this is a cartoon superhero universe, the way they function as a family feels very genuine. Plus, all of the designs of the characters are fantastic and their voice acting is phenomenal.
All of my complaints have to do with the story. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's a good story. There are a lot of moments in the way that the story is told that I thought were well done. It's well written, with lots of genuinely funny humor and great dynamics between characters. However, I don't think it's particularly strong, and it pales in comparison to the first. For starters, I think there is too much going on. There are multiple plot points that occur within this movie, from Elastigirl getting her new job to Bob trying to take care of the kids to the development of Jack-Jack's powers to Violet's boy trouble to Dash's math test (as miniscule of a storyline this one is). As a result, the storytelling feels cluttered and it's not paced well. It's entertaining to watch, and seeing the stories come together is really cool, but the structure doesn't have the best flow.
I also found the dramatic moments of the movie to be rushed. In the first Incredibles movie, certain moments took their time to flesh out the gravity of the emotions through the characters and writing. That didn't happen in the sequel. There are some dramatic scenes in the film, but they don't take their time. As a result, they don't have much of an impact. I feel like the sequel was more intended to be a comedy, which is fine, but it still has moments where they intend for the audience to feel the emotions that the characters feel. However, it just doesn't come across.
The most disappointing aspect of the movie is the villain. Screenslaver has a neat concept and the backstory and motivation make sense, but they're told in such an uninteresting and predictable way. Plus, the reveal of who the villain is uses a cliche that has been used in many Disney movies in the past few years, like Zootopia, Coco, Big Hero 6, Frozen, and more. It's become annoying at this point. I won't spoil what exactly happens for those who haven't seen the movie yet, but I'll just say that once it was revealed who Screensaver was, I rolled my eyes.
From the looks of it, you're probably thinking I found this film completely underwhelmed. I will admit, I did slightly, but that's because of how much I love the original. I knew this wouldn't compare to it. I came into it hoping it would continue the story well and entertain me, and it did both. Despite its numerous flaws, I had a lot of fun with Incredibles 2. For me, the positives mostly made up for the negatives, and I walked out of the theater happy that this movie exists. I waited fourteen years for this movie, and I'm glad we finally get to see more these characters in this universe. It's a highly enjoyable sequel that I can't wait to see again.
Now just a heads up. If you are epileptic or prone to seizures, I would avoid watching this movie in theaters. There are quite a few scenes that have bright, flashing lights that encompass the entire screen. Most of them are short, but can still be dangerous. However, there is one sequence that is a full 90 seconds long. If that sounds like it is too much of a health risk, I would wait to see it once it comes on DVD so you can watch it with all the lights on. Be warned.
But yeah, Incredibles 2. Good stuff. Can't wait to see it again.
Final score: 7.5/10 (Good)
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