Incredibles 2 - Jack Jack saves the day and the movie

After fourteen years, Brad Bird finally feels that the time has come for him to get on with a sequel for the 'perfect fantastic four movie', The Incredibles. Fans all over the world have waited long enough to get some news about the sequel and when it was announced that Brad Bird was working on a sequel, people started losing their minds.

Some of the things that made the first Incredibles stand out so much were the plot, the character development, the unique universe, relatable issues and most importantly, the motivation of the villain. It still doesn't feel like a movie made in 2004 and was way ahead of its time. Similar content was seen in movies like Captain America Civil War and Batman V Superman. So the expectations for the sequel was pretty high, to say the least. Some spoilers related to the first part may be discussed in the following sections, now that you've been warned, let's get on with the review.

The movie starts off where the first part left, after Dash's game with the introduction of the Underminer. Our heroes are put in a tricky situation with some tough choices to make during the first fight. The debate as to whether the world needs superheroes or not continues due to the property damage caused during their fights. This part reminded me of the part in Civil War where the Avengers were blamed for their actions in New York, Sokovia and Washington D.C.

The heroes are then approached by a billionaire named Winston Deavor who offers to help make the supers legal again. Winston says that the world needs to be shown the perspective of the heroes and not politicians. He chooses Elastigirl to try this new approach because of the fact that there's less collateral damage whenever she is involved. He wants to prove to the world that in being a hero is about making the right decisions at the right time and he wants to show Elastigirl's perspective of crime during all her encounters.

It was nice to see a lot of Frozone this time and Sam Jackson nails it again. Granted this movie had a lot of hype because of its predecessor but it was nice to feel that tinge of nostalgia again. Edna is back but I'd have liked to see a bit more of her. The original cast did a fantastic job and they stayed true to their characters. The movie tries really hard to keep up with the 2018 issues however it feels forced in some places.

 

Jack- Jack was probably the best part of the movie. He's so cute and adorable throughout and his heroics turn out to be the key during a crucial point in the movie. The fact that he has no control over his powers make him even more interesting. There's a scene where he fights a racoon, that scene had the entire theatre laughing and it was so well animated. Every scene with Jack Jack is nothing short of extraordinary and he turns out to be the best part, without him, this movie would have been much less enjoyable.

The weakest part of the movie turns out to be the villain, The Screen slaver. This is one of the places where the first part stands out and this is where I hoped they wouldn't let us down, but unfortunately, they did. The motivations were silly, the reveal wasn't grand and it felt very stale. Syndrome felt very relatable and he grew over time because of Mr Incredible's mistake. The best part of a good villain is to make the audience root for them, I felt no connection with the screen slaver and there was nothing new or unique. This was a huge let down for me and the underminer just disappears after the first scene, perhaps they're saving him for another sequel.

Overall, it was a good watch, Jack Jack was brilliant, Elastigirl was great, Frozone was great too but Violet and Dash didn't have much to do and neither did Mr Incredible. But the movie tries to compensate for any mistakes in the last fifteen minutes of screen time which was nothing short of pure awesomeness and grandeur. This movie has come out after fourteen years and has very little in it to justify the delay of fourteen years. Brad Bird revealed that he didn't want to make a sequel until he was sure that it was as good as the first one but for me, it would have been no different if this came out two years after the first one. It's not a bad sequel but there's very little that's new and unique about it. It doesn't manage to do anything new after its extraordinary predecessor.

Verdict:
Fan in me: 7/10
Critic in me: 8/10

Animation has really come a long way, the small strands of fabric seen in everyone's clothes, awesome action scenes really deserve great appreciation and definitely warrant a one time watch in theatres.