INCREDIBLES 2
Bringing Up Superbaby
New Jack-Jack City. Another piece of cape-hating propaganda.
Incredibly, the original The Incredibles was released before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the 14 years since, the MCU redefined superheroes and made them our biggest movie genre. Not that this had any effect on Incredibles 2...
Advances in CG animation aside (Frozone’s ice slides look really pretty now, and characters touch each other a lot more) this belated sequel feels like it could have been made straight after the first film. That’s partly because the world has a timeless, faux-nostalgia aesthetic (kinda ’60s, kinda not) but also because these films aren’t superhero parodies. Incredibles 2 doesn’t need to react to the MCU, because The Incredibles is more closely related to the Flintstones and the Jetsons than the Avengers. It’s not a superhero franchise, but rather a family-based sitcom in which the family in question just happen to be superheroes.
So while there’s superhero action aplenty, the theme at the heart of this film is actually a staple of US sitcoms going back decades: gender role reversal. With superheroes still illegal, a billionaire “supers” fan, Winston Deavor, decides to plough his money into a publicity campaign designed to win back public support for the mask-wearing do-gooders. But with his spreadsheets showing that Mr Incredible’s wayward attitude to collateral damage isn’t always good for optics, Deavor decides that Elastigirl should front the campaign. This leaves Mr Incredible as Mr Househusband, looking after the kids – a chore made more difficult thanks to baby Jack-Jack developing a zillion uncontrolled superpowers at once and Violet’s boyfriend problems (note to parents: mindwiping your offspring’s potential date will backfire on you).
While Mr Incredible is left holding the baby, Elastigirl is baited by a supervillain called the Screenslaver, who clearly thought up the name before the MO – which in this case happens to be hypnotising people through TV screens and monitors (or anything similar when the plot demands). Screenslaver has a particular beef with superheroes and is intent on undoing all the good Deavor’s publicity campaign is achieving.
All of which is jolly good fun, very exciting and punctuated with genuinely touching moments of the non-saccharine sentimentality that Pixar does so well. But despite all the much-publicised breaking of box office records, Incredibles 2 isn’t quite the movie its predecessor was. The action sequences are great, but there isn’t one stand-out set-piece that you’ll be talking about afterwards. The villain’s not particularly interesting either, and is the subject of an obvious twist that’s becoming a bit of a Pixar trope. The film’s role-reversal aspects, while very funny and sensitively handled, feel a little familiar too. And popular supporting characters from the first film, such as Edna and Frozone, feel like they’ve been shoehorned in to please fans without having much to add to proceedings.
Good fun punctuated with touching moments
None of which should stop you watching it. Despite a nagging sense that it’s going through the motions at times, Incredibles 2 remains vastly more entertaining than a great many blockbuster superhero films. It’s just not quite as incredible as its predecessor.
Extras There are two great shorts: the delightfully manic “Auntie Edna” (five minutes) fills in what happened the night Edna Mode babysat Jack-Jack. Then there’s the sweet and slightly macabre “Bao” (eight minutes) which features a Japanese mother coming to terms with her son leaving home by reimagining him as dumpling; this also comes with its own Making Of. “Strong Coffee” is a featurette about director Brad Bird (19 minutes) in which his colleagues paint him as an animation genius and a very exacting (though inspirational) boss. Interestingly, in respect of that portrait, he takes a back seat for the audio commentary, letting his chief animators do the honours instead; the result is amusing, enlightening and trivia-packed.
There are 10 deleted scenes (with introductions). Jack-Jack is spotlighted in “Superbaby” – a hybrid of documentary/hip hop music video. There are featurettes on Pixar’s working parents; the work of production designer Ralph Eggleston; and designing the film’s buildings, costumes and vehicles. Plus: long versions of the character theme songs, vintage-style toy ads, trailers and yet more mini-docs.
Two scene breakdowns and a piece on Samuel L Jackson’s love of comics are digital exclusives. Buy the DVD and you just get the commentary and “Bao”. Dave Golder