Incredibles 2 (2018) Review

Incredibles 2 (2018)

Incredibles 2 follows Helen & Bob Parr, who, following their fight with Syndrome, are approached by a brother/sister duo who seek to make supers legal again. A supervillain named Screenslaver looks to make their outlawing permanent however. 

14 years after they first graced our screens, The Incredibles finally return with a resounding bang, picking up right where they left off, saving the world the world, as a family. With Incredibles 2 though, Brad Bird, as he did with the first, challenges societal definitions through our little superhero medium. More of a focus is put on Elastigirl and the new superhero revolution she can bring about,

while Bob must stay at home and discover a different kind of heroism that being a father brings. Relationship drama, homework, an unpredictable Jack Jack now developing powers…wrangling all of this and keeping your sanity is it’s own particular kind of job and the results can be just as rewarding, making Bob just as incredible as his superhero wife. 

Of course, the social commentary doesn’t stop there either, with a new villain entering the picture in the Screenslaver, a villain fit for our modern times who represents all that’s bad with electronics and our obsession with them, giving the kids another chance to save the day and prove the own worth as budding supers. Through all of this though, the big takeaway is the sense of fun, with the movie moving so fluidly between action to comedy to family and back, with some updated visuals but the same sense of enjoyment that made the first so pure. 

We get another lovely cast too, starring Brad Bird, Jonathan Banks, Sophia Bush, Bob Odenkirk, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine Keener, Huck Milner, Sarah Vowell, Craig T. Nelson, and Holly Hunter. Nelson is given some great new avenues to work with as Bob here, with some other great efforts by Jackson, Vowell, and the severely underused Millner, but boy does Hunter just dominate this sequel, delivering such a confidence and multilayered heroism to each moment, that you just feel her excitement in returning to this role. 

Incredibles 2, directed by Brad Bird, unsurprisingly doesn’t miss a single step in it’s near decade and a half away, giving a new definition to heroic mothers in switching up the rules, while playing off a fun story that seeks to bring power back to superheroes.

8.7/10