Hello, Spongey here.
Time for out sole General Review for June…sort of, you’ll see what I mean next week. Anyway, here we have possibly the most anticipated animated sequel.
This of course is the sequel to Brad Bird’s The Incredibles. I talked about it in my 2004 Animated Films Ranking so you can go there for more detail but in short, it truly is incredibly, even with the odd issues here and there.
It still holds up as a great Superhero movie even with all the ones coming out these days. Now is as good a time as any for Pixar’s hero family tor return. Since then, Brad Bird has proved to be a great director, both with how he directs and how good his movies are.
He certainly made the best Animation to Live Action transition I can think of. Yep, I’m on the side that quite likes Tomorrowland. But now he’s back to animation with this movie. AKA the one people have been annoyingly begging for.
And now they have it, so the “90’s kids” can shut up. Jokes aside, our patience seems to have paid off as the reviews are quite good so far. But will I think this is a worthy follow up?
Let’s finally find out.
This, is Incredibles 2
(But first, the short in front of it, Bao, was super cute and emotional, even if the ending is a bit confusing)
When we last saw The Incredibles they were about to face off against The Underminer. They stop him but cause damage in the process, leading to the Supers again before force underground. However, some people want to prove to everyone that Supers are great so Bob and Helen jump at the chance to do this.
Helen is the one they want to use to test this, leaving Bob to stay at home and take care of the kids. But when a new villain rises, everyone will have to rise up and stop the threat.
I’m happy to report this sequel was worth the wait and I highly enjoy it. Spoilers, there’s a big But to that later, but I need to start with all my praise, it’ll make sense in a bit.
The best thing about this sequel is how much it recaptures what the first movie did. Everything I loved about is back here and it was such a joy to watch. The action is still incredibly fun and energetic, Micheal Giachino’s score is still fantastic and most of all, the dialogue is still on point.
I said that the way the characters talk felt realistic and that continues here. Sometimes just seeing them talk is more fun than watching them fight bad guys. Bob’s subplot is especially well handled with how has to deal with all kids, especially Jack Jack who is getting crazy powers.
This family is just great and everyone is really good here. Violet gets more to do, even if Dash does a tad less. The animation is also great, they’ve really come a long way since 2004.
I also quite enjoyed the new characters, even if some don’t do a lot and others could have been more interesting. All this combined makes the film highly enjoyable and engaging, just like the first one.
Before we get to the big but, I should mention that the lighting, while great, uses a lot of red which is a tad bit of a strain on the eyes. Speaking of eye strain, there’s a lot of flashing lights in scenes with the villain that are so bad that I’ve seen some epilepsy warnings going around.
So proceed with caution in that regard.
As for that big but, I’ve seen some say that they’re worried that this would be a re-hash of the first movie. Their worries…were kind of right. The story structure is basically the same. Seriously, even the way it goes from the opening to the first proper scene to when we get acquainted to the characters is note for note the same.
That’s not to say it’s a soulless rehash. It does have the new angle of Bob having to stay home while his wife does the hero work. The part is where it shines the most as we get the perfect mix of family drama and superhero action.
But then in the 3rd act it goes back to borrowing, mostly in a way I can’t spoil .I can say that while the villain is decent, I saw their identity coming a mile away.
It leaves me conflicted, because the story is well really well executed. The family drama is so engaging and it’s really amazing how Brad Bird captures how real people act. His direction is also on point, no shock there.
If the first movie didn’t exist, my problem wouldn’t even exist as I could just enjoy the story. But as it is, it keeps reminding me of the first. Although it’s more through the story, there’s very few ‘MEMBER THIS moments.
Also, that niggling issue with the first I mentioned before is sadly repeated here, if you’ve seen it you know what I mean. Oh and it feels a tad too long, even more so than the first.
It kinda sucks because this movie was so much fun and so engaging and nice. My favorite moment is with one of the new supers, that’s all I can say. But the story doesn’t offer that much new, especially compared to what they could have done.
I really wanted to see what made the first film great alongside some crazy new twists or turn but this mostly lacked that. This will be a big point of contention. Some don’t mind and still love it, while some do really wish it had a more original story even if they still like it.
Usually it would be a bigger problem for me since rehash sequels are usually not good…but this was so good despite that. It really gets everything right but I really wish it had more to it.
The themes and such aren’t too much deeper this time around, which is fine on its own but the story structure being the same is an issue. I want to flat out love but I feel like I more so less got the same viewing experience, just slightly different even though it’s not like a total rehash.
When you see my rating, you will be surprised based on how big of an issue that is for me. But everything else is just so good and highly engaging in the same way it was before. It’s so enjoyable that it makes the lack of new twists even odder.
I was hoping this be a Great Pixar movie or a high Very Good like Coco but I will mostly settle for what we have.
Overall, Incredibles 2 is a worthy sequel that was worth the wait. The magic of the first is captured with the characters being as great as ever. The music and animation are top notch (even with the flashing lights) and it combines superhero action with family drama as well as before.
But it has the same story structure, which means you don’t get anything too new compared to what I expected. So I enjoyed it on a Very Good level, but it’s issue would normally mean it’s just Good.
But when you combine all that together, you get the rating you’ll see in a bit. It’s almost like Finding Dory…only I liked that one more. Don’t @ Me
But yeah, it’s a blast just like before, don’t expect Toy Story 3 or anything.
Rating: Very Good
Told you it’s a result of my combined feelings. It’s complicated and I feel odd having to give an Asterisk to that rating, but here we are. Still, you should check out, especially if you like the first film.
The next animated film takes monsters to the seas, but our next general review will keep us with heroes, just smaller ones.
See ya.
A Taste of Spongey 