When Pixar and writer/director Brad Bird unleashed The Incredibles on the world in 2004, the modern superhero craze was just getting started. It was rare to see an animated superhero story on the big screen, not to mention a wholly original one that became the centerpiece of Pixar’s “try anything” hot streak during the 2000s. Much has changed in the 14 years since—we’ve seen three different Batmans, for starters—so it comes as a welcome surprise that the long-awaited Incredibles 2 ignores the current Cinematic Universe landscape entirely and soldiers on like nothing had happened. But whereas the original latched onto one idea and teased it out to perfection, its sequel reaches out for some new ideas, none of which coalesce into a coherent whole.
Picking up the moment the original film ends, the Parr family find themselves on the outs after their encounter with The Underminer leaves millions of dollars in property damage in their wake. Enter Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk), a philanthropist/tech mogul who, along with his sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener), sees an opportunity to bring supers back into the public’s good graces. His plan: Hire Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) to fight crime while wearing a bodycam, so people can see the public service that supers provide, and ultimately convince Congress to make supers legal again.
“My name’s a play on words. It helps if you sound it out. Go on, try it!”
While Helen is out saving the world, that leaves Bob/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) as the stay-at-home dad. In between helping speed demon Dash (Huck Milner) with his math homework and trying to support Violet (Sarah Vowell) through her romantic woes, Bob has his hands full with baby Jack Jack, who develops every superpower all at once. As Bob quickly learns what it takes to be an actual parent to his children, the family must contend with the arrival of a supervillain named The Screenslaver, who uses monitors and TV screens to turn unwitting viewers into mindless drones.
What becomes immediately apparent is that this sequel is far busier than the original.
The plot feels convoluted, sometimes needlessly so, and thanks to a gaggle of new superheroes, the film finds its characters scrambling for screen time. Every time we settle into Helen’s plot with the Deavors, we’re jerked back to the house to watch Bob juggle parenting duties, and then we get a random scene with Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) to remind us Frozone is in the movie. You can see the film’s big heel turn the moment that character is introduced, but we spend so much time on oddball sequences and setpieces along the way (including another visit with Brad Bird’s scene-stealing fashion designer Edna Mode) that this is hardly a complaint. This is Pixar, after all. It may be clever mainstream entertainment, but subtle it is not.
The villain is Jack Jack. He steals Bob’s sanity and, like, seven cookies.
If the original was all about Bob realizing that he can’t brute force his way through a midlife crisis, the sequel finds Helen stretching herself to the breaking point, in both the literal and moral sense. Hero work is technically illegal, she realizes, but it’s a necessary evil to provide for her family. The film paints Helen’s discomfort with her renewed celebrity lightly, asking her to bend to whatever whim the Deavors desire, but never so much that it becomes the crux of the entire story. With so many stories to be serviced, this becomes a bit of a problem.
Every time Incredibles 2 seems like it’s about to take a stand on an issue, it pulls its punches, like on the issue of bodycams. Given the fallout surrounding the opening scene’s massive destruction, you might think equipping Elastigirl with a bodycam would lead to a plot about superheroes answering for havoc wrought in the name of justice. Instead, it becomes a plot device to move our characters along to the finale. The same goes for Helen’s return to the spotlight. She knows it’s illegal, and she wrestles with the decision, but that little morality play lasts for a hot minute, because the clock is ticking and the plot continues to accelerate.
No moral quandry can withstand the power of a really cool motorcycle.
It’s not that I’m asking for things the film isn’t equipped to deliver. These things are clearly set up in the opening act, and then each theme or idea in turn seems to just fall by the wayside. It’s a symptom of a film with too many things going on at once, which results in a story that never digs too far below the surface. Bob’s struggle to raise his kids suffers under this weight as well. We see him screw something up, he stresses out for a moment, and then over a quick montage finds the strength he needs to get things done. (His intervention into Violet’s boy troubles delivers the single funniest gag in the entire film.) We see the skeleton of an emotional journey, but there’s no meat on the bones.
Of course, all this would be a bigger problem if Incredibles 2 weren’t so much dang fun. Elastigirl’s solo escapades are some of the best extended action sequences Pixar has yet crafted, and the kids’ adventures without mom and dad are hilarious; Jack Jack has an encounter with a raccoon that will likely become this film’s defining setpiece. Consider this film a victim of its own success. The original was such a huge leap forward for Pixar and Brad Bird that any follow-up was bound to pale in comparison. That this one is every bit as nimble, entertaining and joyous as the original, if maybe not quite as tight, is still something worth celebrating. If you enjoyed the first Incredibles at all, it stands to reason you’ll dig this one as well.