My Thoughts On Incredibles 2

(This review contains many spoilers for the much anticipated sequels 14 years in the making)

"Too late! 15 years too late!" Syndrome said to Mr. Incredible after the superhero begs the villain to call off missiles that is heading straight for his family. Replace 15 with 14 and you have the connecting thought of everyone in the audience. After years of sequels to Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Cars, the Pixar film that needed that the sequel the most finally got the follow-up it needed. After years of waiting, was this sequel on the level of Toy Story 3 or does it land on the same level of Cars 2. Incredibles 2 is simply...incredible!

Familiar Faces

(Minor Spoiler for the movie in this section)

At its core, The Incredibles franchise is about family. It's not the Fast And The Furious use of the word family. It literally a superhero family trying to make their way through a world where superheros are illegal. To me, the Parr family (the alias of The Incredibles) are caricatures of the typical family. Helen is the mom that is being pulled every which way. Bob is the strong dad that carries the family. Violet is the self-conscious teenager who literally puts a field around herself. Dash is the little brother that can't stand still regardless of the situation. Finally, Jack-Jack is the baby of the family that is unpredictable. These personalities are  once again brought out in the follow-up.

For a sequel to work, the characters need to feel like they're a continuation from the previous installment. Luckily, Incredibles 2 literally starts off right at the end of the first film. Immediately, it felt like the family that I've known for years. When Bob and Helen first flew into action, without capes, I felt that same excitement I did in 2004 when the during the family fought Syndrome's guards in the middle of the forest. Compared to the first film which focused on the relationship with Bob and Helen, I felt that Violet and Dash's sibling relationship was the prominent one that received attention during this installment. One thing I liked about this was that we don't get to see Violet and Dash's relationship in the original. They took a backseat to Helen and Bob in the first one. However, (SPOILER!) towards the third act of Incredibles 2, their team up to rescue their parents and Frozone from Evelyn Deavor's (The Screenslaver) grasp is a much needed alliance that was merely a force field hamster ball in the first one.

A Relevant Message

(MAJOR SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION!)

Much like Disney did with Zootopia, Incredibles 2 presents its audience with a relevant message to modern society. While Zootopia presented its audience with a message on racism and equality, Incredibles 2 presents us with a message about technology, mainly screens. This is done through the villain known as The Screenslaver. I know, I know, the first Incredibles film had Syndrome who is considered a tech genius.  However, the first film dealt with Syndrome's tech taking over the world. This time, the focus is on using technology to take over people's minds. The reason why this is so relevant for modern day viewers is due to the fact that everyone is addicted to their phones/laptops/whatever other tech people prefer to use. There were two points throughout the film that struck a chord with me. The first instance is one of the moments between Helen (Elastigirl) and The Screenslaver. The Screenslaver recites a monologue as we see Elastigirl in action. Throughout the monologue, he talks about how we use our screens and the effect they have on us. As this monologue went on, I literally thought of my phone and how long not only I but a lot of other people tend to live through their devices.

The other time where this message came into play was towards the third act where Evelyn Deavor (Now revealed to be the person behind The Screenslaver) has Helen in her grasp and proceeds to put a mind control device on her. Throughout this scene, Evelyn talks about how her brother Winston is the face of he products that she designed and how much that irritates her. As this scene progressed and it got closer and closer to Helen's unfortunate fate of becoming a puppet for Evelyn, the main argument that is made is that no matter how flashy and exciting a product is advertised to be, no one truly knows who was the original creator of it. The company gets more of the credit that the creator does. Why these two moments add to the over all relevant message of too much technology, if we get too invested in our screens...we start to loose individuality.

A Humorous E(velyn)ndeavor


The Incredibles is regarded by many fans, including myself, to be the darkest Pixar movies to date. Director Brad Bird took a lot of risks when putting this story out to his audience. After the heartwarming tale of Finding Nemo, The Incredibles brought to the Pixar universe a tale that put a family to the test to see where their trust lies. When I first heard that Pixar was releasing a sequel, I kept speculating how they were going to top it. The one thing that Incredibles 2 has over its predecessor is that its a straight-fire comedy. Jokes are coming out left and right. A lot of the humor comes from the family and Frozone discovering Jack-jack's powers and Bob trying to right a wrong that affects Violet since the beginning of the film. I found myself laughing constantly throughout the film as more and more hijinks happened to the family in Helen's absence as she pursued The Screenslaver. I would definitely classify this installment of the Incredibles franchise as a comedy that Pixar should be very proud of.

Conclusion









The Incredibles is a staple of a lot of people's early 2000s. When it came out, it was a massive success with fans and all kids loved it. That's why many years later, Incredibles 2 was such a highly anticipated film. Everyone wanted to know what was next for the Parr Family. Personally, I think Incredibles 2 hits in all the correct places. It gives us what we loved about the original and more. The Parr family is back and is just as lovable as before. The overall theme is something that is super relevant to this time. It upped the humor to make it one of the funniest Pixar film to date. I would defntely say it isn't as good as the original but still a very solid film that is sure to be remembered as one of the best Pixar sequels to date.

Score: 8/10




https://www.facebook.com/PixarTheIncredibles/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3606756/
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:Incredibles_2_102.png
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/881285/Incredibles-2-trailer-WATCH-release-date-Jack-Jack-Pixar-Disney
http://www.businessinsider.com/incredibles-2-new-trailer-is-best-look-at-movie-yet-2018-4