Pixar’s great superhero family is back 14 years or in The Incredibles 2’s case, 5 minutes later. The Parr family has lost none of its charm and even gained a new charmer in the form of Jack Jack. The message is a tad more muddled, but the action and story are lovely popcorn entertainment that your kids will love…at least if my theater was any indication.
After trying to stop the UnderMiner, the Parr family gets arrested – remember, superheroes are still ostracized – and gets put into a 2 week motel stay. Things look up though when Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) gets a job offer from Evelyn (Catherine Keener) and Winston (Bob Odenkirk) Deavor, brother and sister Telecom billionaires. Winston wants to use a media campaign to get superheroes their rights back, and use Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) to help be the face of the movement. That leaves husband Bob aka Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) to become Mr. Mom. Not an easy task because teen Violet (Sarah Powell) and youngster Dash (Huck Milner) have issues that might revolve around their powers and Jack Jack, the baby, slowly developing powers himself.
Though not the most original plot, Incredibles 2 makes up for it with thrills and eye candy. There’s a truly amazing sequence where Elastigirl is fighting the villian, Screen Slaver, with her eyes closed in a room that gives a very surreal feel to the fight, almost like animation with animation (epileptics beware…it’s got lots of flashing lights). The plot delivers a couple really cool chases and some really fun fight scenes between several super powered people as well as a cool CGI’ed boat hijacking. Other than the Screen Slaver fight, most of the joys of Incredibles 2 lie in Mr. Incredible trying to raise the kids by himself. Jack Jack gets almost all of the big laughs as he discovers his powers, the best of which involve a raccoon and Edna (director/writer Brad Bird), the super suit creator. Mr. Incredible’s descent into parenting insomnia delivers nice character moments for Bob, Dash, Violet and Jack Jack, and show’s Pixar’s best family can still function all right without a key piece for a little bit. So when the family meets back up with mom, the kids and Bob are in a different place, leading to more interesting character dynamics that give the third act some much needed zing.
The biggest difference between the first Incredibles and 2nd Incredibles is the depth of the themes of the movie. The first movie had each hero’s powers mimic their personality: Violet turns invisible because of her fear of being awkward, or Elastigirl holding the family together. Jason Lee’s Syndrome was also a complex, perfect villain: someone with a desire to be a hero but no understanding of what that means in a world that wants no heroes. The power of family wins the day, and helps give the Parr family the confidence to show off their powers and become superheroes with and without the mask. Incredibles 2’s messaging is more all over the place, and therefore more shallow. There’s stuff in here about subversion of family roles being ok, how the media influences people, how media creates indifference, and how rich people can manipulate decision making, among many other ideas being tossed into The Incredibles 2’s salad. The media points hit the best, because they consistently fit into the story the movie is telling, but the rest feel like leftovers from the first film tied in for continuity.
In the end, Incredibles 2 is just a lot of fun. You could do worse than just hang with Dash, Violet, Bob, Helen and (especially) Jack Jack Parr for just under 2 hours. I look forward to the short film about Jack Jack encountering various animals in his yard, and how he defends the family from these “enemies,” with Edna or Frozone babysitting.
PS. The short before the movie, Bao is 100% worth getting to the theater to see, coming very close to the opening sequence of Up. You’ll laugh, then you’ll cry. Hard.