The Incredibles was ahead of the curve when it released in 2004. Director Brad Bird and the talented animators at Pixar had managed to use classic superhero serials to create a film that was so far ahead of the competition that it wouldn’t be matched until the Marvel Cinematic Universe found its footing post-Avengers in 2012. Suffice to say that when The Incredibles was a massive critical and commercial success both Disney and Pixar were hungry for a sequel, but not without Bird on board. Reluctant to jump straight in, Bird needed time to ruminate on what a sequel to The Incredibles could even be, and in the meantime, he went on to create one of the most beloved action movies of the 2010’s in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. With the skills he took from that film, as well as seeing how the superhero genre had exploded in the time since the original film, Incredibles 2 had some big shoes to fill if it was going to avoid feeling like a film that should have come out a decade earlier.
Picking up where the first film ends, the Underminer’s (John Ratzenberger) destructive attack on the city has forced politicians to shut down the superhero relocation initiative and the Parr’s face legal responsibility for the damage caused by the Underminer. That is until Winston Deavour (Bob Odenkirk) steps in and wants to use Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) as the figurehead of a last-ditch effort to showcase the good that superheroes offer to the public. Facing a digital assault from a foe referring to themselves as the Screenslaver (Bill Wise), Helen forms a bond with Winson’s sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) to fight technology with technology.
Meanwhile Bob (Craig T. Nelson) becomes the family man, helping Dash (Huckleberry Milner) with his math homework, navigating the minefield of boy troubles with Violet (Sarah Vowell), and struggling to understand how to raise Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile) following the emergence of his superpowers.
Picking up where the first film ends, the Underminer’s (John Ratzenberger) destructive attack on the city has forced politicians to shut down the superhero relocation initiative and the Parr’s face legal responsibility for the damage caused by the Underminer. That is until Winston Deavour (Bob Odenkirk) steps in and wants to use Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) as the figurehead of a last-ditch effort to showcase the good that superheroes offer to the public. Facing a digital assault from a foe referring to themselves as the Screenslaver (Bill Wise), Helen forms a bond with Winson’s sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) to fight technology with technology.
Meanwhile Bob (Craig T. Nelson) becomes the family man, helping Dash (Huckleberry Milner) with his math homework, navigating the minefield of boy troubles with Violet (Sarah Vowell), and struggling to understand how to raise Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile) following the emergence of his superpowers.
Unlike the first film, Incredibles 2 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but unlike the first film it doesn’t need to. The first film did all the heavy lifting, this just rides the wave of that success and leans into the nostalgia for the first film, and that is really all it needed to do.
It does feel less spectacular than the first film as a result, but when stacked up against modern superhero films, particularly the output from Marvel and DC, it still holds its own to be a great addition to the genre.
Narratively it feels so natural. Picking up in the same action sequence that the first film ended on means that doing an Incredibles double-bill is actively encouraged because it feels like a single story. Helen and Bob are fighting the same fight they were in the first film, but they’ve now fallen on opposite sides of the fence somewhat because of Helen’s new crime-fighting gig. It’s great to see the other side to these characters, and similarly it’s nice to see dash and Violet attempting to return to normal following the events of the first film. Violet in particular is given a lot of attention with her crush on classmate Tony (Michael Bird).
Screenslaver is not as interesting a villain as Syndrome, and I feel that what they are trying to achieve doesn’t make an awful lot of sense in the grand scheme of things. Syndrome was trying to bring about a new dawn of the superhero by building a robot that would cause untold destruction that only he was capable of defeating, but Screenslaver wants to get the general public to not rely on superheroes to help them...but the thing is that superheroes aren’t wanted by the public anyway which is why Winston is trying to change public perception of superheroes using Helen. It just all seems a bit contrived and by the time everything is said and done you wonder why Screenslaver didn’t just target Winston instead.
It does feel less spectacular than the first film as a result, but when stacked up against modern superhero films, particularly the output from Marvel and DC, it still holds its own to be a great addition to the genre.
Narratively it feels so natural. Picking up in the same action sequence that the first film ended on means that doing an Incredibles double-bill is actively encouraged because it feels like a single story. Helen and Bob are fighting the same fight they were in the first film, but they’ve now fallen on opposite sides of the fence somewhat because of Helen’s new crime-fighting gig. It’s great to see the other side to these characters, and similarly it’s nice to see dash and Violet attempting to return to normal following the events of the first film. Violet in particular is given a lot of attention with her crush on classmate Tony (Michael Bird).
Screenslaver is not as interesting a villain as Syndrome, and I feel that what they are trying to achieve doesn’t make an awful lot of sense in the grand scheme of things. Syndrome was trying to bring about a new dawn of the superhero by building a robot that would cause untold destruction that only he was capable of defeating, but Screenslaver wants to get the general public to not rely on superheroes to help them...but the thing is that superheroes aren’t wanted by the public anyway which is why Winston is trying to change public perception of superheroes using Helen. It just all seems a bit contrived and by the time everything is said and done you wonder why Screenslaver didn’t just target Winston instead.
One thing you’ll notice if you go straight from the first film into the second is the huge leap in technology, and a handful of different voice actors. Thirteen years is a long time, and Pixar being Pixar have of course made Incredibles 2 as cutting edge as they can which can make it a jarring experience going from the first film directly into the sequel outside of the story.
First up, the first film was animated using Pixar’s old animation tool, Marionette, and Incredibles 2 uses Presto. Overall, it’s an improvement with environments and character models being considerably more detailed, moving much more realistically, and lighting being vastly improved. The art style remains unchanged, inspired by classic ‘world of tomorrow’ imagery with angular designs, but as a result of the technological improvement these environments feel less real than they did in 2004, cartoony almost, and I’m not the biggest fan of the alterations made to make it appear like this.
I also feel as though this isn’t as visually impressive as other Pixar films. There’s less going on, light and smoke effects aren’t as impressive as they have been in previous Pixar films, and with the art style making it look cartoony it feels more akin to a Disney Animated Studios production rather than Pixar. A disappointment compared to the first film which introduced so much new technology to 3D animation in order to achieve the kind of scale and spectacle Bird needed.
Michael Giacchino returns to compose the score though and much like the first time round he delivers perhaps one of the best Pixar scores of all time. It just sounds awesome, and the way it plays with the visuals in exciting ways gives the film so much energy.
Incredibles 2 is, on the whole, great. In fact, it’s still one of Pixar’s best films. But it does feel like a downgrade in comparison to what came before, and its lack of technological improvements when compared to other Pixar films of the time make it feel less special than it is. I remember when it released in 2017 hype was so high for the film that it received countless flawless reviews (including a glowing review from myself), but now that the dust has settled the cracks in the armour are apparent and Incredibles 2 isn’t quite as flawless as I once thought.
First up, the first film was animated using Pixar’s old animation tool, Marionette, and Incredibles 2 uses Presto. Overall, it’s an improvement with environments and character models being considerably more detailed, moving much more realistically, and lighting being vastly improved. The art style remains unchanged, inspired by classic ‘world of tomorrow’ imagery with angular designs, but as a result of the technological improvement these environments feel less real than they did in 2004, cartoony almost, and I’m not the biggest fan of the alterations made to make it appear like this.
I also feel as though this isn’t as visually impressive as other Pixar films. There’s less going on, light and smoke effects aren’t as impressive as they have been in previous Pixar films, and with the art style making it look cartoony it feels more akin to a Disney Animated Studios production rather than Pixar. A disappointment compared to the first film which introduced so much new technology to 3D animation in order to achieve the kind of scale and spectacle Bird needed.
Michael Giacchino returns to compose the score though and much like the first time round he delivers perhaps one of the best Pixar scores of all time. It just sounds awesome, and the way it plays with the visuals in exciting ways gives the film so much energy.
Incredibles 2 is, on the whole, great. In fact, it’s still one of Pixar’s best films. But it does feel like a downgrade in comparison to what came before, and its lack of technological improvements when compared to other Pixar films of the time make it feel less special than it is. I remember when it released in 2017 hype was so high for the film that it received countless flawless reviews (including a glowing review from myself), but now that the dust has settled the cracks in the armour are apparent and Incredibles 2 isn’t quite as flawless as I once thought.