Incredibles 2 (June 15, 2018)

This movie was widely successful making $182.7 million in its opening weekend, setting the record for best debut for an animated film, and grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2018, the fourth-highest-grossing animated film (behind The Lion King (2019), Frozen II, and Frozen) and the 18th-highest-grossing film of all time, along with being the third Pixar film to gross $1 billion after Finding Dory and Toy Story 3. The story follows the Parr family as they try to restore the public's trust in superheroes while balancing their family life, only to combat a new foe who seeks to turn the populace against all superheroes. The animation is a major improvement from the first film (no surprise being that this film, while set shortly after was released 15 years after the original). It is simply stunning, highlighting the already impressive actions of the superheroes. Particularly, Elastigirl’s powers are given the chance to shine, in a way they were not in the original, during her bike chases. The interior shots of the Parr’s new home as and the panoramic shot of the big city are fantastic and the detailing on the costumes are immaculate. The movie also presents more arguments against “supers” and their collateral damage done to society. They feel it would be better if they did nothing than try to help and this position, while unfortunately, makes a lot of sense- similar to that in Captain America: Civil War (though instead of monitoring and tracking ever hero in wherever they go this instance the government wishes to ban superheroes altogether.) Introducing the new superheroes, as well, was a great choice (although most had fairly lame powers). My main problem with the film, however, is its overly feminist message. Elastigirl can seemingly do no wrong, inflicting less damage and being held up as overall better than men. This is paralleled by Evelyn Deavor who feels underappreciated and overlooked by the men around her, notably her brother who is the face of their telecommunications company while she handles the designs. I actually preferred Mr. Incredible more in the first film than Elastigirl and so I did not appreciate seeing him sidelined. The plot is basically a reverse of the first, with a few additions. As Elastigirl herself admits, she is so hypocritical galivanting around during super heroics while he chastised her husband for doing the same thing. They are also better as a team and should be treated as such, not interchangeable characters. The villain, the screenslaver, is a blatant commentary on the state of our addiction to technology but it fails to make any impact, sidelined by the rest of the action as only really used to further the aims of said villain; Their potential was wasted (though, the enslaving of the superheroes was such a well-executed plan, a great way of increasing the stakes). I also did not like Jack-Jack having so many powers. He became annoying instead of endearing. It does not make sense having so many powers in a world of supers who seemingly all have one. As a final side note, after watching this, I, more than ever, want a Frozone movie as he is my favorite character (though Edna remains her charming self and a close second). Overall, Incredibles 2 is an impressively animated film with many intriguing elements but its hyperfeminist message left a bad taste in my mouth, stopping me from giving it a better rating as it effectively sidelines one of my favorite characters from the first film, Mr. Incredible, as well as giving one of my least favorite, Jack-Jack a prominent role.

Final Rating: 6/10