Movie Review: "Incredibles 2" (2018)

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Movie: "Incredibles 2"

Director: Brad Bird
Year: 2018
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes

A wealthy businessman wants to make it so Supers will be legal once again. His plan is a marketing campaign centered around Elastagirl, who takes on a new villain while Mr. Incredible has to stay home with the kids.

"Politicians don't understand people who do good simply because it's right." (Image Source)

It has been 14 years since the release of the original "Incredibles" film. Finally, Pixar has delivered the sequel that fans have been demanding since 2004. "Incredibles 2" is written and directed by Brad Bird, who also directed the original "Incredibles," as well as other animated features like "The Iron Giant" and "Ratatouille." The film picks up right where the original left off as the Parr family takes on The Underminer, from the battle to the collateral damage to a lot of bad press. A billionaire businessman named Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) plans to change all that as he wants to make Supers legal again. He believes the best way to go about this is a marketing campaign centered around Helen 'Elastagirl' Parr (Holly Hunter) because statistically, she causes the least amount of collateral damage. While Helen is off doing hero work and is facing off against a new high-tech villain named Screenslaver, Bob 'Mr. Incredible' Parr (Craig T. Nelson) stays at home and plays housemaker. Jack-Jack's (Eli Fucile) new powers, Violet's (Sarah Vowell) teen angst, and Dash's (Huck Milner) math homework cause him more problems than most villains ever could.

"Superheroes keep us weak." (Image Source)

The best way to describe "Incredibles 2" is "The Fantastic Four" meets "Mr. Mom." This is a fun superhero flick combined with a fish-out-of-water comedy as Bob struggles to be a homemaker for the first time and must put his ego aside to do what's right for his family at home while his wife does the superhero duties. It is an entertaining, brilliantly animated movie that is light and flashy and has some excellent fight scenes. We get a lot of comic book style action and some fun new Supers with powers that play really well in animated form. Jack-Jack and his wide array of powers are by far the best part of the movie. We got a lot of joy out of his showdown with a wild raccoon, and this scene made our entire theater erupt in laughter. The voice acting is tremendous. Newcomers Bob Odenkirk, Sophia Bush, and Catherine Keener really nail their roles, and old favorites Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, and finally-front-and-center Holly Hunter are as good as they've ever been.

Unfortunately, "Incredibles 2" doesn't carry the emotional weight and character depth that we were expecting. It's a little underwhelming for Pixar, but it's still a delightful ride. The narrative feels sort of basic and predictable to us. Within the first few minutes, we knew how everything would play out. We saw every twist and turn coming from a mile away. Everything in the story is very surface-level and a bit trite. There are even a few elements that don't really make a whole lot of sense, though we won't mention them here because they are technically spoilers.

"People will trade quality for ease every time." (Image Source)

Though this isn't Pixar's best film, and though it is not as good as the original, "Incredibles 2" is a worthy sequel that will provide a good time for the entire family. The actors haven't missed a beat since the first installment, the animation at Pixar continues to get better and better, and we wouldn't hate the idea of seeing a third journey with the Parr family, so long as Pixar doesn't wait another 14 years to make it.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: ~8.3/10
RT Rating: ~94%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!

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Movie Review: "Coco" (2017)

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Movie: "Coco"

Director: Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina
Year: 2017
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

A young music-loving boy is transported to the land of the dead after he steals a guitar on Dia de Los Muertos. In order to return to the land of the living, he must receive the blessing of his ancestors who hate music and want to forbid him from ever playing it.

Pixar has a *mostly* excellent track record with us. We have at least liked all their films... well, apart from "Cars 2" and "Cars 3." "Coco" is Pixar's first film in about two years that hasn't been a sequel to a previously released feature. When we first saw the trailer for this movie, it looked like it would be very similar to the animated feature "The Book of Life," which came out in 2014. We have to admit, the visual similarities hampered our excitement for this a little bit. Never judge a book by its cover (or in this case, trailer). Despite both features revolving around Dia de Los Muertos, they are each very different films with very different themes. "Coco" is about a young boy named Miguel, voiced by Anthony Gonzales. He loves music and wants to be a musician. However, he learns that many, many years ago, his great-great-grandfather abandoned his family to follow his dream of musical stardom. Because of this, his family now hates music and will not allow it in their home. When Miguel steal his great-great-grandfather's guitar on Dia de Los Muertos to play in a talent show, Miguel is transported to the land of the dead where he needs to obtain the blessing of his music-hating deceased family in order to return to the land of the living. Also providing their voice talents for the film are Gael García Bernal as Héctor, Benjamin Bratt as Miguel's great-great-grandfather Ernesto de la Cruz, Alanna Ubach as Mamá Imelda, and Renee Victor as Miguel's Abuelita, just to name a few.

With each and every release, Pixar's animation gets better and better, and "Coco" is no exception. This film is visually stunning and gorgeous to boot. There are some scenes where the backgrounds are so photo-realistic, it was hard to convince ourselves that it was animated and not shot on location somewhere. The wrinkles on people's skin look real. The marks and scars people bear look like real marks and scars. Their sand looks like real sand. It's insane! Like most Pixar films, "Coco" finds a balance between lighthearted fun that will appeal to a younger crowd and some more mature themes with an emotional punch for the adults in the room. They sure do know how to strike an emotional chord, and while we didn't think we'd get gut-punched by the Pixar machine, sure enough, we both left the theater having cried a good amount. We love that Pixar doesn't treat children like idiots who can't comprehend complex facets of life and we really like how they don't resort to pandering to the lowest common denominators with their comedic elements. That being said, some aspects of this film are a bit predictable and it winds up being a mostly formulaic story about following your dreams and the importance of family. As we've said many times here on this site, just because something is rehashed doesn't inherently make it bad, and this movie just so happens to be really, really, really good. The voiceover work is excellent and it is still a great and entertaining watch despite its familiarity. "Coco" is the frontrunner for the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars, and rightfully so. None of the other widely released animated films this year stand a chance against Pixar's latest beast unless a limited release indie film upsets their win. "Coco" is one of the few animated films this year that is truly worth your money and time. It's important, powerful, inclusive, vibrant, and fun. It's a fantastic watch for everyone.

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My Rating: 8.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB's Rating: ~8.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ~97%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!

Movie Review: "Cars 3" (2017)

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Movie: "Cars 3"

Director: Brian Fee
Year: 2017
Rating: G
Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Lightning McQueen is forced to reevaluate his future as a racer when the newer, younger crop of high tech cars start to out-perform him. 

"Cars 3" is the latest installment in Pixar's lowest rated franchise. It is directed by Brian Fee in his directorial debut. Owen Wilson returns as the voice of Lightning McQueen, who also returns to being the central focus in this third installment. Larry the Cable Guy also returns to reprise his role as Mater, though this time around, his screen time is massively reduced, thank god. McQueen has been at the top of the mountain for a while as the best racer in the world. Now, a cocky young upstart rookie named Jackson Storm, voiced by Armie Hammer (which of these two awesome names sounds more superhero-y?), starts to overtake McQueen, who is beginning to fade as his career seems to be winding to a close. New to the cast are Cristela Alonzo as Cruz Ramirez, a high tech trainer responsible for ensuring Lightning's comeback, Nathan Fillion as Sterling, the wealthy business car that buys the company Rusteez (McQueen's longtime sponsor), and Chris Cooper as Smokey, the grizzled old trainer responsible for teaching the late Doc Hudson since the days of dirt track racing. 

When Disney/Pixar announced they would be making "Cars 3," we were a bit surprised, especially considering "Cars 2" holds the distinction of being the only Pixar movie with a splat rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe the company was looking for a way to apologize for making Mater the main focus of that wacky spy film with little resemblance to the original "Cars." Everyone involved in this third entry in the series are clearly looking to get back to the roots of the franchise. The first installment was about Lightning McQueen as a young rookie who had to learn respect for veteran racers while gaining an appreciation for quaint, small town America. Now, McQueen is the veteran racer who is losing his ability to keep up with the competition. He must try to regain his mojo by training in quaint, small town America. 

The very first teaser trailer for "Cars 3" showed Lightning McQueen slowly crashing in a very dramatic fashion. It certainly piqued our interested, and we thought of many possibilities where the filmmaker may go with this third installment. The reality of the situation is this premise really doesn't go much of anywhere. The crash is a small footnote in a much larger underdog story as McQueen must claw his way back to the top of his game and prove to everyone he's not just some senior ol' timer who values naps more than racing. McQueen is forced to train with Cruz, who wants to get him back into tip top shape slowly and steadily from the ground up, mentally and physically. Of course, McQueen has to mansplain to her why his way of doing things is better and fight her at every turn, but we digress. Cruz obviously has baggage of her own, and the two have to come to an understanding with one another in order to finally become the best versions of themselves....or something like that, we almost nodded off, so it's hard to tell.

"Cars 3" didn't really grip us. Like all Pixar films, it is very well animated and it has its heart in the right place in a few instances, but overall, this movie is extremely bland. It lacks any real emotional punch. Even Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy's voice overs sound tedious and uninspired, though newcomers Alonzo and Hammer do give excellent vocal performances. We found ourselves quite bored for long stretches of its run time, and even some of the kids in the audience looked at their phones from time to time. All of this comes before the ending, which to us is expected, dishonest, and unearned, on top of being opposite of the message it is trying to convey. In the end, the best thing we can say about "Cars 3" is at least it's not "Cars 2." We wish Pixar would go back to taking bold, interesting risks to make bold, interesting films instead of playing it safe for the sake of selling merchandise.

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My Rating: 5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5/10
IMDB's Rating: ~7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ~65%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh.

Movie Review: "A Bug's Life" (1998)

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Movie: "A Bug's Life"
Director: John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton
Year: 1998
Rating: G
Running Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

When an independent and inventive ant named Flick (Dave Foley) accidentally loses a harvest offering meant to keep the attacking grasshoppers at bay, the leader of the grasshoppers, Hopper (Kevin Spacey), forces the ants to double their usual offering by the end of season or face the wrath of the grasshoppers. Now, the ants must complete this impossible task or come up with a plan to prevent an attack. Flick gets the idea to go out into the big world and find even bigger bugs to protect them from the grasshoppers.  

"A Bug's Life" is the second film done by the now animation giant Disney Pixar. This film seems to draw some inspiration from an old Aesop's fable called "The Ant & The Grasshopper," where ants toil while grasshoppers play...well, this story combined with "The Three Amigos." A group of 'actors' are mistaken as brave warriors hired to defeat an evil bandit who regularly raids their small village. The coincidences are too many to parallel! Pixar takes these two general ideas and expands and retools them into an original, fun product. Flick, voiced by Dave Foley, is not like other ants in that he doesn't always follow the line. He likes to invent things to help make the harvest and other tasks more efficient. Unfortunately, Flick himself is a bit of a spaz, and when he leaves his new harvesting invention near the offering stone for the grasshoppers, it knocks all of the collected food meant for the grasshoppers into a nearby stream, costing the ants months of hard work. Now, the leader of the grasshoppers, aptly named Hopper, voiced by Kevin Spacey, is angry and demands twice the offering for Flick's screw up. Flick must be brought to the royal council and face punishment for losing the initial offering. Flick then gets an idea to go out on the road and search for bigger warrior bugs to battle the bully grasshoppers. The council figures it's a suicide mission, so they okay Flick's quest just to get him away from the colony while they try and meet the demands of the grasshoppers without him there to screw anything else up. Flick finds a group of bugs at a rough and tumble bar in the city. He thinks these bugs are warriors, but they are actually out of work circus performers. They come to his little colony for what they think is a performance, but is actually a battle with the grasshoppers. When Flick finds out they are only entertainers, he must hide the truth from the rest of the ants and come up with his own plan to defeat the grasshoppers once and for all.

"A Bug's Life" is a really cute film that is often overshadowed by the other animated films. Unfortunately, it was book-ended between Pixar powerhouses "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2." Sure, this one might not be as amazing as those two movies, but "A Bug's Life" should not be discounted in the slightest. Watching it again years later, it is still very enjoyable and holds up well against its other Pixar counterparts and other animated films like it. It doesn't quite have the same layered emotional impact of movies like "Finding Nemo," "Wall-E," "Up," or "Inside Out," but that doesn't make it any less of a thrilling adventure comedy. It is still a great movie that is funny and entertaining for kids and adults alike. The dialogue is hilarious, the message is insightful, and the voice over work is excellent!

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 92%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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One year ago, we were watching: "Calvary"

Movie Review: "The Incredibles" (2004)

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Movie: "The Incredibles"
Director: Brad Bird
Year: 2004
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

Once, superheroes were commonplace in the world. But when a superhero named Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) is sued by a guy who he saved from committing suicide, it opens up a string of frivolous lawsuits against all superheroes every time they try to do a good deed. These large lawsuits force the government to outlaw superheroes as they are all forced to go into hiding and lead normal, mundane lives sans powers. As time passes, Mr. Incredible is unhappy working in his regular 9-5 job, which leads to arguments with his wife Helen (Holly Hunter) and his two older kids Dash (Spencer Fox) and Violet (Sarah Vowell). His only joy comes from secretly and illegally stopping crimes at night. This leads a mysterious billionaire named Syndrome (Jason Lee) into offering him a job, but the job turns out to be more than he bargained for. 

"The Incredibles" is Pixar's take on a superhero movie and paid off handsomely for them as it was a wild success. It combines what we all know and love from the genre with a family friendly comedy. When a string of lawsuits force superheroes into hiding, all of the people with fantastic powers are left to lead normal suburban lives, working mundane 9-5 jobs. Bob Parr, aka Mr. Incredible, voiced by Craig T. Nelson, is incredibly strong and durable, and was also once the greatest superhero alive. He is married to Helen, aka Elastigirl, voiced by Holly Hunter, who has the ability to stretch her body like a piece of rubber any which way she chooses. Together, they have three kids: their oldest child is named Violet, voiced by Sarah Vowell, who can turn invisible and can also create force fields; their middle child Dash, voiced by Spencer Fox, who can run extremely fast, so fast, in fact, he can't be seen on video; and finally, there is their youngest child Jack Jack, who doesn't have any powers...at least they don't think he does. Bob obviously loves his family, but he really hates his job. He is a claims processor for an insurance company, and it's the kind of job that goes against his natural inclination of helping people. The only joy he gets is secretly doing superhero work with his best friend Lucius, aka Frozone, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, who can shoot ice from his hands and instantly freeze things. Their antics gets them noticed by a mysterious billionaire, who wants to hire Mr. Incredible for some top secret work. When it turns out his new employer is a maniacal man who calls himself Syndrome, voiced by Jason Lee, Mr. Incredible gets himself in hot water and gets taken as a prisoner. This leads the rest of his family to jump into action to come to his rescue.

"The Incredibles" is what "Fantastic Four" wishes it could be in every sense of the phrase. Every failed incarnation of Fantastic Four past, present, and future, will never be as good as this film and this story. This is a fun and exciting movie about a team of four superheroes who combat a wealthy and intelligent villain with a suit that gives him superpowers. What's not to love about that!? Disney did out of the gate what Sony has failed to do in three attempts with the "Fantastic Four" Marvel franchise, which seems to be a common thing that has happened with the superhero genre. Disney, with Marvel, churns out hit after hit after hit, and Sony, the lesser of the two, seemingly turns golden opportunities into flop after flop after flop. Let's not kid ourselves here, "The Incredibles" is essentially Disney's version of "Fantastic Four," and no one can tell us otherwise. Their take is exceptional and Sony needs to take some serious notes. Not only is each character rich with superpowers and an awesome story, but the whole movie is full of slick animation, hilarious jokes, a great message, and wonderful, flashy details. The voice work done here is both fitting and excellent, and the family friendly tone plus the homage to comics as a whole really makes "The Incredibles," well, incredible! Take notes, Fox.

My Rating: 9/10
BigJ's Rating: 9.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 97%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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One year ago, we were watching: "X-Men: Days of Future Past"