Incredibles 2 2018

[7.6/10] It’s a shame that Pixar has become more and more of a sequel factory. While the likes of say, Toy Story 3, suggest that the studio can still maintain a high level of quality while repurposing familiar characters, the Pixar brand name itself had become so good that it was one of the few locales within tentpole filmmaking that executives would take chances on original properties with the understanding that the studio’s name alone would give folks reason to come to the theater. The quality of the output hasn’t necessarily diminished, but there’s a loss of the new, as fellow critic Anton Ego might put it, that is regrettable.

Enter Incredibles 2, an energetic, perfectly enjoyable, well-made sequel that is ultimately good enough but forgettable. Arriving in theaters fourteen years after the original, it takes place just months after the events of the first movie. A block-busting fight with the Underminer leads to the government’s super-relocation program to end, and causes the Incredibles (and Frozone) to accept some help from DEVTECH, a private company led by slick salesman and Incredibles fanboy Winston, and his more down-to-earth, genius inventor Evelyn.

The DEVTECH campaign selects Elastigirl as its vanguard, which means she has to be away from home, and Mr. Incredible has to look after the kids. In the process, Bob Parr has to adjust to being out of the limelight and the trials and travails of domestic life, while Helen has to handle her anxieties about being separated from her family while tracking down the villainous Screenslayer, who commandeers the local airwaves to hypnotize everyone within eyeshot.

The film works as a character drama. Bob’s exhausted adventures trying to deal with a daughter whose love life he inadvertently throttled, a son whom he can’t help in school, and a baby with unpredictable and uncontrollable powers are endearing and relatable, even when framed within the superhero guise. At the same time, his only barely-restrained jealousy that his new benefactors think Elastigirl can do the hero thing better than he can is an interesting wrinkle, one that allows the movie to deftly explore the growing pains of changing times flipping the traditional gender roles with work and family.

At the same time, the film reserves some good character stories for Helen Parr. While occasionally Incredibles 2 gets Elastigirl lost in its fairly standard conspiracy plot, there’s rich material to be mined from Helen having to be apart from her kids in the hopes of opening doors for them in the future, while worrying about how they’re doing without her. And while given less time by comparison, the kids’ smaller concerns and squabbles are briefer but nicely crafted as well.

The best element of Incredibles 2 is the same thing that stood out in its predecessor -- the way that the dialogue and conversations about these ideas, the superheroic turned into a family matter, feel layered and real despite the outsized setting. When Bob and Helen chat on the phone or express their anxieties and admit their jealousies before bed, there’s a truth to the complicated issues bound up in this change of lifestyle for both of them, and their whole family, that helps the emotional conflict hit home.

By the same token, while the first Incredibles movie was nothing to sneeze at in terms of its visuals, Incredibles 2 is a giant leap forward. Between a rave-like battle between hero and villain that finds artistry (and, fair warning, audience members with epilepsy) in its flickering black and white, and a tête-à-tête between Violet’s force-field projections and a rival’s portal-creating powers that shows boundless relational creativity, the movie has all manner of impressive sequences.

But more importantly, in a medium that tends toward the fantastical, there is something unbelievably expressive about the characters in the film. Subtle changes in body language or facial expressions or just the barely noticeable tilt of the head make the Parrs feel so much more alive when they’re hashing out their concerns and/or hypnotic suggestions. Beyond the flashy set pieces, the advances in animation and particular choices made in the film do a great deal to make the Incredibles seem like real people and not just supers on the screen.

Incredibles 2 has something of a muddled message about those screen-based supers. In keeping with the first film’s “villain who has a point that takes things way out of proportion”, the Screenslayer laments the world’s adulation for and dependence on superheroes. While in-universe, the baddie is referring to actual caped crusaders, the bad guy’s manifesto serves as a thinly-veiled metaphor for the omnipresence of superhero media in American culture.

With the villain’s focus on hypnotizing anyone with a screen, writer-director Brad Bird bakes in a criticism of people using superheroes as escapism, as an excuse not to live their lives or take action to make the world a better place, and instead rely on our fictional better selves within those screens for comfort and anesthesia. There’s not really a firm rebuttal, except for the fact that the good guys in the film do, in fact, fight the good fight, and expose the Screenslayer as malicious rather than crusading. It’s an interesting idea to play with, even if Incredibles 2 never really nails it down beyond the first layer.

Even with all that going for it, Incredibles 2 is merely quite good. It’s an enjoyable two hours at the cinema, with a solidly built movie that features earned family drama, some exciting battles, and the endearing comedy that comes from the interactions between a returning Edna Mode and the ever-mercurial Jack Jack. That is more than enough for any film, especially one trying to recapture the magic nearly a decade and a half after its predecessor made its debut.

But Pixar has, or at least had, set a standard to where “quite good” can only be a disappointment. There’s nothing wrong, or at least nothing bad about Incredibles 2, but it rarely, if ever, grazes greatness when dusting off these characters from 2004, and you can’t help but the resources and creativity used to make it being taken away from some original movie that might otherwise have broken new ground for the studio and for animated movies more generally.

It’s churish to slate a film for what it isn’t, let alone for the opportunity cost of whatever movie might have taken its place. If you enjoyed the first Incredibles movie, you will undoubtedly enjoy this one as well, which expands on the first and finds new ways to explore the idea of superheroes and family and the two intertwined. But if you’re waiting for the next Pixar movie to knock your socks off, and remind you how irrepressibly creative and daring all ages movie-making can be, then you’ll walk out of Incredibles 2 thinking the studio is still trying to find its supersuit once again.

“Help me bring supers back into the sunlight”.

It’s been 14 years.

After all these years and sitting through three ‘Cars’ movies - The only sequel that needed to happen has finally happened. It couldn't come quickly enough. Because I cherish ‘The Incredibles’ on multiple repeats when I was little. Also losing count of how many times I've played the PS2 game version. So yeah, this meant the world to me and anticipating a sequel for a long time, just like everyone else.

While ‘Incredibles 2’ doesn't quite hold a candle to the first, but still, I liked it. There’s a lot to like and enjoy. And yet recognize it’s flaws as well. It's not a disappointment, which makes me happy, just judging by Pixar recent involvement with it’s sequels.

Brad Bird is a talented film marker and storyteller, both in animation and live action. In animation however is where he really shines. Bringing a rich style of nostalgia that clearly influenced his personal life - Going back to the golden age of cinema and inputting into his work. Same thing applies with this movie and managing to keep the level of quality strong after all these years.

The animation was great, now that’s nothing new, yet this needs repeating. It’s bright, colorful, and full of life. Pixar always succeeds in animation. The choreography during the action sequences was energetic and exciting with the animation being glue to hold it altogether.

The character’s screen time is perfectly balance so you got to see just enough of everyone. Probably the most enjoyable part of the whole movie is watching Bob (Or Mr. Incredible, if you like) trying to take care of his kids. I think the reason why is the family dynamic and the reverse roles in that situation. Most of the heart and humor are in those scenes. I mean, it’s better than the actual plot itself involving Elastic girl.

Now this ties in with my main issues: The villains are paper thin and painful generic. I don’t want to spoil anything, but then again, the movie basically spoils itself from having a predictable narrative. When the villains motivations are revealed it’s pretty ridiculous and you just don’t buy it.

I wished this wasn't a continuation from the first, especially when you notice the actors who voiced these characters sound much older, since this takes place immediately after the original. It would've been a lot better if it was set years later in a new time period, where more homages to campy superhero movies and TV shows, because around the 60’s or 70’s, the genre itself got more corny, but also gives Pixar more material to work on and have a creative spin on it. I know it may seem unfair to keep comparing this to the first, but this movie does everything it can to remind you of the first film, including plot points- So not really.

Oh and is it just me, or dose Catherine Keener character model looks exactly like Roxanne Ritchi from ‘Megamind’.

Overall rating: ‘Incredibles 2’ is a good movie and came out around the perfect time where superhero movies are bigger than ever. I can safely say it was worth the wait. Again, not quite as clever or excellent, although I am glad we finally got a sequel, good or bad.

I’ll see you in 25 years.

Apparently, it has been fourteen years since the first Incredible film came out and this type of gap between sequels always makes me nervous. For instance, The Incredibles 2 starts off minutes after The Incredibles movie concluded. Did it? I honestly could not remember.
The film fires us into the Parr family immediately with all the kinetic and colourful action of its predecessor and this is not a bad thing.

The standard of the voice acting and animation is as usual top-notch and getting back into the life of the superhero Parrs was easy. Mr. Incredible having to stay at home and look after the children is perhaps not as ‘different’ as the makers think and in truth the man not being able to cope with raising the kids is very cliched, as cliched as having women not being leads and so the direction of the story falls between two stools. Whilst the Soy Drinking Virtue Signaller in me applauds the different take on the superhero animation genre, the old man who has seen it all before also sighed and raised his eyes to the heavens as well. Having said that the audience of younger adults and children may not have seen these scenarios before, so cynicism probably needs to be put back in the box or at least diluted.
Despite this, the film is entertaining and made me laugh and there is fun to be had for adults that will pass over the heads of the ‘adults in waiting’ that will lap up the brightly lit and explosive action.

All in all, despite the message the makers are trying to get across one cannot help feeling that the biggest talking point from the movie will be Jack-Jack and his blossoming and seemingly uncontrollable powers. A set-piece with a raccoon will raise the roof.

The Incredibles 2 is not as good as The Incredibles but certainly not as bad as some will have you believe. Sure, enough they have tried to address modern-day concerns and issues but that is what many films do and have always done so getting overly excited about this is a redundancy. The message, and indeed story are perhaps not as fresh as Bird believed them to be and disappointedly for a film that is gently trying to prod some more contentious modern issues the story and characters can feel hackneyed with more of the whiff of cliché and lazy stereotyping.

Deep breath and relax though – it is a light-hearted animation about a slightly silly superhero family that is made mainly for the younger cinema-goers and as such it does the job comfortably.

Synopsis: Continuing where the first film left off, the Incredibles work together to defeat the Underminer...only for it to result in serious destruction of the city. When superheroes are made illegal, the Parr family thinks it's time to hang up their super-suits...until Bob (Mr. Incredible) and Helen (Elastigirl) get contacted by a wealthy businessman who wants to change that law. He selects Elastigirl to be his "it" girl, and she soon saves the day...only to find out that an old nemesis, known as Screenslaver, is bent on her and her family's destruction. Who could this evil villain be? Will the Incredibles be able to save the day once again?

The Good: Pixar basically pioneered the computer-animated film, so, it's no surprise that the animation here is beautiful. The decades-old setting brings some old-school charm, particularly when the kids are seen watching the vintage Saturday morning cartoon Jonny Quest. As you'd expect, the action was spot-on.

The Bad: If only the rest of the movie matched up. As much as I love female superheroes, Elastigirl was annoying here; her voice nearly drove me bonkers. Violet's adolescent tantrums were just as ingratiating. The villain here wasn't very convincing, either. Some content concerns popped up as well: Though I expected violence, profanity (including misuses of God's name) and occasional crudity simply weren't necessary.

Conclusion: I first saw The Incredibles in a packed theater back in November 2004, and had a blast with it; so much so that, the following March, I begged my mother to buy the DVD when it was released. We popped the movie in one night...and never watched it again; soon after, I sold it at one of our garage sales. On the small screen--which really was small; we didn't have a very big television set back then--it just wasn't the same; it was almost as if I were watching Barney and Friends instead. Despite that, I had heard great things about the long-awaited sequel, so, I figured, why not? Well, I hate to say it, but Pixar got it wrong here. Yes, the animation was fabulous, but, these days, you need more than great visuals to win me over. While the content concerns were minor, the problems lied in poor voice work, annoying characters, and a sub-par villain. Part of me says they shouldn't make an Incredibles 3; then again, that would give them a chance to redeem themselves for this second outing.

After a 14 year wait Brad Bird showcases everything that makes him a master of animation by throwing us back into the wonderfully creative world of everyone favourite super family. Naturally there have been comparisons made to the 2004 original and I have to agree that the first movie is definitely the better of the two. However that does not mean that this is not an absurdly entertaining and well executed movie.

Bird leans into the Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic even more for this film than last time and his attitude of writing and directing action scenes as if it were for a high budget live-action film makes for some pulse racing moments serving as a good reminder for why Ghost Protical is the best Mission Impossible! There are also some really funny moments (a stand out scene comes to mind involving a raccoon) and all of the characters feel as relatable and fully realised as they did in 2004

.My one issue is that the villain subplot in 3rd act reveal are pretty weak, this is why I think people are so quick to compare the two films. This is a minor compliant as it doesn’t distract from the overall quality of the film.

Incredibles 2 was well worth the wait and may even be the best pixar sequel in my humble opinion (and no I haven’t forgotten about Toy Story 3).

I don't remember the original Incredibles (2004) very well. In fact, I hardly remember anything about it, at all. That probably has something to do with the fact that I first and last watched it well over a decade ago. In hindsight, revisiting the first film before watching this sequel would have been wise… But since I effectively watched this movie with a fresh slate—both because of how long it had been since I saw the first movie, and because my film tastes have changed so much in the intervening years—I can judge this one on its own merits, without basing my opinion on (or making comparisons to) its predecessor.

So: Incredibles 2. It's… Pixar. That much is obvious. The animation style is unmistakable—and I don't just mean the visual design of everything. Pixar films have a certain quality to them in how things move, often manifested in physics that seem just slightly (or grossly) "wrong" for what you're actually seeing. Some people don't mind this (or even notice it, honestly), but it bugs me.

Obviously, in a movie about superheroes (or anthropomorphized emotions, or sentient toys, or…), things that can't happen in real life are going to happen. But stuff that's straight out of daily life, like cars driving around—that should be correct. Basic object physics should behave realistically, if only to avoid breaking immersion. I was pulled out of this movie more than a few times by some small thing, like a truck pulling out of its motel parking lot space too quickly.

Of course, it's hard to say whether the basic object physics in the film (we'll ignore anything involving powers) are objectively "wrong" without doing a bunch of math that I (frankly) avoided having to study in school, and don't want to start on now. But I like to think that I have enough experience with the world that I can trust my own feelings of "that's not how that works".

But I'm getting off into the weeds here. We all know that animation has certain common quirks, and one of those quirks is making objects behave slightly unrealistically for pacing or other reasons. As a reasonably avid anime viewer, and childhood fan of things like Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner cartoons, I'm well aware that animation doesn't have to follow the laws of physics to be believable.

Other things pulled me out as well, though. Still little things—like why, when Screenslaver's voice-over ended while Elastigirl was still tracking down "his" broadcast site, nobody in the television studio piped up. They were in the middle of an interview, after all. There should have been some chatter over the remote voice link. Details always get me.

Don't let my nitpicking dissuade you from seeing the film, though! I'm not the target audience, certainly—Pixar's films are mostly targeted at kids, and I eventually got around to watching this mostly because my 13-year-old nephew talked about it. (Plus, Pixar films are usually good for those times when you don't have the mental energy to watch something "made for adults". They're easy viewing.)

As usual, Pixar inserted some apt social commentary. Just as WALL·E (2008) made its points about corporate greed and consumerism to the adults while the kids enjoyed the space robots, Incredibles 2 had some thought-provoking words to say about technology and the role of television in our society for the adults to chew on while kids took in the superhero action. No one would accuse this movie of being anything but what it is—eye candy for kids with little tidbits to keep their parents from falling asleep—but it's always nice that PIxar does throw those tidbits in, often in ways that parents of older children can use to jump-start their own discussions if they want to.

Incredibles 2 is watchable. It's not amazing, but I enjoyed it well enough despite my nitpicks above.

The animation just is incredible when you look at them back to back and yet still all the good parts are there. ElastiGirl is back with her curvacious backside that was the surprise star of the first film. It's nice to see her taking a lead. Her stealth scene in the first movie was an excellent and highly underrated sequence and that basically gets it's own movie. Meanwhile back at home Mr. Incredible has to deal with family life. He gets over not being in the spotlight which I appreciate and just commits to the cause. The oddest moment of the film is watching the family learn about Jack-Jack's powers as if they were unable to look up during that final sequence of the first film. The villain in this film is somewhat predictable but this is a movie for children no matter how fun it is. Still the movie does a lot to make you try to get this person. Which is downright hilarious at points.

I was expecting more teenage angst from Violet Parr but it was pleasantly at just the right amount. She overreacts as teenagers are want to do but never so much it seems unreasonable. Her powers get a even more flexibility which was a plus. Dash is Dash. His hair looks like a man-bun and I didn't like that. But that's like the only thing I didn't like about him.

All in all it was an excellent movie.

No PostCredits scene, but the postcredits closing graphic is a fun call-back.

I like it quite a bit, but this makes some obvious mistakes compared to the first one.
I generally think this has excellent directorial vision; there’s definitely a specific vibe and mood communicated through the camera angles, cartoony/exaggerated designs, vibrant colours and retro score.
It also has some very creative action sequences (did they rip off Spiderman 2 with the train set piece?), and there’s a lot of good, clever comedy in it. Edna is a massive scene stealer once again.
I even appreciate the deeper layers in here about public relations and gender roles, which isn’t super deep or profound, but a little bit substance is always appreciated for films like these. The themes are very elegantly woven into the character arcs of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, which pushes the franchise and their characters forward. Therefore, I don’t understand the people who claim this is a repeat of the first movie, or that it’s safe. In fact, I think the direction they took with Mr. Incredible was a big risk, because it so easily could’ve been boring.
Still, I think the villain in this is quite underwhelming, and I’m not a fan of the direction they took with Jack Jack. We get some great scenes from it, but overpowered characters with massive powersets are generally less compelling to me. Furthermore, I could’ve done without the superhero team, that whole element felt thrown in there and disposable.

7.5/10

After a 14-year wait, the Parr family is back in Incredibles 2 and Pixar is back to kick some animated butt. The original Incredibles movie was met with great praise and adulation, making it hard to believe it took so long for a sequel. However, the wait may have been worth it as the movie picks up immediately after the events of the first and the story takes a twist this time around as Elastigirl takes center stage while Mr. Incredible becomes a stay-at-home husband. The core of the movie lies in the need for change and the importance of family. The humor is more apparent this time around and the animation is stunning to look at. However, the movie feels a bit too familiar and the villain is a step down from the first movie. Despite this, the voice talent is uniformly good and Michael Giacchino's score is epically excellent. Overall, it's great to have the Parr family back and Pixar remains entrenched at the top of their game.

Después de una espera de 14 años, la familia Parr está de vuelta en Incredibles 2 y Pixar está de vuelta para patear traseros animados. La película original de Los Increíbles fue recibida con grandes elogios y adulación, por lo que es difícil creer que tomó tanto tiempo para una secuela. Sin embargo, la espera puede haber valido la pena ya que la película continúa inmediatamente después de los eventos de la primera y la historia da un giro esta vez cuando Elastigirl toma el centro del escenario mientras Mr. Incredible se convierte en un amo de casa. El núcleo de la película radica en la necesidad de cambio y la importancia de la familia. El humor es más evidente esta vez y la animación es impresionante de ver. Sin embargo, la película se siente demasiado familiar y el villano está un paso por debajo de la primera película. A pesar de esto, el talento de la voz es uniformemente bueno y la partitura de Michael Giacchino es épicamente excelente. En general, es genial tener de vuelta a la familia Parr y Pixar sigue atrincherado en la cima de su juego.

“Help me bring supers back into the sunlight”.

It’s been 14 years.

After all these years and sitting through three ‘Cars’ movies - The only sequel that needed to happen has finally happened. It couldn't come quickly enough. Because I cherish ‘The Incredibles’ on multiple repeats when I was little. Also losing count of how many times I've played the PS2 game version. So yeah, this meant the world to me and anticipating a sequel for a long time, just like everyone else.

While ‘Incredibles 2’ doesn't quite hold a candle to the first, but still, I liked it. There’s a lot to like and enjoy. And yet recognize it’s flaws as well. It's not a disappointment, which makes me happy, just judging by Pixar recent involvement with it’s sequels.

Brad Bird is a talented film marker and storyteller, both in animation and live action. In animation however is where he really shines. Bringing a rich style of nostalgia that clearly influenced his personal life - Going back to the golden age of cinema and inputting into his work. Same thing applies with this movie and managing to keep the level of quality strong after all these years.

The animation was great, now that’s nothing new, yet this needs repeating. It’s bright, colorful, and full of life. Pixar always succeeds in animation. The choreography during the action sequences was energetic and exciting with the animation being glue to hold it altogether.

The character’s screen time is perfectly balance so you got to see just enough of everyone. Probably the most enjoyable part of the whole movie is watching Bob (Or Mr. Incredible, if you like) trying to take care of his kids. I think the reason why is the family dynamic and the reverse roles in that situation. Most of the heart and humor are in those scenes. I mean, it’s better than the actual plot itself involving Elastic girl.

Now this ties in with my main issues: The villains are paper thin and painfully generic. I don’t want to spoil anything, but then again, the movie basically spoils itself from having a predictable narrative. When the villains motivations are revealed it’s pretty ridiculous and you just don’t buy it.

I wished this wasn't a continuation from the first, especially when you notice the actors who voiced these characters sound much older, since this takes place immediately after the original. It would've been a lot better if it was set years later in a new time period, where more homages to campy superhero movies and TV shows, because around the 60’s or 70’s, the genre itself got more corny, but also gives Pixar more material to work on and have a creative spin on it. I know it may seem unfair to keep comparing this to the first, but this movie does everything it can to remind you of the first film, including plot points- So not really.

Oh and is it just me, or dose Catherine Keener character model looks exactly like Roxanne Ritchi from ‘Megamind’.

Overall rating: ‘Incredibles 2’ is a good movie and came out around the perfect time where superhero movies are bigger than ever. I can safely say it was worth the wait. Again, not quite as clever or excellent, although I am glad we finally got a sequel, good or bad.

I’ll see you in 25 years.

I say this as a life long fan of Brad Bird, and I mean watching The Iron Giant when I was five, Incredibles 2 is rushed. No, it's very rushed. This is his most amateurish work to date, including Tomorrowland, which I believe is a unfairly maligned movie. My guess as to what happened here, Disney looked at their release schedule for 2018 and 2019, and noticed both this and Toy Story 4 were supposed to come out the same year. To make sure they capitalize their profits as much as they can, I bet they pushed Bird to release it a year early. As a result, the long awaited sequel to one of the surprise underdog hits of Pixar's line-up is lacking a lot of detail and the epic heart of it's predecessor. This feels like one of those direct-to-video sequels that Disney liked to pump out incessantly from the early 90's to late 2000's. The plot has about the weight of a television episode, the characters lack a lot of the intrigue previously seen, and the direction is very stock at times. Half the time, I forgot I was watching a Brad Bird production, his usual trademarks are missing in this. Even just the wee details I appreciate, such as these two guys' cameos, are nowhere to be seen. The most Birdiam-esque feelings I would get are the brief villain moments, like the seizure inducing, literally, fight in the apartment, the monologue, and one-on-one talk on the plane towards the end. But just, I don't know, I didn't really care about anything that was going on. There's some sweet little scenes with Par and the kids, including his amending with Violet, plus the fan service of seeing the family's reaction to Jack Jack's powers. None of it's bad, but comes off swapable. A lot of it is generic family fare, just done with Brad Bird's style. You may enjoy that, but I was looking for something much more special, especially coming from the man himself in the same franchise. Where's the scene that tops Par's heartbreaking revelation that all his friends are dead? Not only that, but murdered by the villain, and he watches the screen as he sees their names marked off. There is no such scenario in this, nothing comes close. It appears they took the VERY surface level political attributes from the first movie, and just decided to make that the childish plot around that. It's like a child's understanding of what made the first movie clever and it becomes redundant. Supers were already kind of coming out of hiding by the end of the first movie. To retread that old ground, bring back up the Underminer villain cliffhanger, only to not do anything with it and not acknowledge it after the opening scene, makes this almost feel like a fanfiction like remake. The magic just isn't there. The new villain is incredibly (haha) forgettable and replaceable. She barely has any connection to the heroes, and the dinky thread she does have is copied from Syndrome, but there's no big comeuppance for her, just, nothing. She's just thrown in jail without much word about it, then the film just ends. Believe me when I say, my heart almost sank when I heard the end score play so early after the final fight. It couldn't have been over that quickly, but it was. The saving grace this sequel boasts is it's very imaginative action, adequate set pieces, and some shining little character bits. But holy wow, this needed a rewrite or two and another year of production.

Picking up immediately after the first film, we find Bob, Helen and the kids still navigating the tricky waters of superhuman illegality, despite saving the world in a handful of very public conflicts. It's great to see the whole cast back again, from headliners Holly Hunter and Craig T. Nelson to supporting players like Samuel L. Jackson, and the effects have never looked better. Pixar almost always seems to one-up themselves in that respect, but it still bears mentioning - Incredibles 2 is a real sensory spectacle.

The primary story is a let-down, though, like something I'd expect to find in a filler issue between big events. After fourteen years away, I would've hoped for something with a bit more emotional punch, an adventure that feels more essential and complex. Instead, it loosely apes a few smaller subplots from the first film, swaps the headline roles, tosses in a few lazy, telegraphed twists and then wraps it all up on an empty happy note.

Visually dazzling, with a good sense of humor, but generally quite hollow and, sadly, almost completely missing the warm, witty commentary on classic superhero stereotypes that made the original work on so many levels. This felt like a B-team's admirable, but failed, effort to step up to the big leagues.

I saw this last year when it came out in theaters, but, wanted to re-watch it again on BluRay mainly to see what the bonus features would be. It delighted just as much on the second viewing as it did with the first, especially the "Auntie Edna" short, which was basically an extended take of what happened AFTER Bob dropped off Jack Jack, up to him picking him up. It is just as hysterical as the rest of the movie. The rest of the bonus features feature Brad Bird telling how he got into animation, and, what a labor of love I2 was to make, even if it DID leave the entire PIXAR team exhausted but happy (hmmm, kind of like the ACTUAL labor of love IRL)

A thought DID occur that probably not since Jessica Rabbit, has a cartoon female protagonist elicited such praises of enamoration, and catcalls of "Dayum!!,.. Elastigirl be THICC!!! every time she walked away from the camera. Which caused me to ponder, hmmm, Elastigirl can be ANY shape she chooses to be, and so, she must have CHOSEN her look, perhaps after hanging out with Honey Frozone, and, seeing her effect on the Fro Man, decided to get "Bob Parr in trouble, beggin' for a piece of dat bubble", cuz she knew, Bob "liked his women like Flo Jo". Silly me...

I DID find it interesting that the main villain in Incredible's 2 had their origin story as a direct result of the the early hijinks of the villain in the original Incredible's, and that while their anger was somewhat understandable, it was very much misdirected, and in fact they actually should have been thanking the Parr's for bringing some semblance of justice and retribution for the series of unfortunate events leading to that tragedy.

Anyway, the movie is indeed a delight, and, while some have stated that it wasn't as enjoyable as the FIRST one, I disagree, and, although the stories were similar, as ALL superhero movies are in plot and the "beats" they tend to cover, I think that any let down can be attributed to the fact that in the ensuing years since The Incredible's 1, we have had such an abundance of great animated movies, many indeed from Pixar studios and Brad Bird, that, it's just simple impossible to raise the bar to 'mind blown' in this day and age.

That having been said, I sincerely hope we get MORE Incredible's movies, because there is still plenty of material they could mine was the first family of animated crime fighting keeps catching the bad guys.... pow, Pow, POW!!!!