The Incredibles 2 is now in theaters, and the consensus is that Pixar knocked it out of the park. This has been one of the longest gaps between an original and sequel, and it was worth the wait. Between the gorgeous visuals and the exciting storyline, this is easily one of Pixar's best and most successful movies, and it's fun to look back and remember where you were the last time you watched The Incredibles in the theater. For anyone who hasn't seen The Incredibles 2 yet, spoilers are imminent!
Unfortunately, when it comes to part 2, the beginning was one of the low points. It was a bit slow and it felt like there were too many scenes that were just explaining the issues that the movie plans to deal with; which most people already knew about because of the first movie. We get it, supers are illegal. After the explanations were over, though, the movie really picked up speed as Elastigirl took center stage.
Rather than focus on Mr. Incredible/Bob's journey, like in the first movie, this one focuses on Elastagirl/Helen taking on the villain while Bob is a stay-at-home dad. Along with the craziness of taking care of three super-kids, Bob also deals with some jealousy issues, making him a flawed but relatable character. While Violet and Dash deal with some relatively normal problems for kids their age, watching Jack-Jack's developing and varied powers, especially during the raccoon fight, was one of the best parts of the movie. While Bob is dealing with the kids, Helen wields an awesome motorbike and takes on the Screenslaver with the help of Evelyn and Winston Deavor.
The Deavor siblings are supposedly there to help Elastagirl and, by extension, all superheroes, change their public perception from destructive to heroic, but one of our main issues with the movie was how painfully obvious it was that Evelyn was the villain the whole time. One of the first things she expresses is how she doesn't like superheroes as much as her brother. Maybe it's because this is a kids movie, but we felt that Pixar could have made that a much more surprising reveal.
One aspect of the movie we loved was seeing some of the new characters like Voyd. Though sadly, like last time, we were still left wanting more Frozone.
Naturally, given the fourteen year gap between the movies, animation technology has improved which means the visuals have improved too, but what Pixar does with them is even cooler. Between the mid-century modern design aesthetic and the dynamic fight scenes, it feels like the Incredibles world got a whole lot bigger.
Whether we'll have to wait another fourteen years for a third Incredibles movie remains to be seen, but regardless of when it comes out, it will have a lot to live up to. If you want more details and a more in depth discussion of the movie, check out the video above!