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Recent releases:
- That They May Face the Rising Sun
- Jericho Ridge
- Civil War
- Mothers' Instinct
- Sweet East, The
- Ghost Busters: Frozen Empire
- Immaculate
- Roaring Twenties, The (reissue)
- Soul
- Dune: part two
- American Star
- Dune: Part 1 (reissue)
- Jerry & Marge Go Large
- Argylle
- Forever Young
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- All of Us Strangers
- Holdovers, The
- Mean Girls
- Poor Things
Incredibles 2
Stars: Voices: Holly Hunter, Craig T Nelson, Sarah Vowell, Huckleberry Milner, Catherine Keener, Samuel L Jackson, Bob Odenkirk, John Ratzenberger, Brad Bird, Isabella Rossellini, Barry Bostwick, Adam Rodriguez
Director: Brad Bird
I found this belated sequel to a film I enjoyed immensely to be incredibly(!) disappointing. Tiresome and unfunny, the movie lacks charm and plot impetus. Annoying characters and difficult-to-hear dialogue additionally hamper a largely boring first half which led to my wife, who also enjoyed the first one, stomping off for an early night.
However, I stuck it out (sorry, dear) and the film does come to life somewhat in the last two reels.
Having almost single-handedly seen off the attempts of Underminer (Ratzenberger) to bulldoze the city, Mrs Parr/Elastigirl (Hunter) is asked by a new corporation to help clear up the city's crime and make superheroes' powers legal again. Father/Mr Incredible (Nelson) is left home to look after Baby Jack-Jack (who is developing multi-superpowers), without much help from his other kids, a situation the film can make little of.
Elastigirl, with whose bottom the animators seem to have an unhealthy fixation, soon triumphs over Screenslaver, who hypnotises mass victims by TV or computer screen, but darker forces are at work. When she's captured, Mr I, blundering to the rescue, is useless as usual, and it's left to the kids to save the day.
Another problem for the film is that its voice artists have aged by 14 years since the first movie. Nelson is 74, Hunter 60 and Vowell, who plays teenage Violet, is 48! - and their voices do reflect this, as they battle both supervillains and dialogue that hits an all-time low with the description of a particularly ugly superhero - 'Medical condition or superpower - you decide'. Ouch!
David Quinlan
USA 2018. UK Distributor: Walt Disney (Pixar). Colour (unspecified).
118 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: PG.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.
Review date: 23 Nov 2018