Rating: 4 stars
Pixar Animation Studios, a subsidiary of Disney, is known for surprising fans with new releases and plenty of sequels to their most well-known animated films. One sequel, “The Incredibles 2,” was released last June and recently debuted on streaming services like Netflix in January of 2019.
In 2004, Pixar released their film “The Incredibles,” a new spin on the classic superhero narrative. The film centers around a family of five superheroes forced into hiding by society. They attempt to live normal lives at school and work while struggling with the reality of their identities. Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible, otherwise known as Helen and Bob Parr, have a daughter named Violet, and two sons named Dash and Jack-Jack. The sequel continues this family’s story and brings along with it plenty of action-packed scenes and laughable jokes.
In the sequel, Elastigirl is chosen to represent the superheroes and be used for positive publicity, in the hopes of convincing the public to legalize superheroes once again. The Screenslaver, a villain who has set out to keep superheroes banned forever begins to control people through computer screens, causing chaos and mayhem throughout the community. Mr. Incredible is left to stay at home and take care of the kids, and becomes jealous of Helen’s new role in the superhero image rehabilitation initiative.
The sequel to “The Incredibles” stayed in the box office for months, remaining consistently popular as one of America’s favorite summer blockbusters. The movie has a total running time of two hours and five minutes, and also includes a mini short, typical of Pixar films, that was shown in the theaters.
Well-known actors were cast as the voices of many of the animated characters, some of which include Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible, Holly Hunter as Elastigirl and Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone. The animated costumes and appearances of each character remained creative, colorful and intricate. The typical red, black and yellow uniform was revamped in many scenes, and Frozone took on many different new outfits — a creative way to revamp the series’ first installment. Each house and building in the movie was equipped with the unique retro design — a stylistic theme carried over from the first film — giving the movie a realistic feel.
One of the funniest aspects of the film was Jack-Jack learning to use and control his powers. The way he experiences these blasts of power and uses them on Mr. Incredible and around the house it creates unique moments of comic relief. Jack-Jack, as well as Edna “E” Mode, voiced by Brad Bird, provided most of the comic relief throughout the movie. The most interesting aspect of this Pixar movie was the thoroughly developed surprise ending.
The sequel received raving reviews from many critics and reviewers, with Rolling Stone even calling it “an exhilarating gift.” Overall, the film was an entertaining and fun addition to Pixar’s collection of animated features. Stream “The Incredibles 2” on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Vudu.
