Apprehensive but excited pretty much sums up how I felt when I heard there was going to be a sequel to The Incredibles (2004). The first film is one of my favourite films of all time. It holds pride of place in my top ten and is the best animated film ever made (fight me). You can probably see where my apprehension came from. As much as I wanted to see these characters again doing something new, the idea that the film could be so bad that it could tarnish my love for the first one was always in the back of my mind. All this despite the fact that Brad Bird who directed the original film as well as the equally brilliant Iron Giant (1999) was returning to direct. Thankfully I was not disappointed. The Incredibles 2 is yet another brilliantly fun, funny and smart film from Pixar who have become experts in making fantastic animated films, and it will not disappoint. So, unlike me, leave your nerves and apprehensions at the door, they're unwarranted.
The film picks up exactly where the first film ends. The Underminer is attacking the city and attempting to rob the banks while the Incredibles are attempting to stop them. They are arrested for doing so, as superheroes are still illegal, but are released. They are then offered an opportunity by Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) and Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener) to help them make superheroes legal again to honour their late father who loved superheroes. Helen Parr, aka Elastigirl, is chosen to be the first to help them out and is fitted with cameras so that the public can get the superheroes perspective on stopping crime. This means that Bob Parr, aka Mr Incredible, has to become the reluctant stay at home dad and look after Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner) and Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile). It is in these scenes of Bob trying to be a good parent where the film truly shines.
First off let me just say that I love the character of Mr Incredible. I think his overconfidence and misguided bravado, mixed with his intensity and clear love for his family makes him equally funny and relatable at the same time. This love is only accentuated with this film. Seeing Mr Incredible struggle to keep the house and family going and becoming more and more run-down leads to some proper laugh out loud moments. However, there is a new character who steals the limelight in this film and that is Jack-Jack. Jack-Jack is fucking hilarious. He was very much a bit character in the first film, but he is the best bit of its sequel. The filmmakers were super smart with this character because they give him multiple superpowers. This allows for him to create brilliant moments of slapstick and it also means that how Mr Incredible plays off Jack-Jack is equally hilarious. These moments are the highlights of the film and are probably worth getting a ticket in themselves, but the actions scenes are also superb.
The opening action scene is brilliant. It continues the brilliantly creative action that was seen in the first film and even expands on it with the now better quality of technology available to the filmmakers. But it is in the scene where Elastigirl stops the hijacked hover rail train. Again, the creativity is fantastic. In order to take the action up a notch they give Elastigirl a motorbike and also have a first-person camera built into her suit so that the action can be shown from that view. The scene is exhilarating and isn't topped throughout the rest of the film. The Elastigirl scenes also do have some problems for me though. It may seem odd to say but there are a couple of cringey moments, which doesn't really seem to fit into an animated film. It also means that its quite hard for me to find what I find cringey about them. It’s just a couple of interactions between Elastigirl and Evelyn where the interactions seem off and just doesn't seem to work. The film is also slightly to predictable, but unlike other films with predictable villains and outcomes I give it a bit of a pass as it is predominantly and at its heart a kid’s film.
The Incredibles 2 is a pretty perfect sequel. It does not outshine the original, but then I never really expected it too. I didn't really know what to expect to be honest, but what is delivered is fun, charming, hilarious and smart and continues to make Pixar an almost go to studio whatever film they may put out. Whether or not we will ever see an Incredibles 3 I cannot say, but what I can say is that if we do and it is a good a sequel as this one then we may have a second Pixar trilogy on the same level as Toy Story, no matter how blasphemous you may think that statement is.