INCREDIBLES 2

The original Incredibles is considered by many to be the best superhero movie ever made.  Fortunately Pixar had 14 years to work on the sequel, and Incredibles 2 manages to live up to the entertaining legacy of the original.

Set immediately after the original movie, Incredibles 2 finds the Parr family (the Incredibles)  family pretty low.  "Supers" are still illegal.  A battle with the villainous Underminer left the city with massive property damage, which the Incredibles are blamed for.  And the government agency which had helped the Parrs has been disbanded, leaving the family with two weeks in a motel before they face homelessness.

 Relief comes from the brother-sister duo of Winston and Evelyn Deavor (Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener).  He's great at sales and persuading people, she's great with technology, and together they have a giant, successful company -- and a plan to make Supers legal again.  They want to make Elastigirl/Helen Parr (Holly Hunter) the new face of superheroes, by recording and broadcasting her crime-fighting.  This leaves Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson) feeling left out of the action.  While Elastigirl is battling the mysterious villain Screenslaver, who hypnotizes people through TV screens and monitors, Bob is run ragged as a stay-at-home dad.  He has to deal with speedy Dash (Huck Milner) dealing with new math in school, daughter Violet (Sarah Powell) deal with a boy who she was supposed to date until he literally forgot she exists, and baby Jack-Jack manifesting all sorts of powers.

Incredibles 2 is another excellent movie from Pixar.  There's plenty of humor, from Jack-Jack's uncontrollable powers to director Brad Bird's return as fashion designer Edna Mode.  There are exciting action sequences, surprises with the plot, and several new supers who add to the action.  Incredibles 2 is smart, funny, and thoroughly entertaining.

Overall grade: A
Reviewed by James Lynch

THE BIG SICK

Romance is tricky -- especially when something tragic happens.  This is the surprising basis for The Big Sick, a mix of romantic comedy and drama.

Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) is a young Pakistani-American happy doing stand-up comedy in Chicago. along with driving an Uber and working on a one-man show.  He also has regular dinner with his family, which almost always involved his mother having single Pakistani women "just drop by."  Kumail resists these set-ups, though he keeps the pictures of the women in a cigar box in his apartment.

Kumail meets Emily (Zoe Kazan) when she either calls out to or heckles him during his comedy act.  They date for a few months, until she finds his box of photographs, realizes why he'd been so reluctant to introduce her to his family, and they break up.  Some time after that, he gets a call to visit Emily in the hospital; when her infection is far more serious than first thought and she has to be put in a medically-induced coma, he decides to stay by her side.

The hospital is where Kumail meets Zoe's parents, Terry (Ray Romano) and Beth (Holly Hunter).  Terry is laid back and friendly to Kumail; Beth is openly hostile to him, but then defends him against a racist heckler during his act.  They keep getting together as Zoe's situation progresses; there's also plenty of tension between Terry and Beth, making Kumail uncomfortable.

The Big Sick is quite a few things: comedy, drama, romance, reflection on dealing with a family from Pakistan while being a pretty mainstream American.  The movie handles them all well, though there's a largely low-energy feel to the movie.  There are several funny moments (though oddly usually not from the comedy club scenes) and the cast is good (especially Holly Hunter as a passionate, almost manic, mother).  While all the parts of the movie are good, none of them are really great.  The Big Sick is, overall, a pleasant film.

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

The Incredibles (2004)

Once in a while I like to watch an animated film, so this time around I chose The Incredibles. It's a Pixar computer animated flick about a superhero family. Mr. Incredible is a tongue in cheek kind of Superman (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), who marries Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter). After their marriage they end up in the superhero relocation program and they get settled into new jobs and lives, but are forbidden from using their superpowers. They end up fifteen years later as your almost average suburban family with three kids, and Mr. Incredible works for an insurance company in a distinctly not incredible position. Samuel Jackson as Frozone rounds out the veteran acting talent.

Opportunity knocks one day when Mr. Incredible gets the opportunity to use his super powers in a freelance position. As this film progresses, we realize that he got more than he bargained for, and soon his entire family must get involved to save the day. Meanwhile, Mr. Incredible must also combat the ravages of middle age as he tries to take on the world.

Along the way, The Incredibles is impressively animated. While the bulk of the film is computer rendered, there are a few actual backgrounds sprinkled in that keep the look grounded in reality. Combine that with plenty of smart humor, and one liners, and my attention was held throughout. If you're looking for whole family entertainment, check out The Incredibles. Fans of classic comic books will also enjoy the references to such things as "Why do I have to save the world again?" as the characters muse about the responsibilities of being a superhero.


Overall Grade: B+

Reviewed by Jonas