Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Brad Bird, Jonathan Banks, Michael Bird, Sophia Bush, Phil LaMarr, Paul Eiding, Isabella Rossellini, Bill Save, John Ratzenburger, Barry Bostwick, Jere Burns, Adam Rodriguez, Kimberly Adair Clark, Usher.
Heroes never die, they just become engrained into the picture, drawn from the world and to face obscurity, a faded hope that slowly gets replaced by the champion in which the world at that time deserves.
Heroes come, and they inevitably go, not everyone can hang around forever like Captain America, Bruce Wayne or Captain Kirk, not everyone is timeless, kept forever in the world that our imagination holds on to under lock and key, refusing to let them die, pass on after putting the spandex on for a final time, a last hurrah, a salute to the passing of time.
Heroes though have the ability to stay with us, become arguably part of the dynamic and the age, they just might be creatively different, fleshed out more than you remember and for Pixar studios the hero always come back for, whether it is in eyes of Andy’s toys, the superb Joy and Sadness of Inside Out, or in the long-awaited return of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl to the realm of cinema, a return that is assuredly welcome and satisfying in equal measure,
Incredibles 2 is a film that honours the superhero genre, and one that rightfully preceded the latest storming assault offered by both Marvel and D.C, the film is the beginning that saw perhaps the studios see the potential in the genre, but by no means is it the last word in the structure of the superhero film. However, what should be noted is the absolute debt, the showing of recognition in what Pixar have achieved and the extraordinary effect they have had on the social way we view animation in the 21st Century.
The film is rich beyond measure, a multitude of colour, illusion and great visual jokes that captures young and old alike, some which truly make the cinema goer roar so loudly that the combustion of sound in the theatre is heartening. It is a reminder of exactly what social gathering can be like; watch a film at home if you have to but for the full effect of being part of something, of the shared experience, then films such as Incredibles 2 are a joy to be engrossed and part of.
With wonderful vocal performances by Holly Hunter, Brad Bird and Craig T. Nelson, the persuasive power of the film is easily recognised, and one that wins the audience over from the very first glimpse of the red and white uniforms.
When Pixar gets it absolutely spot on, there is no stopping them, a hero to us all who adore cinema in its outrageous form, never absurd, never improbable; after the imagination is endless.
Ian D. Hall