Incredibles 2: Everything a Sequel Should Be

It’s easy to get annoyed with all of the sequels and reboots that flood the theaters today, especially when the companies putting them out have proven that they are so good at original content. Pixar, for one, has proven their skill at creating fantastic original movies (Coco being the most recent example, still making us cry as we re-watch it over and over on Netflix). They have also proven themselves capable of making good sequels, since as of now, there has been no bad Toy Story film (hoping against hope that Toy Story 4 won’t ruin that streak), but most of their other sequels have been…lacking, at least when compared to its predecessor. Incredibles 2 is the first sequel since Toy Story 3 to truly live up to the standards of a movie that most Pixar fans hold up as one of the greatest films from the studio. Not only is the film as good as the original, it manages to capture the magic that the original boasted without giving in too much to fan service or a want for box office returns. Brad Bird said that he would not do a sequel to The Incredibles (2004) if the story was not at least as good as the first, and he definitely made sure that what we’re seeing now is.

Directly after the events of The Incredibles, the Parr family faces off against the Underminer in an attack on the city’s bank. Violet’s identity becomes compromised and the Underminer escapes while the Supers try to minimize the damage. Between this incident and Syndrome’s robot attack, the government decides to shut down the Superhero relocation program, leaving the Parrs stuck in a motel (remember their house blew up?) with only a few weeks left for either Bob aka Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) or Helen aka Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) to find steady work. They are approached by tycoon Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) and his tech genius sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) with a proposition – they wish to lift the ban on Supers and allow them to return to their glory days by rehabilitating their image, and they have decided that Elastigirl is the perfect spokesperson due to her record of low collateral damage. While Mr. Incredible tries to handle life at home with three kids (including baby Jack-Jack’s emerging powers), Elastigirl finds herself confronting a mysterious specter known as the Screenslaver, as well as being the representative for Supers all over the world, including those who’ve never been able to share their powers before.

While Pixar has not been immune to the current trend of sequels (Incredibles is their fifth franchise, with 7 of their 20 films being sequels), overall their ability to create good sequels has remained. At the very least, each sequel has been fun, even if it hasn’t quite lived up to its predecessor. The exception to this (in my humble opinion) are the Toy Story sequels, which have not only been consistently good but have continued a story by being both fun and heartfelt, evoking deep feelings in audiences. The Incredibles has been a fan favorite for many years, and it was concerning that there was a 14 year gap between the two, but if anything, that helped – it gave the story enough time to be written and the animation long enough to catch up. Incredibles 2 also continues the tradition of being slightly darker than you might realize at the age of 8 when you watched the original. After all, Syndrome’s entire scheme was that he was literally KILLING OFF tons of superheroes, and Mr. Incredible escaped one attack on his life by hiding behind the SKELETON of one of those heroes. Plus there were the ongoing themes of marital problems and forcing an entire group of people into hiding based on their natural-born abilities. While Incredibles 2 doesn’t go quite that dark, you can still see the influence the original film had. Since only six months have passed, some of the tension in the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Incredible remains, especially now that their family is faced with some serious financial issues. Mr. Incredible has to deal with being a stay-at-home parent, which he makes clear in the beginning he doesn’t think is very difficult (he learns the error of his ways), while Elastigirl tries to balance her work as a hero between her duties to her family, as well as proving that Supers want to do more good than harm. That final caveat is difficult when the public would almost rather let the criminals get away with their antics than clean up the mess that inevitably comes – as Mr. Incredible points out in the first film, “No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again…I feel like the maid. I just cleaned up this mess, can we keep it clean?!” Then you can also go into the motivations of Screenslaver, who accuses the general public of wanting everything to come easy and liking Supers because having them around means that they don’t have to do any of the hard work themselves. In today’s era where superhero movies practically rule the box office, this is a bit on the nose – wanting something fun and easy over and over again (and it’s a little funny when you consider which company owns both The Incredibles and Marvel). This is partially what makes The Incredibles a great story – sure it’s fun, full of superheroes and quips, but it also actually takes time to look at the darker implications of this fantastical world, and it makes the story work.

Thankfully, after the 14 years, there was only one main role that needed to be recast – obviously, Dash’s original voice actor Spencer Fox grew up, so though you can slightly tell the difference between Fox and newcomer Huck Milner, it won’t be enough to ruin the magic for you. Everyone else has returned, with Nelson playing Mr. Incredible’s descent into madness at home amusingly (while still causing a bit of concern for his sanity), Hunter remains the badass who both loves her kids and inspired us with “Leave saving the world to the men? I don’t think so!”, and Samuel L. Jackson brings fan-favorite Frozone back with his cool humor all over again. Some of the newer characters aren’t quite as memorable – the new Supers, for example, exist more in the realm of what their powers can do than who their characters are, which is the opposite of what made us fall in love with the Parr family in the first place – but your enjoyment at seeing the Incredibles back again and growing more than ever is plenty for what this movie wants to be. I do have to say, though, if Pixar wanted to create a villain as fun and dynamic as Syndrome, they dropped the ball. To be fair, it’s not all on them – for the last few years Disney has fallen into a pattern of making you guess who the villain will be, rather than telling us right up front who is evil and who is good. When this first started, it was fun – red herrings and mysteries were interesting when they were still new. Now, when they’re in almost every film, it almost takes you out of the movie – you spend so much time thinking about who the villain could be, trying to play detective, that you’re not paying attention to all of the little details (it also makes it easier for anyone over the age of five to guess the villain’s true identity). Plus, there’s something to be said for being straight-up evil rather than trying to hide it. Some of Disney’s greatest villains – Maleficent, Scar, Ursula, even Syndrome I would say – are that great because we get the brief introduction to them being evil, and then get to enjoy their antics for the majority of the movie. There’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned evil plan and an dark figure working to pull it off. The Screenslaver, despite the general amusement in the rest of the film, is not quite on the same level.

Part of the reason that this film works so well is that it is working with the originals (Brad Bird is still directing, Michael Giacchino is giving us the Bond-esqu music, we’ve even got some of the same cinematographers and crew back) as much as it can. The film moves fluidly because of this – not only is the story slipping right along (not feeling like the nearly two hour film it is, actually the longest computer-animated film to date), but the animation has evolved to the point where all of Jack-Jack’s powers looking great but also not so wacky that they become too funny. The design also helps you to feel that no time has passed, even if the audience is fourteen years older than they were before. That connection and the magic that Pixar is best at, that’s what makes the Parr family and their story truly Incredible.

4.5 / 5

My only real complaint is that, at least right now, the film is less quotable than its predecessor. Nothing will ever live up to “WHERE’S MY SUPERSUIT?!”