I know for sure every single review out there for The Incredibles 2 will start the same way. And I really wanted to be more original and all that, but you know what? I changed my mind. It just needs to be said: FI-NAL-LY. Finally, we can see our favorite superhero family we learned to appreciate and love again after FOUR-TEEN years (I mean really, Pixar?).
This time gap, however, is completely ignored by Brad Bird (writer and director), who starts the film right where the last one left off: a weird mole-guy comes bursting out of the surface, forcing the Incredible family to ‘suit up’. And so almost two hours of magical action scenes and hilarious mental breakdowns begin.
Last time Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) wanted to be in the spotlights, so it’s only fair that now Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) gets a shot at glory. This leaves daddy Incredible – Bob for friends – in charge of their three super hero-children: Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner) and baby Jack Jack. The audience already had a sneak peek of Jack Jack’s powers (or at least some of them) at the ending of the first film, but his family doesn’t have a clue. So you can imagine the surprise of Bob when his little one starts to shoot lasers out of his eyes, disappears to other dimensions and multiplies into a dozen little Jack Jacks, the second Elasti-mom goes on a mission (hence the mental breakdowns).
Obviously, you can’t make another Incredibles-film without Edna – no capes! – Mode (voiced by Brad Bird himself), the costume designer of the Incredibles. This time the fashionista transcends herself as a babysitter for Jack Jack and finds a fashionable way to contain the little bugger’s powers. Or at least as good as possible… And also Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) helps the family out again with his freezing abilities and with his wife Honey, occasionally, yelling in the background.
But it’s not all goofs and playful winks to the superhero genre. The criticism of the first film is still present, being the uniformity of today’s society where you have to justify every single thing you do or say. In the Incredible-universe, superheroes are banished because of the uncontrollable damage they make when fighting bad guys (never mind the lives you saved, look at that mess!). This perfectly fits into the zeitgeist of the many rules and political correctness that control our lives these days.
The only downside of the film, one might say, is that the plot leans pretty close to the original film. But honestly, I don’t care. Brad Bird found the perfect balance again between marvelous action scenes (when Elastigirl hits that bike, shit is about to get down. Don’t say I didn’t warn you) and the struggle of an every-day-family. In short: all the things we loved in the first pic.
