Incredibles 2

(Movie Review)

Background--The First Incredibles
I was already an adult when the first Incredibles came out, so I can't claim childhood nostalgia for this series.  Although I agree with Mike Ryan, who writes:  "It’s one of those movies that kind of feels like it’s always been around. As family movies go, The Incredibles is canon."

I didn't see The Incredibles right when it first came out.  I waited a couple years, and then, once I began to get wind of all the praise the film was gathering, I finally caught it on DVD.  (I think I must have seen it somewhere around 2006--before I started my movie review project).
Like everyone else in the world, I was impressed.  The opening scene was so action packed, and yet so funny at the same time.  I couldn't believe all the great jokes and one-liners that they crammed into a pretty impressive opening action scene.
The ending climax also impressed me.  The pace of the action just kept increasing and increasing.
(I feel like this film was even more impressive when I first saw it 12 years ago, because I think since then the ending climax scenes in animated movies have just kept getting bigger and bigger, and The Incredibles doesn't stand out as much as it used to.  But maybe that's just me.  What do you guys think?)

...anyway, onto
Incredibles 2

Positives 
* Everyone knows we have too many superhero movies nowadays.  But what makes The Incredibles so fun is that it's not just another superhero movie.  It's a brilliant mash-up of retro 60s kitsch.  It's Dr. No, plus Johnny Quest, plus The Outer Limits.  (I'm not claiming special insight for noticing these--the movie wears it's influences on its sleeve.  Johnny Quest and The Outer Limits are even in the movie itself, but I think the stylistic influences are also throughout the movie, not only in the brief scenes in which The Outer Limits and Johnny Quest play on the TV.)

* Related to the above point--the animation in this film is great.  Not only from a technical standpoint, but also great from a stylistic standpoint-- perfectly recreating the mood of that 60s kitsch I mentioned above.  Not only great mood and lighting, but also great retro style flying jets and secret lairs.
And that fight in Screenslaver's apartment was perfect eerie moodsetting.

* The ending climax of this movie was really exciting.
I think the director was cheating slightly.  The quick cuts and dramatic theme music made it seem as if the action was more intense and exciting than it actual was.  But...  if it works, then it's fair game.  I felt like it was a really exciting climax.

* Perhaps not quite as funny as the first Incredibles but... some good laughs were had along the way.

The Review
Most of the reviews I've read about this movie are really positive.  Although a few are bitterly negative (for example this guy HERE, whose opinion I normally agree with).
In my opinion, The Incredibles 2 did the best job it could with the hand it was dealt.
The problem was that the original Incredibles was a premise that was only really good for one movie to begin with.  All of the wonder, and all of the laughs, in the first movie came from setting up this family of zany superheroes and their world.  A superhero struggling through a midlife crisis at an insurance company was comedy gold the first time around.  But then once that joke was used up, it was gone.
We can't go through the fun of rediscovering these characters again.  The only thing that the sequel possibly could do was send these already established characters out on a new adventure.
So, given that this was the only option the movie had open, I think they did a fantastic job with it.  What a great second adventure for these characters.

Other Notes
* Some interesting philosophical discussions in this movie, huh?  Pretty deep stuff for a kid's movie.
Brad Bird is (according to the Internet) a devotee of Ayn Rand.  As I wrote in my book review of Ayn Rand, I don't agree with her, but I don't hate her completely.  I do like the part of her ideas about the individual being valued.

* Since The Incredibles is set in the early 60s, before everyone had laptops and smartphones, Screenslaver seems a bit anachronistic.
But, I read an interview with Brad Bird (forgot where) in which he says that when he was a kid back in the 1960s, parents and teachers were always telling them not to watch too much TV.
Indeed, the dawn of the television would probably be when people were most concerned about the effects of the television screen.  Now television is just normal.
So in that respect, the 1960s is a perfect setting for Screenslaver.
(Like most people of my generation, I am an addict to the television screen.  Even though I hate myself for it.  As I've often blogged about.)

* See Whisky's thoughts on the first Incredibles movie HERE.  As always, Whisky provides some interesting food for thought.

Rating :
9 out of 10 Stars. (Not as good as the original, but the best sequel that could be hoped for.)

Video Review
Video Review HERE and embedded below



Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky — THE DANGERS OF STANDARDIZED TESTING