A Pixar Animation Studios Film
Written and Directed by Brad Bird
**1/2 (two and a half stars)
RATED PG
First things first. I am certain that many, if not all of you will love this film. It is exceedingly well made and it is bound to make a fortune at the box office, perfectly satisfying all manner of fans who have patiently waited 14 years for this second installment of the superhero family. All of that being said, and for as much as I did like about the movie, I was ultimately underwhelmed.
Now when we first met the Parr family, otherwise known as The Incredibles, featuring Bob Parr a.k.a. the muscle bound Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), his wife Helen a.k.a. the rubber-limbed, super flexible Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), sullen yet force field conjuring, fading to invisible at will teenage daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), rambunctious super speed gifted young son Dash (Huck Milner)and infant Jack-Jack in Writer/Director Brad Bird's "The Incredibles" (2004), we really only had two of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy and two of Bryan Singer's "X-Men" entries as part of our superhero landscape populating our national cineplexes. At that time, Christopher Nolan was still one year away from debuting the first entry in his now iconic "Dark Knight Trilogy" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was four years away from emerging onto the scene as well. Even on television, we were still two years away from NBC's "Heroes." I think you get the picture.
In 2004, we were also living within a period when Pixar made art films! While I do apologize for the slight and uncharacteristic snark, there is a real point to be made when looking at the artistic to commerce driven trajectory of Pixar over the years, for in 2004, Pixar was still at the forefront of American animated films, setting the GOLD STANDARD by creating works for the ages. Brad Bird's "The Incredibles" was truly one of the very best the studio had released to date at that time.
The combination of super powers, a James Bond styled plotline and the precarious realities and anxieties of a midlife crisis at the core was ingenious and fresh, making "The Incredibles" precisely the type of film experience we hadn't quite seen before. Furthermore, and for as much as I have been critical about the prevalence of Pixar's increasing slate of unnecessary sequels, Bird's film was the sole Pixar entry for me that truly felt to deserve a second chapter.
And yet...
Brad Bird's "Incredible 2" is by no means a failure, or a bad film or even a necessarily disappointing one, so to speak. But it was one that lacked a certain inexplicable spark of life, the very kind that did make the original film so wonderful and unexpected. Could it be that we are unable to throw the smallest pebble and not hit 30 superheros in the movies and television these days? Perhaps, that does steal a bit of thunder from the Parr family. Even so, "Incredibles 2" did have certain roadblocks that not even the super-powered could defeat, making for a film that was truthfully unimpressive.
When we last saw The Incredibles, they had just defeated the villain Syndrome and were preparing themselves for a battle royale with a new enemy named The Underminer (voiced by Pixar good luck charm John Ratzenberger), the mole-like super-villain bent on destruction. "Incredibles 2" picks up directly at that moment, yet unfortunately the family is unsuccessful with stopping The Underminer from robbing the Metroville bank, while amassing a hefty amount of destruction in the process. This defeat for the superhero family forces them, and all superheroes, including family friend Lucius Best a.k.a. Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), to return to seclusion and for the Parr's relocation.
Soon, the family is visited by Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk), telecommunication mogul, owner of the DEVTECH corporation and enthusiastic superhero fan, who proposes a publicity stunt to regain the public's trust of superheroes. Helen Parr cautiously takes the bait, returns to her secret identity as Elastigirl, complete with a new costume from a different fashion designer than family designer Edna Mode (voiced by Brad Bird), and departs, leaving Bob to take care of the children, including little Jack-Jack, who suddenly begins to display a series of new and unpredictable powers.
Meanwhile, Helen, while working with Winston and his technological genius sister Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener), soon confronts a new villain known as the Screenslaver, a figure who hijacks and utilizes visual screens to hypnotize and brainwash victims to perform all evil biddings. Will Helen be able to stop the Screenslaver? And even grander, will Violet ever have her first date with the boy of her dreams? And finally, can Bob ever figure out that confounded "New Math"?
Brad Bird's "Incredibles 2" is a hyper-kinetically paced, imaginatively restless, visually dazzling film that works like the devil to keep the characters, action, and the jokes in constant momentum. With Composer Michael Giacchino's brassy, bombastic score punctuating every solitary moment, the film barely takes a breath, a tactic which works in fits and starts as some sequences are made more dynamic and hysterical in their breakneck agile fluidity while others hurl by with the blur of a whirlwind, where not much sticks to the surface.
For instance, the show stopping sequence where Jack-Jack battles a pesky raccoon was presented with the comical light speed flourish of a classic Looney Tunes short. Yet, on the other hand, I do have to admit that many of the superhero battles, chases, and rescues, while brilliantly animated by those Pixar wizards under Brad Bird's direction, are indeed so propulsive and therefore, so indistinguishable from every other piece of CGI bombast that we always see and have grown accustomed to viewing, that everything hurtled and boomed to no true effect.
And that quality is more than unfortunate as what made "The Incredibles" so special and unique that the superhero angle worked solely because we had the family dynamic of the Parrs as the core, the engine and the soul of the film. For "Incredibles 2," while the family element remains crucial, it just felt that Bird leaned a bit too heavily upon the superhero angle, thus decreasing his film's ultimate impact and overall differentiation from every other superhero film and television show in our midst these days. I have long expressed my feelings of superhero fatigue upon this site and I guess, I really wasn't terribly interested in learning about more new heroes and their powers when there was already a more sensational story of a family right in front of us ready and waiting to be told.
Now, that criticism should not be taken that I felt "Incredibles 2" to be a film without any substance. On the contrary, what I enjoyed the very most about the film was how Brad Bird pushed essentially all of his female characters right to the forefront of the film...again slyly giving the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet another would to lick as they still have not yet released a female driven film, unlike DC Comics and Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman" (2017).
Actually, and speaking of "Wonder Woman," "Incredibles 2" almost serves some of the same functions as that film presented. As the first film focused upon Bob's middle aged angst, "Incredibles 2" allows Helen to take the center stage as she fully relishes her chance to indulge her own super-heroics and engage in the action and mystery involving the Screenslaver.
Watching her as she races through the city streets on her flashy motorcycle, slyly winking at her young fans and feeling nothing less than euphoria saving the passengers of a runaway train, Helen Parr as Elastigirl not only has tapped into the same emotions that resuscitated Bob in the first film, she has, on a grander level, re-connected with what makes her super-heroic as a woman in the first place. She is amazed with herself and we get the chance to be amazed with her. Even moreso, it feels as if she had submerged qualities of herself while living the life of a housewife and Mother, roles she certainly never admonished at any point in either film but even so...there was something missing in her life.
Becoming Elastigirl full time again has allowed Helen Parr to tap into her strength, her bravery, her ingenuity, cleverness and even a certain (safe for PG rated family films) allure as well as levels of risk taking she had to bury once superheroes became illegals and she had to step into her domestic role full time. Now, Helen Parr is fully empowered and through writing and direction of Brad Bird, Holly Hunter's crackerjack performance and the animators, who, at times, somehow make Helen look like Holly Hunter (especially around her mouth), here is where "Incredibles 2" soars.
To that end, beefing up Violet's role in comedy, bravery and maturity elevates the character, Sarah Vowell's terrific performance and the proceedings of the film as a whole. In actuality, with the film's other major and supporting characters, from Edna Mode, Evelyn Deavor and other super-heroic characters that pepper the film, "Incredibles 2" is, without question, a female driven tale, and the result is indeed more than refreshing.
But why couldn't all of the elements of "Incredibles 2" be this refreshing as well? Again, there's nothing bad, per se. Just portions that pulled the film downwards when it should have only continued to rise higher. Yes, Jack-Jack and the discovery of his myriad of new superpowers was funny but for me, a little of that, and the hijinks that ensued, went a long way. The identity of the Screenslayer was painfully obvious, thus diluting any of the film's central mystery and therefore, just making us wait for the inevitable. But worst of all of the treatment of Bob Parr.
I saw this film on Father's Day of all days and it just struck me sadly that Brad Bird, for whatever reason, could not think of anything else but every single, tired, sad cliche of the ding-dong Dad to trot out. Why did Bob Parr have to be yet another buffoon Dad? He can't care for the baby, he doesn't understand his teenage daughter, he can't follow the New Math, ha ha ha...yawn!!! It was all so..."Mr. Mom" (1983) and even then, it was a little worn out. The Parr family and the film deserved so much better.
Well...as far as where Pixar ranks now, I am certain they will not lose any of their luster, at least at the box office. But, still...I hope they find their way back. Back to when every single film they released was an event. Where every single film they released was a treasure, one to love for now and for always. One to grow with over time and continue to cherish and share no matter what age you are. The wizards at Pixar have been cashing checks for far too long, and what makes it all so saddening is that they have long been in the position of not having to just cash checks with beautifully rendered yet inoffensive, uninspired and at times, forgettable works that aren't that designed to be revisited, let alone revered.
Brad Bird's "Incredibles 2" is a one step forward-two steps backwards kind of a film. It won't hurt Pixar in the least in the short run (i.e. the commerce) but I would imagine for some viewers like myself, it doesn't quite re-ignite that spark that made us love their films in the first place.
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