"Incredibles" Sequel Has Modern Animation, Family-Fun, and Enough Humor
By: Keaton Marcus
Genre/Action/Kids/Family
Age Rating/6+
Lemonradar/80% sweet
So What’s The Story?
Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing 14-year anticipated sequel to The Incredibles, Incredibles 2. After the new law set to ban all superheroes from the public and stay with their normal identity, the Parr family get a call from an organization called DevCorp who wants to bring back supers to the spotlight, and after a new and very techy villain known as Screen Slaver starts hypnotizing supers all over the world, it is time for the family to get back to the fight.
How Was The Cast?
Very impressive, after the immensely long (14-year) wait for the whole cast, characters and everything to come back together including new characters making it a much bigger and more confusing film than the original which happens to be both good and bad. The cast includes Craig T. Nelson returning as Bob Parr (aka Mr. Incredible), Holly Hunter as the over-protective mom Helen Parr (aka Elastigirl), Samuel L. Jackson as the ice-powered super Lucius Best (aka Frozone) and newly produced techy villain Screen Slaver played by Catherine Keener. As I said we saw actor Craig T. Nelson (The Incredibles, Book Club, Poltergeist, Get Hard etc.) performing role Bob Parr. Reversing the plot from the original in this Disney/Pixar sequel, this way around Bob must watch the kids for Helen (Elastigirl) so she can complete her “new job.” Successfully producing enough charm, laughs and pure talent from previous films to tire the simple plot a little, Nelson might be the shadowing character in this case, but the actor still manages to create almost (however not as much) playful banter as the critically-acclaimed original film. With the movie’s amazing Box Office prediction, we are expecting more outings for Nelson as Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) despite his downward trend in talent. Secondly returning another role from the so-nostalgic original was actress Holly Hunter (The Firm, The Incredibles, The Big Sick, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice etc.) playing the mom in the famous Parr family, Helen. Hunter who is a true-veteran in acting, this is one of her weaker films, and although they have given the actress the main spotlight of the film, she still does have trouble with keeping up with her amazing performance in the original alone, much less her other great movies; Though despite a little let down from the long-anticipated performance, Hunter skillfully plays Helen Parr (Elastigirl) with a kick-butt attitude and enough playful kiddy comedy to win over die-hard fans of the original. Thirdly, again another famous character returning from the original was Bob Parr’s super friend, Lucius Best played by Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Jurassic Park, Unbreakable, The Incredibles, Kong: Skull Island etc.) Continuing this killer cast with Jackson’s sly, funny and very cooly played charisma while making Frozone (cameo from the original) one of the main superheroes in this enormous sequel and even though Jackson’s Frozone may not be as sophisticated or smart as his other killer roles and Jackson is always the best at cameos (or small roles) director Brad Bird and Pixar/Disney successfully turn Frozone into a character that matters to the audience whilst witnessing the movie. Finally, amongst all of the new characters returning from the 2004 original is newly added villain to the story, known as Screen Slaver voiced by Catherine Keener (The Croods, Into the Wild, Get Out, Captain Phillips, Where the Wild Things Are etc.) Even though not an originally made Pixar/Disney character from the original film, Keener has done so many amazing performances in the past, that the actress pays enough scary homage and twists to the legacy of Disney villains and although the plot around her may not have the best brains others have provided the very idea of Screen Slaver is rightfully portrayed by a brilliant actress which gives some extra fuel to elevate the otherwise simple character.
Is It Worth Your While?
Another nostalgic return from the 2004 original was director Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, The Iron Giant, Tomorrowland, The Incredibles, Ratatouille etc.) and not only directing the film, but also cameoing as the famous superhero costume designer Edna Mode in both films of the couplet. With some wonderful films Bird directed both animated and live-action, the filmmaker both directs and acts with skill, and although he lost some steam from the brilliant directing in the original he still brings a solid story, an ensemble cast and many nostalgic moments to overcome the ever-demanding fans highest-expectations and because of another successful Disney/Pixar outing for him, we will certainly see more and more kids flicks from director Brad Bird who clearly has a knack for animated movies with well-staged action sequences, dazzling animation and some hysterical comedy between the cast characters big and small. Special effects wise was Incredibles 2 real key to pleasing the audience upping the production budget by a whopping 108M (standing at 200M give-or-take) is one of the biggest budgets in Disney/Pixar history despite a more moderate 92M production for The Incredibles which happens to be a lot less risky, with its current Box Office performance, the film’s mega-budget and perfect chemistry between directing and acting really makes this film work and in another way saying that this 200M (maybe +) budget was really worth it. Storyline and plot wise, I have told you earlier in my review that it was a little simple, but that occasionally is the story with most Disney/Pixar flicks and while that is a little disappointing for the franchise, with the ensemble cast, wonderful animated special effects and gleeful directing by Brad Bird it almost makes the audience forget that the somewhat weak story and plot were even there.
Aging ‘The Parr Family’
Much less mature and violent (disappointingly) from the original, Incredibles 2 does not stray from a simple PG-rated film with minor but sometimes a little harsh on action sequences, language (as in most Disney/Pixar flicks) does not go away from the insult level and sexuality mainly includes flirting and a few kisses. Violence wise, it is a little less than the violent original but there are still plenty of fairly intense scenes including tense chases, many threats and later mass destruction to cities, the villain is somewhat creepy (has weird disturbing voice and includes many suspenseful scenes associated with him/her, the baby (Jack-Jack) comically fights and wins against a racoon (including many powers; Lasers, teleportation etc.) and there are some mentions and showings of guns and other weapons (but rarely used). Language wise, there are minor uses of crap, hell, damned and rude language such as “boys are jerks”, “superheroes suck” and a couple of mentions of oh my god. Sexuality wise, Elastigirl does wear a very revealing (perhaps too) skintight outfit, teens do have crushes, and obviously there is some flirting scenes between Bob and Helen Parr.
Incredibles Couplet Showdown
Incredibles 2 80% sweet
Violence: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Age Rating: 6+
The Incredibles 96% sweet
Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Age Rating: 8+
Incredibles 2 80% sweet
Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
The Incredibles 96% sweet
Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
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