Review of Incredibles 2 (2018) by Mac T — 17 Jun 2018

While not as thematically mature as the first movie (what with themes of adultery and the soul-crushing despair of office life), Incredibles 2 does not shy away from something that I call the "masculine mystique." I was very worried that the movie would fall on the old trope of a father not being able to handle home life because he's a dumb man, but I needn't have worried: this movie shows that gifts are only one part of being incredible; hard work and perseverance are another part.

Much has been said about Brad Bird's "objectivist" philosophies that have run through his movies. I never put much stock into that, because Bird always portrays the gifted as driven for the betterment of humanity, not of themselves. And here, we can let go of such mature concerns and instead focus on what this movie is: a really fun time had by all.

Honest Trailers once wrote that The Incredibles was the best Fanastic Four movie ever made, and if Marvel wished to do something about making the FF into a viable franchise, they would do well to look to Bird and these movies. The mix of powers, family, spectacle, and wit is why we go to the movies in the first place.