The Incredibles 2 premieres June 15th, returning us back into the lives of the super-powered Parr family. It will be awesome to catch up with Holly Hunter’s Elastigirl, Craig T. Nelson’s Mr. Incredible, their kids Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack and friend to the family Samuel L. Jackson’s Frozone.
This is a Pixar film, so most likely it will be great but it will be interesting to see how great it’s actually going to be. The original film came out in a smaller time for super heroes but nowadays it almost feels like you can’t go a month without a new super hero film being released in theatres.
This summer alone The Incredibles 2 will have to compete against Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp. To be fair, these movies all seem vastly different. There is much hope that The Incredibles 2 will be refreshing and cover new territory, especially since Pixar made fans wait fourteen years for this sequel. Within this same time span, three Cars films were made.
A reasonable bet is that The Incredibles 2 might be the Finding Dory of summer 2018. 2016’s Finding Dory, sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, was the biggest movie of summer 2016 grossing over $486 million domestically and opening to $135 million domestically, beating out Captain America: Civil War. The Incredibles 2 might not be the number one film of the summer (even if we take Avengers: Infinity War out of the equation) but it definitely has a chance.
That chance increases with Disney’s spectacular advertising which includes a sneak peek “Suit Up” of the film which was released this past Friday.
This sneak peek makes you want to countdown to the release of this film, 31 days (exactly a month away as of this writing). The video focuses on the plot of the film but doesn’t reveal anything new.
Bob a.k.a. Mr. Incredible explains to his kids that their mother, his wife Elastigirl is now an “advocate for super heroes” despite super heroes being illegal and stigmatized in this world. It will be fascinating to see how much the film chooses to delve into the benefits and consequences of super heroes. The original movie did so marvelously.
Meanwhile, Bob is taking care of the children while Elastigirl gets to be the hero he wants to be. This seems like a nice commentary on gender roles. Bob is also struggling with his kids Violet who doesn’t appear interested in becoming a super-hero, Dash who lives to be a super-powered troublemaker and Jack-Jack who Bob discovers has not one, not two but multiple powers.
So far Jack-Jack can teleport, shoot lasers from his eyes, engulf himself with flames and transform into a monster. He’s an over-powered baby and it’s hilarious. Jack-Jack wasn’t a key character in the last film, so it’s exciting to think about what his role will be in the sequel. There’s one new moment from this sneak peek in which his monster form scares an innocent man who was trying to help him. It’s laugh out loud amusement.
Also in the sneak peek, there are quick shots of new supers (the term used for super-heroes in this world). In the meantime, while Elastigirl is advocating and Mr. Incredible is parenting, a new villain Screenslaver seems to be hypnotizing people for some criminal mastermind plan. There is a little doubt that this new antagonist will be better than the original film’s big bad Syndrome but hopefully, Screenslaver is a worthy successor.
Another great moment from the sneak peek is the line “It’s up to us,” said by Violet. Violet may not want to be a super-hero but is still willing to save the world (it’s hard to disregard the responsibility that comes with great power). Also, this line reflects how The Incredibles franchise is about family. It’s isn’t just adults saving the day but there’s also super heroes who are kids that contribute entertaining and emotional roles.
Of course, The Incredibles 2 will be…incredible but also these fourteen years of waiting better be worth it. This sneak peek gives hope that this highly-anticipated sequel might be more than worth the wait.
