Super Tired

The ecstasy of creation burns away into the convoluted balancing act of maturity in 2018's The Incredibles 2. I'm not describing the plot, I'm talking about the writer/director, Brad Bird, whose clear vision in the first film made it a smoothly enjoyable ride, but whose comfort and fractured interests gave us a polished but slightly tiresome sequel.

The Incredibles 2 came out a year before The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime, beating them to he punch when it comes to bank robberies being portrayed as victimless crimes the heroes cause more trouble by trying to stop. I'm sure insurance companies just love that trope. Mind you, The Boys comic is much older, though I understand it's quite different from the Amazon series.

Yesterday I talked about how a hybrid of The Incredibles and The Boys could be really effective. I guess Incredibles 2 is kind of that but, aside from the fact that I don't think allowing rampant bank robberies, counting on insurance companies always to foot the bill, is a workable solution to crime (wonder what happens to insurance premiums after a couple years of this?), the movie's problem is that it shies away from any strident statement along the lines of the first film's "If everyone's special, then no-one is special."

The film picks up immediately after the first film, on the same day, even. So the victory at the end of first film, in which superheroes are poised to become government operatives again, is immediately reversed when the family fails to stop a villain from demolishing part of the city. Once again, superheroes are just illegal and the Incredible family is forced to contemplate a civilian life. In steps Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener as a brother and sister billionaire team who want to launch a PR campaign to rehabilitate superheroes and they want Mrs. Incredible to spearhead it.

Mrs. Incredible ends up having to fight a villain called the Screenslaver. The dynamics of the plot are about as muddled as the film's message. At one point, Mrs. Incredible catches a man she thinks is the Screenslaver but he's clearly shown to have been a hypnotised red herring. A few scenes later, though, Mrs. Incredible acts like she didn't notice. Was it a hint just meant for the audience to catch? Am I a genius for having spotted it? Or were the filmmakers just that out of touch with how subtle they thought they were being? I'm inclined to think the latter.

One thing's for sure, the animation and action sequences are far superior to the first film. Mrs. Incredible chasing a runaway bullet train on a motorcycle is pretty, well, incredible. The baby, Jack-Jack, is also really cute.

The Incredibles 2 is available on Disney+.