It's hard to overstate how different the cinematic landscape has become in the 14 years since the first Incredibles. Or, should I say, the "Cinematic Universe," as Marvel now has us all on a steady drip of superhero movies (with others chiming in regularly with their own efforts). The Incredibles was an oddity at the time, a sort of retro throwback.
The thing is, it still is to a large degree. If The Incredibles had been just a straight-up superhero movie, a sequel giving us more of the same would easily be mixed up in the shuffle of everything else. But that first movie was a cocktail of superhero, old-school James Bond spy thriller, and family drama. And so is its sequel.
Pixar has always made movies that play well for both adults and kids. But more than perhaps any other of their movies, the Incredibles films feel to me like they make absolutely no concessions to a younger audience. There are no cute animals. No characters tailor-made to be a toy every kid will want. The biggest comic relief character is an opinionated old fashionista with a weird accent.
Incredibles 2 embraces this identity and soldiers forward. The plot is dense and grown-up. It's also very current, even with the 1960s vibe permeating so much of what we see (and hear, in Michael Giacchino's again-excellent score). A married couple has to deal with a role reversal in job and home life. The lead role narratively (and the "bread-winning" role within the family) is taken over by a woman. Gender bias and feminism are key elements of the plot. Our protagonist is trying to push public opinion to bring about social change and civil rights. It frankly feels subversive that all this has been slipped into a major animated movie.
"Slipped in" feels like the right way to put it, though, because the movie still has all the high-octane action sequences you could ask for. Indeed, it's more clever about its action that a fair number of live-action superhero movies we've seen in the past decade. A handful of new characters are introduced, each with specific and highly visual superpowers that are very cleverly chosen to play off of each other and our established Parr family.
Really, the only major flaw is that the movie does drag just a bit it the middle act. It may be that one of the elements that makes it unique -- the domesticity -- works against it just a bit through this section. Watching Mr. Incredible struggle to be the stay-at-home Dad hits all the tired and familiar cliches you've seen many times before.
Still, I found Incredibles 2 to be a fun, enjoyable ride overall. I'd give it a B+. It's not quite good enough to break into the crowded upper tier of Pixar's best, but it's still a solid movie well worth seeing.
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