Movies

Film review: Incredibles 2

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19 July 2018

By Kieran

Oh, you finally saw fit to release it here now the world cup’s over did you, Disney? A full month after the rest of the planet? Yeah, cheers you hacks.

Incredibles 2 (confusingly not titled THE Incredibles 2) is the sequel to the 2004 Pixar film that’s better than every other Pixar film. Don’t @ me. It picks up directly after the first one, with the Parr family dealing with the prospect of superheroes being legalised. All the old characters return, with the exception of those who were sucked into jet engines. No capes. And they throw in a host of new characters as well as a shiny new villain- something that extinguished my fears that we’d be dealing with the Underminer for a whole movie.

Right, preamble done. Incredibles 2 is a really good sequel. The story feels like a natural progression from what came before and the characters are where they’d logically be after literally, no time has passed. It’s funny, engaging and intelligently thought out. In particular, Mr Incredible’s story-arc dealing with being a full-time dad and his frustration at not being eponymously incredible at is hugely enjoyable.

I would say this film doesn’t balance the characters, as well as the first, did. This is very much Mr Incredible’s movie, thematically at least. Violet gets a bit as does Elastigirl but Dash’s arc completely vanishes from the script. They make up for this, though, with some of the most inventive action scenes I’ve seen in years. Violet and Elastigirl in particular, when mixed with abilities from new characters, are giddily exciting to watch.

The bad stuff though, there’s more than I would like. First off, the villain ‘twist’ is possibly the most predictable thing I’ve ever witnessed in a cinema. It’s that bad. It’s not really a focus of the film, thankfully, but I genuinely reckon I figured it out within about four lines of dialogue.

I’d also say that the thematic climax of the film happens far too early. It wraps up at about the end of the second act. Then all that’s left is a superpowered battle finale which, while very entertaining, doesn’t pack as satisfying a conclusion to the theme as the first one did. The Incredibles’ finale was all about the family learning to accept each other through the medium of a battle scene. In Incredibles 2, it’s just a battle scene.

Look, I’m doing a lot of complaining for someone who really enjoyed it. It’s only because I really like The Incredibles, alright?

Oh, and Frozone and Edna Mode are great. Don’t have anything else to add, they’re just great.

 

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