Movie Review: The Incredibles 2 (2018)

Summary: Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is left to care for the kids while Helen (Elastigirl) is out saving the world.

FINALLY IT IS HERE! WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOVIE FOREVER! I didn’t ask for Finding Dory and it was fine. NO ONE WANTED MORE CARS MOVIES! Cars 2 is terrible and Cars 3 was cute. BUT FINALLY!! I love the first movie, it’s my favorite Pixar film and I love it to pieces. Finally. I do have to say I wanted them to age up the characters 14 years to match those of us who were kids when it came out, but I’m okay with what they gave us because it was great!

Pros:

Cast and Characters. We have a lot of characters in this film, we meet a lot of new supers and there are of course returning characters, but I’m not really going to get into all of them because ya know, that’s a lot lol. But I think all of the new supers were really cool and had awesome powers, that were put to good use in the film.

• Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible. He possesses super strength and limited invulnerability. He’s been wanting to be super again for so long, that when the movie starts, and they go up against the Underminer, he expects a better reception than what they received from governmental people. But when they get to chance to prove them wrong, he’s excited to get back out there, but he feels slighted when they choose Helen instead of him, but he wants to prove that he can also be a stay at home dad. Bob really does try, he does a good job for a while, but it’s easy to see that he needs something else to be doing too, at least in his mind. He really tries though, he reads through Dash’s math book, he tries to help Violet out, and he of course discovers Jack-Jack’s powers and takes the initiative to do something about it. He just has to slow down every now and then. Craig T. Nelson has some great moments where he can just be all over the place and controlled. His voice is great for Bob.

• Holly Hunter as Helen Parr / Elastigirl. Let’s be real, Helen is the MVP, she was my favorite in the first (alongside of Dash) but she is so freaking cool. The way she uses her powers is just so unique and done in ways I haven’t seen other heroes with this power do. She has the ability to stretch her body into many shapes and forms and she does just that. In the first movie, we got a taste of what she can do, but they really go to town with her, she creates less of a mess than Mr. Incredible and is more tactical about how she solves problems, which serves her well in the film. She is also still a mother and have been a stay at home mom for a long time that this new job of hers, is different and she’s worried, however, she also is having so much fun. I love Helen because she is so protective of her family, but she is still a superhero, no matter how long it’s been since it’s been illegal, and she still kicks butt. Holly Hunter’s voice is perfect and that is all.

• Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr. She is the oldest and the only girl, her powers are to become invisible and project force field. In this movie, she is definitely being a teenage daughter, who is dealing with her feelings about boys, and about who she is, and she spends a lot of the movie questioning a lot of things that’s happening or being decided. All of that is understandable considering she is what 14 maybe? Her powers allow for a lot of cool moments, but also some really funny visual gags, like the one where she goes into the kitchen to get ice cream (lol). However, Violet is the oldest, so she does step up quite a bit. Sarah Vowell’s voice is still great for the character, it could be really annoying but it’s not.

• Huck Milner as Dashiell “Dash” Parr. Who doesn’t love Dash?? Along with his mother he is my favorite. He is a bit of a troublemaker, the oldest son and has superhuman speed. He is outgoing, he is always willing to run head first into anything. Dash hates being left out and he wants to always be involved. He always has funny jokes to say. His powers are also really cool.

• Eli Fucile as Jack-Jack Parr. I have always loved Jack-Jack, but he really owns a lot of this movie. A lot of the humor comes from him because of his reactions to things and his powers. Even though he’s a baby, he obviously knows what’s going on because when Dash said, “We want to fight bad guys”, Jack-Jack repeated but in baby talk, plus the whole time he was in Edna’s house. I mean, this kid is just gold. He has an assortment of powers, and we get to experience them all. Whether or not he’ll keep all of them, I doubt it, they’re all used hilariously.

• Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best / Frozone. Similar to the first one, he’s not in it that much, but we definitely get to see him use his powers way more in this one. He is Bob’s best friend and he can create ice from humidity and he help out in the beginning with the Underminer, but when the police come, he ducks out because he knows it’s still illegal. He encourages Helena and Bob to join him at the meeting with Deavor, but we don’t see him for a while after that until Violet calls him to help Bob out and then of course during the climax of the film he’s more present. I think Frozone is super cool, I wonder what all he can do with his powers, but the fact that he’s always willing to come when the Parrs need him speaks a lot to him friendship with them. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson is his voice and he’s always cool.

• Bob Odenkirk as Winston Deavor. He is a superhero fan who leads a telecommunications company with his sister Evelyn and wants to bring back the “supers” by revamping the public’s perception of them. He is very earnest, and he wears AWESOME suits. He has a lot of ideas and he just wants supers to have their days again, because he believes in what his father believes in, which was that supers were necessary. He’s a nice guy, and he truly believes in the mission. I don’t really know the actor, but his voice has this innocence and hopeful tone to it which works for the character.

• Catherine Keener as Evelyn Deavor. She is Winston’s sister and a technological genius who has never encountered a problem she could not solve. Evelyn is smart, and Helen sees a bit of coolness in her since she builds all of the technology for the company and for all of Helen’s new jobs. She is always cool, calm and collected and I think her, and Helen would become great friends. Catherine Keener’s voice is also always great, it’s soothing.

• Brad Bird as Edna Mode. She a fashion designer to the “supers” and a close friend of the Parrs. She’s not in the movie as much as she’s in the first one, I don’t think, but she’s still always great. ALWAYS.

The Story. The story is very smart, this movie is animated but it has a lot of adult themes, and there is a lot of moments of exposition but the not the wasteful kind. Just as there are adventure and action moments, there are quiet moments that are just characters talking. I think that’s a strong aspect, especially when you have a movie set in the 60s or 70s, with a family and dealing with the law. There is talk about the law, and it being unfair and just but having to follow it. How to run a family, how to deal with perception, and ignorance… there is a lot of great stuff in there that will help stimulate the mind and that’s very relevant to what’s going on today. Plus, it can get really tense when it comes down to the villain and what their goal is. It makes sense, which makes it so good.

Family Dynamic. The Parr family feels like a family. The movie is set in the 60s-70s, not really sure the exact time, but considering the time period and how everyone is worried about how society will react to certain things, such as them being supers. Helen is worried about her family, Bob wants to basically relive his glory days and be a super again. The kids just want to be part of the team and Jack-Jack is growing up with powers. I love how they interact with each other, the love and trust that Helen and Bob share (even the worry about Bob being able to handle the kids on his own, or Helen being able to hero on her own). Also, the sibling relationship between Dash and Violet, is believable and how they fight with each other but then lean on each other whenever they need to. The Parr family is a great family!

The Villain. Without going too much into it, the villain is really cool. Also, kind of justified. I thought it was a little predictable which I will mention later on, but otherwise, I really liked them as a character and how intelligent they were. It was kind of scary lol.

Action and Adventure. Obviously since it’s a continuation from the first movie, we see them tackle the Underminer which is a very cool action piece and as the movie continues, the missions we see Elastigirl go on, which allows for her to use her powers in ways we haven’t seen yet, just makes it even more cool. The movie definitely takes the action and adventure to the next level from the first film, the stakes are a little higher, and there are more supers involved so we see more. It’s fun!

Cons:

Violet and Dash’s Inclusion/Potential. I think my biggest gripe with the movie is that Dash and Violet doesn’t really get the chance to do much. Particularly for Violet, she spends a lot of the movie worrying about things with Tony, and how she feels about being a superhero and of course being suspicious of her parents lol, but we don’t really get to see her use her powers the way she was able to in the first film. She has a really cool part in the beginning with the Underminer, and then a pretty cool fight with another super but that’s kind of it. As for Dash, during the climax he either spends it holding the baby, or he’s waiting to be told to press a button. I know that in the first film, there’s more going on, kind of, but we got to see him run on water, and what not, but we see him really fight one person and that’s it. I was disappointed that he didn’t get to do more because he loves it so much. It was kind of lame. It was definitely something I was looking forward to seeing but the movie didn’t deliver it for me.

Predictable Villain. So, I don’t think they were a bad villain, I thought they were pretty awesome. I was just a little disappointed that I was able to figure it out so quickly. But that’s a really small gripe.

Overall, I very much enjoyed The Incredibles 2, I don’t think it’s as good as the first one, I think the first one was all around a better movie but this one does up the ante in a lot of ways. All of the characters are likable and are cool in their own right. Elastigirl owns this movie, the way she uses her powers to accomplish things and just how cool she is. SHE IS SO COOL!!! I quite liked the story, of trying to bring supers back into the forefront and make them legal once more. Plus, the idea of using a superhero who doesn’t make a lot of mess and trouble, be the face of that opportunity, that’s really smart and I loved how much Helen loved doing it. The action and adventure were also handled really well, even with the slower parts, the movie never lags, it never slows down. It’s awesome. The family dynamic is also great. My only real problem with the movie is that Dash and Violet don’t really get the chance to be awesome like they were in the first movie. We don’t really see them use their powers or really be part of the story which is really sad since they’re both so cool. Otherwise, The Incredibles 2 is a great movie.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen The Incredibles 2 yet? What did you think about it? Let me know your thoughts below!

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