Incredibles 2 – The Bureau42 Review

Fourteen years after the last movie, Incredibles 2 picks up immediately where the previous one left off.  Does it capture the same magic and quality?  Is Brad Bird still the best writer/director the Fantastic Four have had?  Does a lack of the definite article hamper the title at all?

My nine year old (Inara) thought it was awesome.  My five year old (Majel) thought the fights were scary, but the rest was alright.  My twenty year old (Raven) texted “It was incredible.”  My forty-year old man thoughts are below the cut.

Title: Incredibles 2

Directed by Brad Bird
Written by Brad Bird

Cast:

Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible (voice)
Holly Hunter as Helen Parr / Elastigirl (voice)
Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr (voice)
Huck Milner as Dashiell Parr (Dash) (voice) (as Huckleberry Milner)
Catherine Keener as Evelyn Deavor (voice)
Eli Fucile as Jack-Jack Parr (voice)
Bob Odenkirk as Winston Deavor (voice)
Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best / Frozone (voice)
Michael Bird as Tony Rydinger (voice)
Sophia Bush as Voyd (voice)
Brad Bird as Edna Mode (E) (voice)
Phil LaMarr as Krushauer / Helectrix (voice)
Isabella Rossellini as Ambassador (voice)
Adam Gates as Chad Brentley (voice)
Jonathan Banks as Rick Dicker (voice)
John Ratzenberger as Underminer (voice)
Bill Wise as Screenslaver / Pizza Guy (voice)
Nicholas Bird as Monster Jack-Jack Parr (voice) (as Nick Bird)
Paul Eiding as Reflux (voice)
Barry Bostwick as Mayor (voice)
Michael B. Johnson as Victor Cachet (voice)
Jere Burns as Detective (voice)
Adam Rodriguez as Detective (voice)
Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey (voice)

Premise:

Elastigirl springs into action to save the day, while Mr. Incredible faces his greatest challenge yet – taking care of the problems of his three children. (From Trakt.)

High Point:

I identified with the characters to such a degree I genuine suspect Pixar has cheat codes for emotional investment.

Low Point:

The attraction here from Pixar is the characters, emotional investment, and real life drama, or as it is called on the internet: The Feelz.  That does not put a super hero story high on the list, and the super hero plot and twists are well executed, but predictable and basic.

The Scores:

Originality: 4/6 Families that are super heroes aren’t new, but we get to see the family deal with super-hero life outside of the costumes.  It is nice to see the stay-at-home dad struggle because parenting can be difficult and he is inexperienced, not because he is incompetent and a buffoon.

Animation: 6/6 There is a level of realism that I am not sure how to handle in this cartoony world.  Dash has his dad’s features, which makes perfect genetic sense, except we have no reason to suspect they have genetics.  It is so well animated and “real”, yet a great cartoon.  The characters looked enough like real actors I made incorrect attributions when I was watching it.

Acting: 6/6 Everyone nails their part.

Production: 6/6 They had fourteen years to get it finished, yet was surprisingly ahead of schedule enough to swap release dates with Toy Story 4.

Story: 4/6  The super hero portion of the story, the bad guys, the twists, they were all things you are used to in these stories, and from Pixar, that it stops being a question of if, but when.  The rest of the story, the parts that don’t revolve around world changing events are the parts that make the story really shine.

Emotional Response: 6/6 This movie wassn’t a tear jerker like Pixar has a habit of doing, but even the villain is relate-able.

Overall: 6/6 This is another installment of a great franchise, and I hope to see more.

In total, Incredibles 2 receives 38/42

Bonus: Bao was shown before the movie in my theater.  It made me hungry, and later made me want choked up.  Another amazing Pixar film.

4 replies on “Incredibles 2 – The Bureau42 Review”

  1. High point: The raccoon fight was awesome!!! I also like how it showcased that even Jack-Jack wants to be a hero.

    BTW: note to The Last Jedi, THIS is how you make a movie that picks up right after the end of the last movie.

  2. Wait. I think we’re missing the important part: Lex named his kids Inara, Majel, and Raven. That is some next-level geek, Lex. I tip my hat to you.

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