Incredibles 2 (Bird, 2018): USA

Reviewed by Matheus Clorado.

Related imageThe long-awaited Pixar sequel for 2004’s The Incredibles makes its debut not short of stretches. Once again written and directed by Brad Bird, who succeeded in sweeping two Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature and Best Sound Editing) for the first installment during the 77th annual ceremony, the core concept is the same duelling between right and wrong, hide and fight.

In a vast sea of super-hero movies, Bird was surely faced with the challenge of making his take on the subject stand out, which he absolutely did- evidenced by the titles of second highest-grossing animated feature up to this date and fourth highest-grossing 2018 release, losing the gold and silver medals to the Marvel installments of Avengers and Black Panther.

Incredibles 2 continues to focus on family values and the legal ban on super heroes, nicknamed “supers”. The plot leads us to watch Elastigirl take advantage of a not so rare offer – fight villains on her own with an immense support by a gigantic tech company. All of that comes with the promised glory of becoming the face of hero legalization and also the price of being away from her family duties, leaving the house chores to her husband, Mr. Incredible.

The times are definitely different since 2004 and the witty writing of this feature did not disappoint in addressing many important issues. The media attention and hate speech towards heroes in this story could be considered an allegory to many of the immigration concerns during the last few years in the United States. The ascension of the social media was addressed in one of the villain’s speeches – condemning the population’s passiveness to the world around them. The role of Elastigirl as an empowered female leader, perfectly able to solve problems on her own, adds to the feminism conversation. Nonetheless, Mr. Incredible struggling to participate in the raising of his children more actively and emotionally depicts the shift in the American family model, also a recent discussion.

Despite the packed social content, Incredibles 2 still develops the story a level up, building on the emotional motivation of its characters and their relations to each other. It’s still not a massive development, perhaps purposefully left to a sequel hopefully to be released sooner than fourteen years in the future.

All in all, Baby Jack absolutes steals the show giving the fans what they’ve anticipated and hoped for during the big hiatus. This sequel remains an amazing family movie, its content’s depth intactly packed between the clever lines and designed symbolism for the more attentive eye.


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