Incredibles 2 Review

Incredibles 2 Review

 

A spoiler free review of Bao and The Incredibles 2.

 

Bao

Before we can dive into the film we must first discuss Bao, the short that featured before the film. I had seen the advert for the cartoon and I was intrigued but when I saw it in the cinema, it was nothing like what I was expecting and I loved that. Without giving anything away I will say that it focuses on a Chinese family which is something I enjoyed. I like film and TV that portray different people’s lives.

Just as a warning, and without spoiling anything, bear in mind that this cartoon if very symbolic, everything is not what it seems. This made it intriguing but also a little confusing. I was left at the end thinking, “Umm, okay? what?” Hopefully you understand it better than I do.

Overall I loved this cartoon, it was adorable and heart-warming but it was also really sad and a little bit shocking.

The Incredibles 2

I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of the original film the first time I watched it, which meant that I didn’t re-watch the film until a couple of weeks ago to prepare me for watching this film. I ended up liking it a lot more the second time around. I didn’t have this problem watching Incredibles 2 though because I love it, a lot. When watching the film I was never bored or thinking “When’s it going to end?” The film is on the longer side, but it’s so action packed that you don’t really realise.

 

One of the problems I had with the first film is that it focused too much on Mr Incredible. In Incredibles 2 however they make sure all the family members have a good amount of screen time. You get to see more of Violet and her boyfriend troubles, Mrs. Incredible is off fighting crime, Mr. Incredible is keeping the family together, Jack Jack is trying out all of his powers and Dash, well Dash is the exception. In the original film he had more of a character arc with his struggles about not using his powers in public, but in this film he does math.

 

Now although there is an equal amount of time for each character I think we can all agree that Jack Jack is the unexpected star of the film. He is such a scene stealer. I loved seeing all of his powers, especially when he turns to goo as I know that this was something they wanted to do in the first film, but they didn’t have the time or the money. Jack Jack also helps to push the story forward and helps give some comic relief for what I would call one of the more tense Pixar films. Jack Jack was one of the highlights of the film for me.

I couldn’t talk about characters and not mention Edna Mode, who was without a doubt the most iconic character of the first film. There was a concern that because the audience loved her so much that they would try and over use her, but I think the Pixar team did a good job in not overusing her. She is still the same old feisty and empowering Edna and I loved her.

In the first film Pixar had a really tough time animating hair and now in this film, they have brushed out all of the problems and you can tell they have nailed the problem right on the head. But in all seriousness, you can tell that they have really stepped up their animation game with the super powers, explosions, characters facial expressions and all the unseen details.

The first film started with interviews, which was exactly how this film started and this was something I appreciated. Sequels can often lose the feel that is created during the first film, but having the opening be interviews brings back nostalgia for the first film.

 

One of the things that surprised me was just how violent the film was. Although I don’t believe that there was any blood there was a ridiculous amount of fighting, threats and even death. I know that Pixar doesn’t shy away from sensitive subjects but it was quite a violent film. However, as well as being violent, the film is also quite comical, there are some really laugh out loud moments from a lot of the characters. It’s definitely got a good balance.

 

One of the things that can’t be overlooked in this film is that it ignored gender stereotypes. It is normally assumed that the mother will stay at home with the children while the father goes out to work for his family. In this film it’s the other way around. The Incredibles showed that woman could be kick ass, but in Incredibles 2 it showed that woman could be more kick ass than men. It’s not what you always see and I appreciate that.

Being the big Pixar fan I am, I am aware of the Easter eggs in the films so I was constantly on the lookout for the Luxo ball or the pizza planet truck but I couldn’t spot either. Let me know in the comments below if you spotted either of these Easter eggs. I did however spot the A113 sign right at the end of the film and a hidden Mickey symbol in the credits.

The other Easter egg that was easy to spot, or I should say hear, was John Ratzenberger. He has voiced a character in every single Pixar film to date and he voiced the same character he did in the first film, the Underminer.

 

 

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Spoilers

Disney has been getting really good at creating unexpected villains, like Hans in Frozen, however from the moment that Winston and his sister Evelyn came on screen, I knew that one of them would be the villain. It was just that little predictable. Maybe if they made it Frozone or Mr. Dicker it would have been a lot more shocking. However I have to say that making the villain a woman was another way they eliminated gender stereotypes.

 

In this film they introduced a whole new bunch a superheroes and I really enjoyed this, especially Void, mainly because she is the superhero, out of the bunch, that has the most screen time but also because she is voiced by Sophia Bush who I love from One Tree Hill which was a TV programme from my teenage years. They all have such cool superpowers and I loved to see them in use. If they did an Incredibles 3 or a show on the Disney channel, I would love to see more of them.

 

Screensaver was a creepy villain and he was most certainly powerful, but, I don’t entirely understand her, Evelyn’s, ultimate plan. I mean, her parents were murdered by villains and now she is okay with murdering a whole bunch of civilians by crashing a boat into the land. There is no logic. If she really wanted revenge, wouldn’t you target it at the villains, not at the people who are trying to help. I think Syndrome, from the first film, was a better villain.

Leaving the cinema after seeing this film, I was really happy, it was such a good film. I would 100% recommend anyone going to see it. I am also not against the idea of an Incredibles 3 film. It would be interesting to see Violet, Dash and Jack Jack grown up, some with partners, some with kids and see how they deal with having superhero children. The idea of goodies and baddies will always be interesting and there are so many possibilities. I’m sure someone could think of a worthwhile storyline.