Crime-fighting is the family business for the Incredibles.

‘Incredibles 2’ comes close to capturing the charm of the original

ARNOLD WAYNE JONES  |  Executive Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com

It’s been 14 years since the world met Bob, Helen, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack, aka The Incredibles, a humdrum suburban nuclear family — Dad’s an insurance drone, Mom’s a homemaker — circa 1965. They also happen to have amazing superpowers and fight maniacal villains between mortgage payments. Ya know, like Father Knows Best in tights.

2004’s The Incredibles was inventive, smart, gorgeous, fresh. But 14 years: that’s a long time to wait for a sequel, as Incredibles 2 shows. Is that conducive to feverish anticipation… or impossible expectations? A sprinkle of both as it turns out. Part of the genius of the original — which is also true this outing — is the Mad Men-esque, Mid-Century Modern world writer-director Brad Bird creates. Folks are more likely to chat on clunky watchphones than sleek Apple products, ride in large-finned sedans or even commute by Monorail than take an Uber hybrid. Paired with Michael Giacchino’s jazzy score, the style gifts us with retro escapades in a World of Tomorrow that’s charmingly quaint. (Pointedly, Bird also directed the Disney flop Tomorrowland.)

But Incredibles 2 also hangs its plot around one of the most familiar tropes of contemporary superhero films (although, concededly, it’s a plot point from 2004, too): From X-Men to Avengers to Justice Leagues, I’m a bit worn out from the “superpowers have been outlawed” hook, with the saviors cast as putative villains. That means no support from the legal infrastructure; so while Helen — who has been tapped by a hero-loving industrialist hoping to “rebrand” mutants as friendly and helpful — stops a terrorist bent on hypnotizing the world, she’s also fleeing from the cops. Meanwhile, Bob is hosuebound, his masculinity now in question as he’s a stay-at-home dad contending with a moody teenaged daughter and an infant with powers that dwarf his own while wifey brings home the bacon.

It’s that modernist twist (heroism in the age of gender equality) more than the MacGuffin that drives the story which is so enjoyable. It sets Incredibles 2 — and, for that matter, the ethos of most Pixar films — apart from the colorful kids’ adventures of so many other cartoons.

Bird waits too long to reintroduce us to the chic supercostume designer Edna Mode (with her pageboy cut and oversized glasses, herself inspired by Hollywood legend Edith Head, and voiced by Bird himself), and Frozone inexplicably disappears for a long middle stretch, but he mines the humor and the action breathlessly. (It’s more James Bond or Catch Me If You Can than Captain America.) Bird also exacts fine vocal performances from Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener and Sarah Vowell; great voice acting is still great acting.

The action moves effortlessly, including through the closing credits, which re-tells the plot in deco storyboards. No teaser for the next superhero movie, though. The Incredibles have better things to do. Like homework.