REVIEW: Incredibles 2

It's about damn time. After fourteen long years of waiting, The Incredibles finally has a sequel. Really, I should talk briefly about the first film before we get into the nitty-gritty on Incredibles 2. Released in 2004 and directed by animation legend Brad Bird, The Incredibles turned the superhero genre on its head well before the MCU came to town. Stylish yet down-to-earth, the film was arguably Pixar's most mature film to date, earning the studio its first PG rating. I personally consider the first Incredibles to be Pixar's best film, as well as one of the greatest superhero films ever made. Suffice to say, this sequel has some big shoes to fill; Brad Bird had always said that he would never return to make a sequel unless he had a story he felt he needed to tell, a respectable display of restraint in this day and age (especially considering that Disney is involved). So after all this time, is Incredibles 2 a good movie? Yes. Was it worth waiting nearly two decades for? Ehhh...

In a move no one could have predicted, the plot picks up immediately after the end of the first film, in which we see the city of Metroville menaced by the fiendish Underminer (Pixar's good luck charm, John Ratzenberger). Naturally, the Parr family springs into action, only to find themselves arrested after their heroism causes its fair share of very expensive collateral damage. While parents Bob and Helen (Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter) discuss their concerns over raising three super-powered kids in a world where superheroes are illegal, they are approached with a business proposition by an eccentric magnate by the name of Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk). A longtime fan of superheros, Deavor would like nothing more than to see the laws keeping them underground overturned. Determined to show the supers' side of the story, he and his sister, Evelyn (Catherine Keener), outfit their suits with body cameras; the supers would go out and do what they do best, with the Deavors' considerable PR connections and insurance plans keeping their images clean. In order to get the project off the ground, Winston proposes that they lead with Elastigirl, as she's routinely caused the least collateral damage out of the bunch (which makes sense, compared to her human wrecking ball of a husband). This leaves Mr. Incredible, typically comfortable with being the breadwinner for the Parr clan, out of his element, staying at home to raise the kids while Elastigirl tracks down a new supervillain threat known as the Screenslaver (Bill Wise).

I'd like to apologize in advance, since a good deal of this Review is going to involve me comparing Incredibles 2 with its predecessor, but I feel like that's somewhat unavoidable when discussing sequels (especially sequels with such a large gap of time in between them). The first Incredibles featured some remarkably mature themes for an animated superhero film targeted at children; it's not difficult to see Mr. Incredible's complaints about society "celebrating mediocrity" as a critique of No Child Left Behind, and the stakes presented had a very real-world weight to them. Before finding out that her husband is sneaking away to play superhero, Helen has a legitimate fear that he's having an affair. Later on, she has a heart-to-heart talk with her children, in which she explains that the people they're going up against won't hesitate to kill them, if given the chance. Hot off the heels of Finding Nemo, The Incredibles was a surprisingly heavy film for Pixar (but then again, it was brought to us by the man who made The Iron Giant). It's because of this that I found myself disappointed in some respects with Incredibles 2; it's a fun time, but it feels very much conceptually watered-down. Whereas the first film just oozes atmosphere ripped straight from pulp spy stories and Golden Age comics, Incredibles 2 feels much moreso influenced by Saturday morning cartoons. It deftly avoids simply being a rehash of things we've already seen, but there isn't a single moment in Incredibles 2 that even approaches the tension, atmosphere, or emotional weight of the iconic "Missile Lock" scene from the first movie.

It doesn't help matters that the Screenslaver, despite an intriguing origin story, amounts to little more than the most recent in Disney's growing line of predictable Scooby-Doo twist villains. I won't spoil the Screenslaver's true identity, but I'll say this; I had figured it out before I even walked into the theater, simply by virtue of looking at the names of the main characters. It's a twist so painfully obvious and overly-telegraphed that I honestly thought the film was trying to pull one over on me, but alas, it really is just that simplistic. Granted, we're talking about an animated family film primarily marketed to children, but I still have a hard time believing that anyone above the age of 9 would have any difficulty in putting the pieces together before the other shoe drops. The surprise villain reveal worked well in Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia, but it feels like this is a trope that appears in nearly every single animated Disney film released nowadays. When you go into the theater expecting a twist... well, it's not much of a twist anymore, is it? Granted, the first Incredibles had a twist villain in the form of Syndrome (formerly Mr. Incredible's number one fan, turned to a life of villainy after being rejected by his idol), but Screenslaver doesn't even come close to matching Syndrome's level of complexity and ambition. For those who need a refresher, Syndrome's evil scheme essentially involved murdering countless superheroes (both to gain revenge and to field-test his gadgets and equipment), then asserting himself as a new superhero, saving the day from threats that he himself engineered. After he grows old and retires, he plans to market his tech to the general populace, effectively making superheroes an obsolete concept; "when everyone's super, no one will be."

Screenslaver, on the other hand, basically just wants to hypnotize people into ruining the legislation that will make superheroes legal again, ensuring that they stay illegal. And that's about it.

I also have to say that I wasn't a fan of the new group of heroes introduced as part of Winston's endeavors to legalize hero work. While I usually adore the character design and art direction found in both Incredibles films, these new supers just totally missed the mark with me, clashing painfully against the already-established retro art-deco look. It also doesn't really help that, like other aspects of the film, they feel more than a little conceptually shallow. One of the strongest subtextual aspects of The Incredibles is the relationship between the main characters' personalities, roles, and powersets. Fathers are meant to be strong, so Bob can bench-press a locomotive without breaking a sweat. Mothers have a habit of stretching themselves thin to keep everyone together, hence Helen's innate flexibility. Violet (Sarah Vowell) is an insecure teenager, who wants nothing more than to disappear; her powers include invisibility and the ability to put up psychic barriers. Dash (now voiced by Huck Milner) is a hyperactive ten-year-old with super speed and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile) is a polymorph with a whole host of powers, representing the unrealized potential an infant possesses. Even Frozone's powerset feels subtextually appropriate, considering he's something of a "cool" uncle to the Parr children. Meanwhile, among this new group of heroes, we have characters like Screech, who is just an owl-man. I have nothing against owls, owls are cool, but it feels like the design session for this character started and ended with the phrase "what if one of them was an owl?"

The only member of this group of second-stringers who has anything close to a personality is Voyd (Sophia Bush), an awkward and insecure fangirl who can create portals. Even though she's the only one of these new superheroes to get more than one or two actual lines, she still doesn't really have much in the way of a character arc (or even a character, really). She's just sort of there, her only purpose being to participate in one of the better fight scenes later on in the third act. If anything, I'd have much preferred to see some of the older superheroes who were forced into hiding step back into the public eye; there was a fantastic bonus feature on the DVD of the original Incredibles that I highly recommend anyone with even a passing interest in these movies check out. It really gives some insight into the level of effort Brad Bird and company put into the worldbuilding of the first movie, constructing backstories and personalities for every single superhero we only see briefly mentioned in the first film. One super is implied to have been a closeted homosexual, leaving his five adopted children in the custody of his "roommate" after dying due to a cape malfunction. Another views superheroes as a superior race and uses his good looks and charisma to seduce female supervillains before killing them on behalf of the government. Another is stated to be a recovering alcoholic. Each of these background characters are given more personality and characterization within the span of a 24 minute DVD special feature than any of these new superheroes are throughout the entirety of Incredibles 2.

With all the negatives out of the way, let's move onto the things I loved about Incredibles 2, namely literally everything else. Sure, I have my gripes, but this is still an Incredibles sequel written and directed by Brad Bird; even though this is definitely a movie with flaws, I feel like Brad Bird is the kind of person who would have to actively try to make a bad animated film. First off, the animation is absolutely stunning, really highlighting just how far the medium has come in the years since the first Incredibles. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that Incredibles 2 has some of the best superhero action ever put to screen. I wish I was joking when I say that the scene in which Jack-Jack harasses a wild raccoon is leagues better than any fight scene in the DCEU, but I'm so glad that I'm not. I praised Infinity War for getting creative with its fight scenes, but Incredibles 2 is on a whole other level when it comes to making superpowers look both cool and fun. It's so obvious that the people behind this had a ball just mashing all these different powers together and seeing how far they could push the creative envelope, all in the name of making the most visually-engaging action setpieces they could manage; there is no weak link when it comes to the action here, it's all brilliant. Even though the new superheroes are bland and half-baked when it comes to their characterization, their powersets make for some truly memorable action in the latter half of the film. Not to mention, a surprising amount of the action (especially during the Underminer sequence in the beginning of the film) is dedicated to actually saving people. You know, that thing that superheroes used to do? Right there, the film gets tremendous brownie points from me just for that; it's easy to make a superhero look cool when all you have them do is punch a bad guy, it's far more impressive when they manage to make assisting a little old lady look both dynamic and heroic.

We also get to spend more time with the Parr family, which is really the main draw here. Brad Bird's strategy of blending the fantastical with the mundane has resulted in some of the most down-to-earth and realistic portrayals of human beings I've ever seen in an animated film, naturally helped along by the stellar voicework. Even if Dash and Frozone get the short end of the stick in terms of character growth, it's still great seeing this family dynamic back in play. Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter knock it out of the park, bringing forth a chemistry that perfectly sells the idea that, while their marriage isn't always ideal, it's most certainly perfect in its own special way. Sarah Vowell is indistinguishable from her first turn as Violet 14 years ago, which is no small feat; if I'm being honest, she ended up being one of my favorite characters this time around. Maybe it's just that, in the time since the first Incredibles film came out (in which I could only really relate to Dash), I've been able to experience life as both a teenager and an adult, but Violet's interactions with Bob made for some of the funniest (not to mention, most heartwarming) moments in the entire film.

I remember hearing the initial plot synopsis for Incredibles 2 some time ago; how Elastigirl would be off doing hero work while Mr. Incredible stayed at home with the kids, and being terrified that it was going to fall back on the same tired old clichéd scenario we've seen a million times before. Where the dad is reduced to a simpering buffoon, horrified and baffled by things such as diapers and cooking dinner. Thankfully, the situation presented in Incredibles 2 couldn't be farther from that played-out stereotype; despite all the focus on Elastigirl tracking down the Screenslaver, I have to say that I honestly preferred the B-story about Bob bonding with the kids more than anything else. Mainly because, despite a bit of a learning curve, it turns out that he's a legitimately good parent.

 This doesn't play out like a hack sitcom, where dad is too pigheaded to admit that he needs his wife to "deal" with the children; he's Mr. Incredible, and that means he rises to the challenge, even if that challenge happens to involve learning New Math. Sure, not all of his approaches towards being a stay-at-home-parent work out (a scene in which Bob takes the kids out to dinner at a family restaurant where Violet's would-be boyfriend happens to work is pure perfection; hilarious, heartwarming, and cringe-inducing in all the right ways). And granted, he eventually has to admit that he needs a bit of help here and there (understandable when you're dealing with a baby who can phase through dimensions and shoot lasers from his eyes). But it's the sheer enthusiasm and effort he puts into being a dad that sells this storyline. Make no mistake, this is a very Elastigirl-centric movie in regards to the majority of the action and adventure, but Bob bonding with his kids is where the true heart of the story lies. It's no coincidence that this was released on Father's Day weekend, and it's great to see a cartoon dad who isn't an incompetent moron who feels "stuck" with his children. Sure, he's a little disappointed he doesn't get to go be Mr. Incredible right away, but it's made abundantly clear that he doesn't view raising his kids as a chore or an inconvenience; it takes a lot out of him, but he pushes through because he legitimately loves his family. I feel like this kind of unironic emotion is (unfortunately) a rare thing to see from father-figures in works of fiction nowadays, but if Incredibles 2 has a strong suit (or would that be super suit?), this is definitely it. 

At the end of the day, I can still safely say that I prefer The Incredibles over Incredibles 2 any day. But there's also no way I'd call Incredibles 2 disappointing or lackluster; sure, I wish it had gone for something a little more conceptually ambitious (considering how groundbreaking the first film was), but the simple truth is that I am absolutely in love with this world that Brad Bird and company have managed to create. The characters are as endearing as they are relatable, the action is fantastic, and did I mention how legitimately funny this movie is? Put simply, it's a continuing adventure in the world of The Incredibles, and that's never a bad thing, even if parts of it can feel a little watered-down. It's really a testament to how talented Brad Bird and pals are, considering something that feels like their B material easily ranks head and shoulders above most everything else we've got on the market. If it wasn't for Infinity War, I could safely say that Incredibles 2 would be an easy lock for my favorite superhero film of 2018; as it stands, the two are just about neck-and-neck, so take that as you will. No, it doesn't reach the mythic heights of its predecessor, but the same can be said of many quality films (and many quality Pixar films, at that). It's funny, it's action packed, and it's full of that patented, down-to-Earth Brad Bird charm that leaves me hoping it won't take another 14 years to get Incredibles 3 off the ground.

REVIEW: The Iron Giant

Brad Bird's The Iron Giant is a perfect example of the importance of proper advertising. Here we have a near-perfect film which ended up definitively dead on arrival at the box office, barely making half of its budget back. Thanks to the poor planning of the Warner Bros marketing department, the film was left with little to no media tie-ins; one would expect an animated film about a boy and his giant robot to spawn a myriad of toys and books and fast food collectibles, but no such sponsorship was to be found. Because of the lack of promotion, the film failed (despite receiving universal critical acclaim and enjoying cult status to this day), thus furthering the unfortunate notion that intelligent, traditionally-animated children's films simply don't sell.

The story is a love-letter to 50's B-Movie sci-fi, taking place in smalltown America in the wake of Sputnik and the heat of the Cold War. A massive robot (Vin Diesel) careens down from the stars, landing in the idyllic suburb of Rockwell, Maine. After the amnesiac giant is discovered by a kid named Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal), the two form a bond that some terrible hacks might describe as "stronger than steel". Naturally, the presence of a gigantic, mechanical colossus attracts the attention of the United States government, dispatching agent Kent Mansley (Christopher McDonald) to get to the bottom of the odd rumors and unexplained phenomena that have sprung up in the Giant's wake. The tone of the movie is as comfortable and consistent as they come; there are times when you almost forget you're watching an animated film. The Giant is by far the most fantastical thing here; everyone else acts and thinks just like real human beings. This is a movie that could very easily have been made in live-action (for an exponentially larger amount of money, of course), but the fact that it's animated allows for many subtle aesthetic touches that just help to cement the feel of the movie. The autumn leaves are just a bit more vibrant than in real life, the stars a bit brighter and more plentiful; the town of Rockwell is, funnily enough, positively Rockwellian in its cozy depiction of classic Americana.

The animation here is stunning, seamlessly blending CGI and traditional methods to create something truly timeless. This is one of those movies where the visuals age like fine wine; The Iron Giant will always look spectacular, simply because of the amount of care and ingenuity on display. The animators behind the titular giant (a character done entirely using computer animation) even factored in human errors concerning details such as line weight when animating the character, helping him blend in seamlessly with his 2-D costars. It's that kind of meticulous attention to detail that makes Brad Bird one of the finest animation directors in the industry; he knows how to manages his staff properly and inspire his team to produce the best end result imaginable.

Aside from the beautiful visuals, this is also one of the smartest "children's films" I've ever seen, to the point that I hesitate to refer to it as a children's film. It's really more of an animated movie that happens to be appropriate for all ages. The sleepy little town of Rockwell is a perfect metaphor for the time period in which the film takes place; while we may look back at the 50's with quaint nostalgia for all the diners and Radio Flyers and everything else that came with this "simpler time", underneath the surface lay a bubbling crock-pot of fear and paranoia. The Red Scare was in full swing at this point, and those fears are perfectly embodied by Kent Mansley, the film's antagonist. He's a clean-cut fast-talker who justifies his fear and hatred of the unknown as doing what's necessary for Uncle Sam. No one is certain of where the Giant came from, which means that there's a good chance it's a Russian superweapon sent to destroy truth, justice, and the American way. While the Giant DOES pose certain risks and dangers, the movie makes a strong point that, when faced with something new and different, unchecked aggression is usually a poor choice of immediate response.

Really, it's a film about outsiders. The Giant is packing some serious heat, and a deleted scene implies that he is one of many, all made for the purpose of conquest. Despite all this, thanks to a case of crash-sustained robo-amnesia, he finds himself in a very strange place with little purpose. It's a similar situation with Hogarth, living with his widowed mother (Jennifer Aniston) at home and studying a grade-level up in school (leading him to be ostracized and bullied by his peers). He's a boy who doesn't inspire much out of anyone but those close to him, a party that is essentially entirely comprised of his mother and Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick Jr), a scrapyard foreman and aspiring artist. His beatnik ways clash with the simplistic ideals of American suburbia in the 1950's; it's no wonder why he, Hogarth, and the Giant all come together as a team over the course of the film. In the end, it's the would-be weirdos, crazies, and monsters who save the day.

The movie also touches on themes of predetermined roles within society. If the movie has a takeaway line, it is likely "we are who we choose to be". The Giant has the potential, as do we all, to dismantle and destroy. Whether it be in small, subtle ways (such as fear-mongering and bigotry) or in larger, more on-the-nose ways (like taking an innocent life or ordering a nuclear strike on a small suburban town on impulse), there are times when it can be very easy to be a monster. There are some, like Mansley, who fall directly into this philosophical trap. Blocked in by the barriers we ourselves have established, we may do the wrong thing because "we have no choice". Even during the action-packed climax, the military themselves eventually stand down when they realize they aren't pursuing the correct course of action. The Giant, the military, Mansley; we all do things we may regret out of fear, but it is when we let that fear control us and taint us that we go too far. Though we may fall by the wayside and feel confined to the roles that seem almost predetermined for us, there is always a time to change. We are who we choose to be; anyone can be a monster, anyone can be a gun, but anyone can also be Superman.

The Iron Giant is close to being a perfect movie. Everything about it is gorgeous and heartfelt and just masterfully crafted. The only gripe I have with the entire film is the ending, which was clearly added in via studio mandate. If the movie was thirty seconds to a minute shorter, the film would be truly flawless, but there does exist this one irritating nitpick of mine that keeps it from "official" perfection. That said, "unofficial" perfection will simply have to do. Brad Bird is an amazing director and this movie is one of his absolute best. If you haven't seen it, do so immediately; this is required viewing for anyone who considers themselves an animation buff, cinephile, or connoisseur of cult classics in any regard.