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Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is left to care for Jack-Jack while Helen (Elastigirl) is out saving the world.
Pixar introduced the original “The Incredibles” movie back in 2004. Now, the long-anticipated sequel has arrived and it was worth the wait. Fourteen years is a long wait for a movie, especially for kids. All the babies that saw this are bordering on teen years now. But writer and director Brad Bird created not just a decent sequel, something rare for Disney movies, but a flick on par with the original Parr family saga. The animated movie does not focus on taking the characters to another level but stays on level with where they were, which makes sense because the sequel starts were the last one finished.
In case you forgot, at the tail end of our super-families last movie, Violet (Sarah Vowell) was asked out by the boy she had been mooning over right before her and her family suited up to bring down a mole villain. Now enter the sequel: the attempt to bring down the Mole fails, leaving the country with a bad taste for already illegal supers. The Parr’s move into a hotel until an offer they cannot refuse comes in from a stranger. Not any stranger, but a tech tycoon, Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) and his angsty inventor sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener). Years ago, their father died in a break-in gone wrong after supers were banned from using their powers for good. They want Helen, also Elastigirl played by Holly Hunt, to be the spokesperson to represent the good supers to rejuvenate the public opinion of all supers and make superheroes legal again.
Helen agrees despite her desire to not break the law, unlike her husband Bob (Mr. Incredible played by Craig T. Nelson) who misses the days of fighting crime with his friend Lucius (Frozone played by Samuel L. Jackson). With his wife Helen representing all the heroes, Bob plays stay-at-home-dad. He has his hands full with Violet, upset about her love life, Dash (Huck Milner) needing homework help, and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile) manifesting a full range of superpowers. Bob turns to Frozone and Edna Mode (Brad Bird) for help in his zombie single-parent state. I won’t give any details, but Jack-Jack has a run-in with a neighborhood raccoon rummaging through the trash that will be everyone’s favorite scene and keep you laughing for days. Also, Edna’s screen time was limited but one of the pinnacles of the movie, as expected.
A super-villain enters the city to test Helen’s under-used superpowers and sabotage the world’s opinion of superheroes. Screenslaver (Bill Wise) invades screens everywhere to break the rave reviews Helen’s heroics gained in public opinion. A few new supers help Helen before the enemy hypnotizes them to the dark side and our favorite super-family must work together to save the world from the biggest threat they have faced yet.
The plot is predictable for adults. Children will delight in the wonderful twists and turns of the story. Jack-Jack predictably steals the show. The last movie gave us a taste of his powers and somehow forgotten he had them in the sequel. One of my few complaints is his lack of screen time. The adorable super in diapers would have rescued the world from Screenslaver in a second for a cookie and a bottle. Dash too had less screentime as the writer focused less on Dash’s and Violet’s super-abilities and more on their humanity. This plotline was definitely enjoyable but no growth for these two characters as Jack-Jack and the parents were the focus.
The animated film will keep you rolling in laughter and content with the new storyline for the characters. Like I said, with the sequel so close, timewise, to the first movie, the family has little time to grow, not in a disappointing way but if Disney makes a third, I would love to move a little farther into the future from 1962 and see the children grown up in the ‘70s, following in their parents footsteps with the support of the public. The visuals are stunning, and the battles are epic, better than I anticipated as most sequels leave much to be desired. The only real complaint is a two-hour cartoon is too long for some children – the target audience.
A quick shout-out about the Pixar short “Bao,” a Korean woman cooks homemade bao buns just in time for a meal before her husband leaves for work. When she takes a bite of one bun, it comes to life and the woman embraces the bun as her new child-like creature. She raises the “baby” and as he ages, he yearns for a life away from his mom. The cartoon was not my favorite Pixar short. A cute little story despite how strange the plot was but not up to par with the others I have seen. Either way, run to the theater to see the “Incredibles 2” and “Bao.” You will not be let down.
In theaters Friday, June 15th
