Incredibles 2 (2018) Movie Review

INCREDIBLES 2 (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

After 14 years, Pixar finally gave the green light to release the sequel to one of its most beloved properties The Incredibles. Despite only having one film in its now series, on its initial release, it was beloved by both fans and critics alike. Even managing to pick up two Academy awards for Sound Editing and Best Animated Feature respectively. Now with Brad Bird, director and writer of the original and many critically acclaimed films including Ratatouille and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, its now time to found out if this ambitious sequel truly is worthy to be called super. 

Taking place where the first film left of, the Parr family is forced into a battle against the Underminer. Which they manage to cause save many lives, but in doing this allow the villain to escape. As a result, they are forced into hiding from the authorities. However Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) is looking for supers to come out of the shadows and back into the lime light. His plan is to put Elastigirl into action again and prove to everyone that supers are in fact here to help and to gain the trust of everyone again. Leaving Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) at home to take care of the kids, the family must now balance out this new and reversed lifestyle. Although the trope of role reversal is nothing new, even to superhero films, Incredibles 2 does it in a way that still makes the cliche fresh and exciting to see. The animation displayed throughout the film also helps out quite a bit, exaggerating the character's emotions and reactions to these scenarios. This is particularly shown when looking at Violet and Dash as they manage to express the changes that are happening in a hilarious way by simply using their motions and facials. Even with this though, the film does suffer from sequelitis which is hard to overcome, even for a animated feature. It also does not help that the movie does have a predictable plot line and an even more predictable trope of who did it. Which ends up being exactly who you think it is.

Brad Bird truly is one of the great directors of our time. Not only can he produce incredible stories and characters but his direction of action sequences. Proven in previous films of his like Mission Impossible, his knowledge of creating exciting and story driven battles is outstanding and it excels in the Incredibles 2. Each action scene has so much colour and excitement to it that it just bursts of the screen. These scenes are backed up by an incredible score, one that makes the films feel like its own and encapsules what it means to be an animated superhero movie. 

Overall, while the Incredibles 2 does suffer from some repetitive story tropes and having to substitute fan favourites like Dash in favour of the focus being on one of the family members (which to be fair the first film suffered from as well), this sequel achieved what it set out to do. Entertain. With most of the jokes hitting their mark, having incredibly relatable characters and showing some impressive animation, Incredibles 2 without a doubt has the potential to be the best animated feature of the year like the original. Though this time around, it might not be a guarantee. 

OVERALL

7 / 10 

Deadpool 2 (2018) Movie Review

DEADPOOL 2 (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

One of 2016's most well-received comedies and biggest surprises of the year was Marvel's Deadpool. Delivering both hilarious humour and action aplenty, the film won over critics and die hard comic book fans alike. Now two years later, director David Leitch takes on the task of delivering the fans expectations to the well-beloved original. 

Continuing his life as a crime fighting, low brow anti-hero, Wade Wilson's adventures leads him to an interaction with a young boy who is being hunted down by the time-travelling cyborg Cable. With a killer on his trail and the life of a child-mutant in his hands, Deadpool must form a team of supernatural beings in order to stop Cable and protect the boy at all costs. With Deadpool 1 revolving around the kidnapping of his girlfriend and of course the origins of his powers, it was a no brainer to take the franchise in a new direction with a bodyguard angle and the forming of a team and introducing new characters to carry the franchise going forward. Which the film jokes about which was an admittedly funny moment. Personally I was not a fan of the "big brother" approach the film was going for and while I can commend the idea it was trying, for my money, it did not work in the movie's favour and actually took me out of the experience which was a real shame. Besides this though, the overall story arc and the pacing of the film was done nicely with well timed jokes and the use of surprisingly emotional montages. 

Now its time to talk about what really does matter in a film like this. The comedy. And the acting.  Once again, Ryan Reynolds has proven that he is the only man that can take on the character and persona of Wade Wilson. Throughout the movie he manages to steal the screen when he is on it, even when surrounded by humorous actors like T.J. Miller and others. The inclusion of new characters is always a welcome in any sequel and while the introduction of Domino and X-Force was one of if not the highlight of the movie, this does mean that fan favourites like Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead have to take a step back. However this does create excitement when they do appear on screen and show off their reason for being here, making the characters almost feel new again. Another aspect of the movie I loved was that in the end, there really is no true villain. While there are definitely bad people doing bad things, the overall story shows each characters reasoning for doing what they do, even Deadpool. This kind of character growth and emotional depth is something most mature-rated comedies lack and is a welcome surprise in a film like Deadpool 2. 

Despite the fact that the film does borrow alot of elements from the first film, Deadpool 2 does a great job at compensating for this with the introduction of great characters and plot points. Although some of these elements didn't hit the mark like the original, this sequel was still a great time and ultimately did what was intended. Made me laugh, and for that, I can't fault it. 

OVERALL

7 / 10