Written and directed by Brad Bird

Starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson

A 14 year wait and a lot of anticipation does things to people. Like bring the hype for a record opening weekend, but does Incredibles 2 deserve it? I think it’s a worthy successor, but it ain’t great like the first one was.

The movie starts off right where the first one left us, well, from a different point of view anyway. The destruction caused by the continuing battle of the Parr family with the Underminer in the film’s opening minutes leads the world to continue questioning the existence and legitimacy of superheroes. They are, at this point, still illegal. Lucius, Mr. Incredible, and Elastigirl get approached by Winston Deavor (voiced by Bob Odenkirk) and his sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) for a solution to improve how society views them. “Call me Win” he says. Is his name some play on the word Endeavor? Win-deavor maybe? Wtf?

The plan to make superheroes legal again is simple: show the world them saving the day from their point of view, so they understand what they’re doing to protect everyone. Cameras are attached to their suits for this reason. This is important. Win and Evelyn posit that Elastigirl must be in the spotlight for this, as Mr. Incredible has done far too much collateral damage in his hero saving days. His methods are counter productive to their strategy. Makes sense. The Parr’s need an income, you’ll remember Bob worked that miserable day job in the first film. So Helen takes it to support the family. Bob is left to watch the family in one of the massive mansions that Win insists they live in. He ain’t happy about that, but believes caring over Dash, Violet, and little Jack Jack won’t be so tough. Hah.

I was not looking forward to this movie. I went to the theater a lot this year so far, and always the trailers for Incredibles 2 played. It was awful. And seeing it dozens and dozens of times made me sick on the idea of treking out to see it. The marketing placed a major emphasis on the “Mom’s new job” story, and also centered on the baby Jack Jack being a major player. It looked ludicrous and boring.  Thank god the movie does the best with this material.

Mr. Incredible babysitting his family leads to the very best scenes in the whole runtime. And cutting back and forth between his days and Helen’s on the job actually does work. Craig T. Nelson is absolutely hilarious this time around. All of his lines and delivery are super good, and the animators do a fantastic job of putting the greatest details in his facial expressions for maximum comedic effect.

Bob is miserable. He’s sleep deprived and a little jealous that Helen is in the spotlight saving the day. And he’s gotta learn New Math to help Dash with his homework. And deal with an adolescent daughter brooding about superheroes and boys. And becoming so disillusioned with the idea of being an Incredible.

And then there is little Jack Jack. The discovery of his powers (and that he has many) is where the movie has its most fun. Jack Jack’s one on one fight with a raccoon in their yard is some of the funniest stuff I have seen at the movies all year. How inventive and wonderful it all is. And that the raccoon keeps fighting him even when it’s obvious he has no chance.

Jack Jack is a serious threat. Bob can’t watch him safely anymore, so he takes him to Edna. This is another great sequence I won’t spoil, but the outcome is hilarious. AND HOLY SHIT BRAD BIRD IS THE VOICE OF EDNA HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS UNTIL NOW

Back to Helen and her job. She stops a runaway train and saves all onboard, which boosts everyone’s perception of superheroes again. The train was hijacked by the villain in this story, who we only caught of glimpse of in the trailers. The Screenslaver makes his appearance, masked and with an obvious voice manipulator, and controlling people via hypnosis through the screens they watch. In a later scene Helen tracks his location, and heads to him as they communicate. It’s here he waxes poetic on the nature of the superhero and why he believes they must be undone. I appreciated this scene because it’s really quiet, with Helen stretching from building to building to find him, and all the while he speaks, in great depth, about his philosophy of the world. And it isn’t boring or useless. Totally unexpected, even in a maturer themed series like these Incredibles movies. Bonus points Bird.

I wonder, with all these screens and flashing imagery (that Disney is warning epileptic viewers of) that is the Screenslaver’s arsenal, is this what Baudrillard was talking about in regards to the perception of reality? I dunno, someone smarter than me is gonna have to delve into that. But I wonder it all the same.

Incredibles 2 takes good advantage of the nostalgia of the first movie, with callbacks and a lot of nods to it as well as older themed shows like The Twilight Zone and Johnny Quest (note: not The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, done on purpose). The whole movie seemed to be hearkening back to past times, while also being really contemporary. Think about who the villain ends up being. Think about “So easy, even he can do it!”. No, I did not misspell that.

The Screenslaver’s identity I won’t reveal, except to say that it is painfully, painfully, PAINFULLY obvious who it is. As soon as this character stepped onscreen I knew, and I’m usually the last person in the room to foresee such things. I hope that was Brad Bird’s point.

The first Incredibles movie is one of the most beloved of recent times. It was a lighter hearted rumination on the nature of the superhero. Kinda brilliant that it was like Watchmen or X Men but told through a Pixar entertainment. Incredibles 2 is a much slower paced, and more mature themed movie. I think kids will like it, but not as much as the first.

That the movie’s final act is a bit of a disappointment is probably why. The premise and story was there, but the reveal of the true villain and the whole climax just isn’t as exciting as you would expect this movie to deliver. There aren’t really any crowd cheering moments in the end. It just sort of wraps up, and I think the lesson of the movie was thrown away. “Just because you saved me, doesn’t mean you were right”. No shit. Is that really all?

I wanted more from Incredibles 2. It seemed to be really saying something but then I think it took a simple and ultimately forgettable route. It’s not a bad movie by any means, but this is why it falls from greatness. And why it won’t live on as well as the first. Still a good movie, I just foolishly wanted a great one.