302. Incredibles 2; movie review

INCREDIBLES 2
Cert PG
125 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language, violence

Bliss. Even though she is 25, I can still persuade Miss W to join me at a big screen cartoon.
And, even better, she told me afterwards how glad she was that I did.
Incredibles 2 steps out of the swathe of mediocre sequels by being fast and funny. We laughed out loud at least five times.
Ok, it isn't bursting with originality but it has a strand of tenderness which appeals and it has an hilarious baby.
The premise is that superheroes have been banned because of the collateral damage caused when they battle with villains.
This leaves the Incredibles family with no more funding and living in a motel room.
However, philanthropist businessman, (voiced by Bob Odenkirk) is a superhero fan and sets about improving their public image.
To do this, he hires Elastagirl (Holly Hunter) and that leaves running the family home to her alpha male hubby (Craig T. Nelson).
So, as she is grabbing the headlines for dramatically saving lives, he is literally left holding the baby.
The role-reversal is central to the fun and I think it was a smart move to prompt young audiences to think out of the usual stereotypes.
But that is not to say there are not rows and jealousies between the family members. Indeed, the sparks between father and daughter were so well observed, I nudged Miss W as I remembered my clashes with her when she was a teenager.
But, hey, Incredibles 2 is certainly not po-faced.
There is fun, action, villains and heroes but it is certainly not over-complicated.
And there are sprinkling of stars adding to the voice work, including Catherine Keener and Samuel L. Jackson.
It is what summer family films should be and is up there with Hotel Transylvania 3 as the best of them this year.

Reasons to watch: One of the funniest films of the summer
Reasons to avoid: It's a cartoon

Laughs: Six
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Brad Bird: "I think that sequels can be wonderful – and many of my favourite movies are – but I think there’s a danger when so much creative bandwidth is taken up with repeating ourselves."

The big question - Are women really stronger than men?

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