First Thoughts on Incredibles 2 (2018)

*All reviews contain spoilers*
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Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure procrastination…

 

Seriously guys, I’m so sorry about the long gap between posts. I know I said this would be up last week and it’s been almost a fortnight now since my last post, but things just got on top of me. Travel, illness, the usual procrastination struggles… That said, however, I also did want to leave my Disney canon review posts at the top of the front page a little while longer to get them some exposure. At any rate, it’s finally time to take a look at Pixar’s much-anticipated sequel to their popular superhero effort from 2004, The Incredibles. I’ve actually seen Incredibles 2 twice since it came out, but my thoughts on it haven’t changed so the “first thoughts” title still stands!

Pixar’s twentieth feature film is preceded by an interesting little short called Bao, directed by Domee Shi – the first woman to have sole directing credit for any Pixar work. I love the short films Pixar put before their features, because the sheer diversity of them means you never know what you’re going to get. In a similar manner to 2015’s Sanjay’s Super Team, Bao offers a sweet story about the struggles of an ethnic parent who is trying to keep their child connected to their culture.

To be more specific, this piece explores the idea of “empty nest syndrome”, but through the cultural lens of a Chinese-Canadian woman who finds to her astonishment one day that one of her baozi dumplings has come to life. The woman lovingly raises it like a child, but as the little dumpling gets older, he tries to break away from his mother’s stifling attentions and distresses her by experimenting with rowdy sports and non-Chinese girlfriends. This culminates in a strange scene with an uncertain emotional tone which I won’t spoil here, but whether or not this works the way it was intended, the short does succeed in delivering its message – that parents must give their children the independence they need to live their own life, or else risk losing them altogether. As many others online have rightly pointed out, Bao was not really made for white audiences and there are a lot of cultural details that will surely fly over our heads – but I think that’s fantastic, and I still enjoyed the short enormously.

Following this, we get to the main event. Incredibles 2 was directed (of course) by the incomparable Brad Bird, the man behind the original, in his third outing at Pixar overall. Also returning is Michael Giacchino, who provides another sensationally jazzy sixties-influenced score that gets the blood pumping in the action scenes and keeps you in your seat until the very end of the credits. Among the voice cast, most of the core Parr family members are returning – Craig T. Nelson as Bob/Mr. Incredibles, Holly Hunter as Helen/Elastigirl and Sarah Vowell as Violet. Only Dash had to be replaced, with Spencer Fox being too old to reprise the youthful role that was taken on here by newcomer Huck Milner. We also get the excellent Samuel L. Jackson back as Frozone, along with the likes of Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Sophia Bush and Jonathan Banks (the latter replacing the late Bud Luckey as Rick Dicker). Finally, I can’t discuss the cast without mentioning Brad Bird’s second star turn in the role of Edna Mode, his own son Michael’s second time as Tony Rydinger (who is given much more to do this time), Eli Fucile’s second time as Jack-Jack (via recordings of him made when he was ten months old, back at the time of the original) and of course the usual John Ratzenberger cameo, with the Pixar stalwart returning as the Underminer.

What to say about this one? It was easily one of the most eagerly-awaited animated films of recent years, with fans begging for a sequel ever since the original stormed theatres fourteen years ago. Once the project was finally announced, I’m sure you saw the many memes popping up everywhere about the excessive time gap… people joking about banning kids from the theatres because they didn’t grow up with the original, people referencing Titanic’s “It’s been eighty-four years” line. There were dozens of them. It must be unnerving for film executives marketing films as hyped as this, even when their success is nearly guaranteed – how can any film possibly live up to everybody’s expectations?

The short answer is, they can’t, but Incredibles 2 has a damn good try. With a story revolving around our favourite superhero family trying to overturn the law banning their kind from heroic deeds, the film certainly has plenty to say, but it avoids the dreaded curse of preachiness with its stylish and action-packed presentation. Given the sixties aesthetic, it’s easy to draw parallels between the whole “superheroes are illegal” thing and the Civil Rights movements that were really happening in that decade, as we see characters like Helen and Frozone working to challenge the public’s perception of them. The film pushes a standard message of equality while also encouraging viewers to think critically about governmental policies and not to just take everything at face value, a timely lesson for children in today’s confusing world. A couple of conversations between Bob and Helen early in the film feel particularly poignant, as you can easily imagine a real couple in Trump’s America having similar discussions about the morality of the law and the effect it will have on their kids’ lives.

We also get an interesting critique of traditional gender roles, far more prevalent back then than in today’s more liberal world, with Elastigirl chosen as the main representative for the slick new superhero marketing campaign intended to “rebrand” them more positively. This “new job” (as everyone calls it) effectively makes Elastigirl the family’s main breadwinner, as Mr. Incredible is told to keep his head down due to his destructiveness, leaving him as the primary caregiver in his wife’s absence. His frustrations and struggles to adapt to his new “role” are played for comedy at first, but in the end, the change in circumstances causes him to go through the most character development, as he must learn to be comfortable in this new role as the “feminine” domestic parent.

The scenario is played out as a kind of “crisis of masculinity,” but as the film makes clear in the end, there is nothing disastrous about a father spending more time with his children and learning to connect with them on a more emotional level. In the previous film, Bob bonded with Dash in the tried-and-true macho way: through sports. As for Violet, they didn’t really interact much at all; presumably, he left dealing with her teenage hormones to his wife. Here, however, we see him stepping up to help Dash with his homework, clumsily guiding Violet through her first heartbreak and even caring for baby Jack-Jack (with some help, admittedly). It represents a great deal of growth for the character, who has always tended to be just a tad egotistical – as Edna neatly puts it, “Parenting is a heroic act,” but this was something Bob couldn’t learn until he exchanged roles with his wife.

There is a running theme in the film of showing women in power (it pretty much goes without saying that it passes the Bechdel Test with ease). Aside from the central plot point of having Elastigirl out fighting crime solo while her husband tends to the children at home, we also have an interesting dynamic between Violet and her crush, the cute but rather clueless Tony Rydinger. In most of his scenes, you can’t help but notice that he is presented in a rather “damsel-in-distress” sort of way; getting his mind erased, running from the Underminer, always helpless or passive. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – it’s just weirdly refreshing to see the boy in a relationship being portrayed in this way, while Violet is the one with the powers and responsibilities which she tries to hide from him. The main conflict of the film is also between two women for a change, and Bob is only able to get a handle on the whole Jack-Jack situation after requesting help from Edna, who quickly takes to the baby and has soon whipped up a brand-new supersuit for the tyke that greatly aids the beleaguered Bob. Given that Pixar aren’t known for having many empowering stories for women in their back catalogue, this woman-centred film makes for a welcome addition.

In addition to the feminist and equality slants, the film makes further statements about overreliance on technology, addiction to the superhero genre (rather ironic) and self-sufficiency, just to name a few topics. Brad Bird has stated before that he always considered the family dynamic the most interesting aspect of the original film, and he continues to focus on it here; it works to both films’ advantage, making them engaging and dramatic in a way that most other action films cannot manage. However, if I had to make one minor criticism, it would be that all of these complex issues that the film is trying to tackle at once do bog it down a little at times; there was a lot of talking, and while I’m the first person to cry that “Animated films aren’t just for kids!”, it was obvious that many of the kids in my audience were getting restless at times.

Among the major highlights, the obvious one is Jack-Jack – the polymorphic toddler totally stole the show with his comedic scenes. This was something fans of Jack-Jack Attack had been waiting for; finally, his many mysterious powers had a chance to shine and he displays close to twenty of them over the course of the film, running poor Bob ragged as he gleefully flits between dimensions and pesters him for cookies while transformed into a demon. During both of my screenings, the audience were in stitches every time he was on screen, and Edna Mode (another fan favourite) getting a few scenes with him only made it even better. If you’re a fan of Jack-Jack’s, this is definitely the film for you.

Elsewhere in the cast, I was surprised by how much I liked the dynamic between Tony and Violet; it was handled believably and they fleshed him out into a likeable character, a little more preppy than the more jock-ish version we glimpsed in the last film (although what in the world they’ve done to his face between films, I have no idea – he looks like a totally different person). I would’ve liked to have heard (and seen) a bit more of Honey, Lucius’s meme-making wife, but we do at least get a token off-screen line from her at one point.

One thing that many fans have expressed disappointment about is the fact that there is no time-skip between the first film and this one, meaning that Dash and Violet are still exactly the same age as they were when we last saw them. While it’s easy to see this as a waste of a potentially good story (and there could be a third film, after all), Brad has explained that he avoided doing this on purpose because keeping the setting the same allowed him to keep the characters with the same superpowers instead of having to show them with new ones – he also wasn’t sure how to portray the two of them as adults, and specifically wanted to keep Jack-Jack as a baby.

Personally, I only have one major criticism, and it’s one I’ve aimed at many recent Disney films: the villain kind of sucks. Now, don’t get me wrong, I liked Evelyn Deavor (Geddit? Evil Endeavour?) well enough as a character in her own right – she’s snarky, smooth and even a little sexy – but she is just the latest in a growing line of “twist” villains, who aren’t allowed to show their inner evil until the last moment. I’m not saying you don’t see it coming, but like most of the other villains of this type, Evelyn is robbed of the chance to be truly charismatic, to revel in and enjoy being evil, to intimidate, torture or entertain her victims. Sure, yeah, she gets a scene or two with Elastigirl towards the end and those do build some decent tension, but she spends so much of the film lounging in the background that she winds up feeling forgettable. Her motivation also mirrors Syndrome’s from the last film; she’s another disgruntled “normie” who resents superheroes and people’s reliance on them, albeit due to personal tragedy rather than jealousy this time. This repetition feels a bit lazy, but it’s not like it ruins the film. Most other Pixar sequels have gotten a bad rep for “repeating” elements of the originals (a problem which seems to afflict many modern franchises – look at the Jurassic World or Star Wars film, for instance), but Incredibles 2 certainly isn’t as bad for this as Finding Dory or Cars 2 and 3 were.

Incredibles 2 premiered in LA on June 5th and went on wide release in the US on June 15th, arriving here in the UK on July 13th. To nobody’s surprise, it has gained mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, with people celebrating the pristine animation, well-choregraphed action scenes, sleek musical score and superb voice acting. The film set a record for having the best debut of any animated film, and it is currently the fourth-highest-grossing film of this year.

For me, I’d rank it just behind Coco, Toy Story 3 and Inside Out as one of this decade’s best efforts from Pixar, as well as being perhaps their best non-Toy Story sequel to date. Like so many other Millennials, I grew up with the original – I still remember the thrill of seeing it on my twelfth birthday – and so I was hugely excited to see where Brad Bird went with this one. It might not be perfect (no film is, after all), but in a time when some are wondering whether Pixar might be falling off the wagon, Incredibles 2 is here to silence such naysayers once and for all. (Now let’s just hope Toy Story 4 proves itself necessary when it arrives next year!)

 

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I apologise once again for the delay in getting this posted. I did mention a few weeks back at the end of my Moana review that I intended to adopt a more relaxed posting schedule, but then I totally ignored myself and posted a string of Disney canon articles. I just got so into them that I couldn’t bring myself to slow down! Now, though, I really will be – I just can’t keep to a weekly schedule at the moment, considering this is only a hobby (and as you can see, I’m always late). My next post should be another First Thoughts on the 1968 classic Yellow Submarine, which was rereleased in the UK last month (I couldn’t see it in the cinema, but I bought the DVD), but I won’t make any promises about when that’ll go up; it won’t be too long, I promise. After that, I’m planning a short series of reviews of the classic Wallace and Gromit shorts, and of course there will be more book reviews and film reviews down the line. If you enjoy my content, please do come back again soon – until then, have a nice day, and stay animated!

 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52190148 – credit for poster