Review of Incredibles 2 (2018) by Davidwashere — 16 Jun 2018

I enjoyed this movie overall, HOWEVER it still is incredibly disappointing and kind of discouraging to see how this movie could have been so much better instead of this safe and corporate sequel we got. Like a better sequel would have been that the film took place years later then right after the last film when the Underminer attacked the city. Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack can be all grown up, taking up identities removed from their family lineage, Bob and Helen could contemplate retiring now that a newer generation of heroes are taking over. It would have built on more of the family dynamic that worked so well in the first film and it would have been appropriate for fans who grew up with the first film. But instead it's basically Mr. Mom but with superheroes...

Okay that's not really fair, there are plenty of things that are good about this film. For one, the family dynamic is still great in this film. As much as I joked before about this movie having the same plot of Mr. Mom, I do like how Bob grows in this film at struggling to raise his kids, which included one touching scene. The action scenes are phenomenal, they make a lot of great use of their powers and setting, especially Elastigirl. I also like how this movie (really both films) feels a lot more like a spy film than a superhero movie, which I mean considering that Brad Bird directed Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, it make sense but still. The animation looks great and it is a ton of fun to see the characters updated with subtle updates to their models. The humor is pretty great too, especially from Jack-Jack which I was not expecting to like that much (although it is more of the characters reacting to Jack-Jack). The music is basically the same from the first film, but I mean the score to the Incredibles is one of the best film scores of the 21st century so who can complain?

Okay so for the bad. A lot like Mr. Mom (which no I will not shut up about), the characters never grow and they just end up right where they were when the film starts. Helen never learns any lesson in the end, Dash and Violet don't get a lot to do, and while Bob does have a meaningful plot about being a good dad, he pretty much just ends up being the same old Mr. Incredible from the last movie! I don't feel like any lessons were learned or any growth given to them. The dialogue can be pretty crap too. The whole legalizing superhero plot is incredibly on the nose and lacking any tension as it's never challenges any of the characters, along with some cringe-worthy lines that just do not sound right when the voice actors are delivering them. But the big issue is the villain. Screenslaver sucks! For one it is so obvious who Screenslaver is, trying to have like a red herring twist to it that is never convincing, and also the motivation they give Screenslaver is just terrible! I mean say what you will about Syndrome, at least he was well rounded, was interesting and had quirks that made him unique, and his motivation made sense to his character!

Overall I get why people will not like this movie, but I still enjoyed it personally.