#are they banking on the nostalgia of the adults who loved the og movie?

[grantyort]

Sorry to be a hater but nothing about liveaction!Hiccup is giving "dorky outcast"

And did we really need a shot-for-shot remake of the original movie? Toothless looks like they just installed the 4K texture pack and "Hiccup" is built like a quarterback with a jawline that could grate cheese. He literally looks like the version of Hiccup that Stoick originally wanted as a son. The voice is on-point though.

[intexttheoutsideworld]

The Incredibles 2 (2018)

It’s been a long time coming, folks, but here we are.

The Incredibles 2 is the long awaited sequel to Disney’s OG superhero movie The Incredibles that was released all the way back in 2004. The sequel picks up where the original left off with the Parr family suiting up to take down The Underminer who was planning on robbing the bank and destroying the city with his bigass, doped-up drill. Following more or less in the same vein as the original, The Incredibles 2 tells the story of family conflicts and its resolutions along with featuring a kickass plot that involves the Parr family having to save the entire world from total doom. It’s a wholesome, badass, and nostalgic movie for those who have seen the original. But if you haven’t seen the original movie, then what are you even doing with your life? I loved every minute of it and for a supposed animated kids-targeted movie, it sure as hell is more realistic than Ant-Man and the Wasp. Why? Because it featured fucking foundations under houses, that’s whyasdfaieuhfaciuhdfa

I need to chill.

Final verdict, though: 4.5/5

There will spoilers throughout the rest of thos review.

I have to admit, one of the main reasons why I love this movie so much is because of the small references it makes to the original movie or scenes that were written in so that fans of the original movie would be reminded of it. I don't care if all of it was just clever manipulation on Disney's part in order to get audiences to like this movie, I just don't. Why? Because all of the throwbacks are incorporated into the movie seamlessly and does not break the narrative flow for the sake of inducing nostalgia. However, you can tell that Disney did extensive research on what fans of the previous movies zeroed in on in terms of significant moments that stuck out in the original movie because there were references to

And to

These references aren't in-you-face about it, but for those of us who grew up with the original movie and have been waiting for years and years on end for the sequel, it's nigh impossible that you can miss them. In addition, I also really like how they made Elastigirl's first superhero act in the sequel to be that she would need to stop a train from going off the rails. It's the defining act that launches her name back into the public eye and is a nice juxtaposition to Mr. Incredible's own training-stopping act in the first movie. The juxtaposition in this sense is more or less saying that both characters are of equal footing both in and outside of the household and also in terms of capabilities. It could also carry a feminist message that girls can be just as tough and brave and [insert adjective here] as boys can, and it's a nice little message that's not glaring or preachy and I really appreciate it.

In addition, the juxtaposition of the two characters also adds to the conflict that is sorta brewing between Bob and Ellen wherein Bob is lowkey jealous of Ellen for having taken his spotlight in the public's eye while he's stuck at home babysitting the kids. The ongoing issue of Bob's, or Mr. Incredible's, ego transfers from the first movie into this one and while there are some extremely funny moments that happened because of this ego, we don't really get to see it explored in the movie in any further than Bob being frustrated from time to time. Therefore, the conflict between Bob and Ellen isn't really developed further in the movie as well in the sense that it doesn't really contribute a lot to the plot in terms of having a negative, significant impact on the characters' relationships with each other which subsequently leads to the characters being faced with a personal conflict that they have to resolve in order to handle the imminent threat of the enemy. Rather, the conflict is treated as more of a filler for the dramatic aspect of the movie. And while I do love me a good drama, the reason why I wish they had explored the conflict between Bob and Ellen further is because the main villain of the movie pushed for the separation of the two and seemed to have regarded Ellen as a potential ally if only she'd change her perspective just a smidge. If the movie had delved deeper into the conflict, fleshed out the kinks, and considered the ways which it could play into the larger narrative of the movie, I think that would have significantly enhanced the plot.

But it's time we move on from looking at The Incredibles 2 as being the sequel to The Incredibles for it is, in a lot of ways, its own movie. So, it's only fair that we review it as such for as the famous and beloved Edna Mode once said:

You know what, I can't decide which character I like best.

Sometimes I think I like Dash best because he's the human version of r/zoomies but other times, I think I like Violet best because I was totally that broody and emo when I was fourteen. And Jack-Jack is just a d o r a b l e. But then there's Edna.

Originally posted by alittlebiteverything

I can’t decided. They're all just so wonderful.

But I'm getting sidetracked.

As I've said before, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie when I was sitting in the theatre and loved every minute of it. The chemistry and playful family dynamics within the Parr family is just wonderfully written and skillfully incorporated into the first fighting sequence and it’s honestly such an amazing scene to watch. However, no movie is perfect, and, sadly enough, that also applies to The Incredibles 2. Some of the flaws which I find the movie to have are that:

At times, conversations between characters are intentionally written to be more complex and serious than they need to be and bring up points that ultimately don't get revisited again.

The conflict between the kids and the parents doesn't really play a big role in the story even though it is presented in such a way that makes one think it will. However, the conflict is considered by the movie as a "knot" in the story that needs to be "untied" by the end of it. Therefore, it leaves the resolution of the movie feeling a bit… underwhelming.

Building off of the previous bullet points (even though I don't consider this to be a criticism of the movie because I honestly just find this to be funny but I had to include it for it's a point to be made about the subject matter), the ending teaches a terrible lesson when it comes to listening to your parents because it literally teaches the exact same opposite of what a child should do.

In terms of the first bullet point, considering that college students are within Disney's target audience for The Incredibles 2 because they are the ones who grew up with and are the main fans of the original movie, it makes sense this bullet point exists. However, because the unspecified, aforementioned conversations in question are written to lowkey take on a serious tone, what that tells the audience (or, the people who aren't kids, anyways) is that the problems and issues which are raised throughout these conversations are going to play an integral part, or at least be addressed, in the story as the movie goes on. But they don't—and that's a problem. I'm not going to sit here and preach about how extraneous details which are made glaring but are actually just superfluous within a work of fiction is obsolete and kinda annoying and ultimately don't do anything for anyone at all—that is, if they don't affect the work in question negatively.

Moreover, circling back to the statement wherein I said that this movie is more intelligent than the Ant-man sequel and considering that Disney wants to make The Incredibles 2 more appealing to the now-college-students, it just kinda make even more sense as to why the movie come off as being smarter than it should be and why the sequel to Ant-man appears dumber than it should be. Even though both movies feature more or less the same characteristics such as sci-fi elements and action comedy and so on and so forth, the presentation of Ant-man and the Wasp and the medium through which it is presented—live action cinema—insinuates that it might be slightly more attractive to young adults and older audiences while the presentation of The Incredibles 2 and the medium through which it is presented—3D animation—insinuates that younger children are going to be more drawn to it. Therefore, because the ultimate goal is to have as wide an audience range as possible, the content of these two movies needed to be altered slightly in order to attract the most viewers as possible. But all of that's just my postulation.

Moving onto the second bullet point. So, at the beginning of the movie, the children are told to abstain from using their superpowers and from helping their parents fight crime. The two sides argue about it, and the conflict is established. But, as I've said before, this conflict doesn't really create a problem for the family nor does it have any effects on the plot in any way. Then, when the parents is hypnotized and yada yada yada, and the kids are left to their own devices to fend for themselves, they decide to go save their parents and is successful in their attempt and aren't punished for having disobeyed their parents. The conflict is now resolved. Do I need to tell you why this is bad story-writing? I do? Well, I don't want to because the answer is long and technical and I'm lazy and this isn't one of those movie analysis essay videos that you see on Youtube, so here's the short version for you: a good story needs to come from the characters and a good plot needs to be built and developed upon the character(s)'s weaknesses. If you want to make the audience connect with your character(s) and for the conflict/struggle/etc. in the story to be compelling, the conflict needs to negatively impact or inhibit the character(s) in a way that forces the character(s) to face their own weakness and triumph over it. Here's a different way to think of this sequence: if a person likes to clean and does it often and it doesn't interfere with their life in any negative way or at all other than it makes their surroundings cleaner, that person is fine and there's really no story to tell. However, if a person likes to clean and does it often and it affects their life in a negative way in the sense that they are unable to function unless their surroundings is spotless or something of the sort, then there is a story to be told—one where the character learns how to overcome their struggle/weakness; and a good story would be built around their struggle/weakness.

Going back to The Incredibles 2, the conflict between the kids and the parents is introduced and resolved but the climax to it is never presented. The same goes for Bob and Ellen's conflict. I feel like all of this is sacrificed in the face of having to deal with the villain in the movie and if you've read my A Quiet Place (2018) review, you'd know why this is not a good thing. Of course, one could brush off all of these conflicts in the family as something that’s meant to be there in order to make the movie feel more realistic because every family bickers and goes through similar conflicts as the ones shown in the movie. But as I've stated in my review of Ant-man and the Wasp, you can't just do that man. Why?

Originally posted by: crazyexedits

IT JUST DOESN'T WORK, OKAY? IF YOU WANT A MOVIE THAT'S BOTH REALISTIC AND ENTERTAINING GO LEARN HOW TO INCORPORATE REALISTIC DETAILS INTO YOUR CHARACTERS AND INTERWEAVE THEM INTO YOUR PLOTS INSTEAD OF JUST TOSSING RANDOM, RELATABLE DETAILS IN THERE AND CALLING IT A DAY.

That being said, I still love The Incredibles 2.

And before I forget, the last bullet point speaks for itself. Kids arguing with their parents and defending themselves for not having done what their parents asked them to do, but then when they disobey again, it pays off in strides and the kids don't get reprimanded? Yeah… not the best lesson to have your kids learn.

That's it for this review, kids. Tune in next time to experience me shitting all over Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and The First Purge (2018).

Sidenote: I love this scene so much.

Sidenote #2: Edna Mode is K W E E N, okay? Also, this is me around kids.