New Release! The Incredibles 2 (2018) [Spoiler-Free Review]

The Parr family, a.k.a. "The Incredibles." They deal with
the same problems as any standard family, along with using
their amazing abilities to stop evildoers.

No Spoilers! Read On!!

Director: Brad Bird

Though perhaps not the dazzling revelation of the first movie, The Incredibles 2 is another brilliant feather in the caps of the animation geniuses at Pixar Studios. And it satisfied this tremendous fan of the original movie quite nicely.

The story picks up only moments after the end of the first movie - with the super-powered Parr family about to square off against the subterranean villain "The Underminer," who emerges from underground to steal from several banks. The consequences of the ensuing fight reinforces the public's belief that "supers" (those with superhuman abilities) should still not be granted the legal right to use their powers in public. Enter Winston and Evelyn Deavor - a brother/sister pair of billionaires who are the heads of a massive communications company. Winston in particular is a longtime fan of superheroes and wants to use the Incredibles - Helen "Elastigirl" Parr, to be precise - to wage a positive public relations campaign to see supers granted license to publicly use their powers once again. Soon after this campaign is underway, a new villain - The Screenslaver - emerges with powerful hypnotizing technology which endangers anyone who sees it.

Helen "Elastigirl" Parr gets to be much more front-and-center
in the sequel. It's a highly effective shift from the original.

Back in 2004, I was completely blown away by the first movie. That year, it was hands-down the most fun I had at the movie theater. Pixar had already had several massive hit movies, with Monsters, Inc., the first two Toy Story movies, and Finding Nemo. But The Incredibles was something else, entirely. It was the first Pixar movie that showed a real sense of chic style and used a really fun fantasy/superhero premise that showed more sophistication than your typical family movie. The humor ran the gamut, and the action was pure joy to watch. While the sequel could never have been as novel as the original, it comes about as close to its predecessor in all other departments. The writing is still exceptionally sharp, the story is very much its own rather than just a retread of the successful elements of the first movie, and the action is as dazzling and inventive as one could hope for. Thanks to the freedom that animation provides and the wonderfully creative mind of writer and director Brad Bird, this movie follows the first in being one of the best superhero movies made - animated or otherwise.

I could nitpick a few things here and there, such as how the third act gets a little convoluted with characters and the finale isn't as impressive as the first movie. Still, there is a satisfactory resolution to everything. Anyone who has enjoyed superhero movies, Pixar movies, or simply fun action movies is bound to have fun with this one.