Incredibles 2

Incredibles 2 is a 2018 American 3D computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to 2004's The Incredibles. The plot follows the Parr family as they balance regaining the public's trust of superheroes with their civilian family life, only to combat a new foe know as Screenslaver who seeks to turn the populace against all supers. The film stars Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell and Samuel L. Jackson, who reprise their roles from the first film, while newcomers to the cast include Huck Milner, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener and Jonathan Banks. The film's musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino, who had worked on the music for the previous film.

Following the success of The Incredibles, Bird expressed an interest in making a sequel, although he held off development while directing and contributing to the production of other films. When it was confirmed in March 2014 that the sequel was in the works, Bird faced multiple challenges crafting the film, such as finding a way to distinguish the script from other films and television shows produced within the superhero genre since the first film's release, as well as finding replacements for actors who portrayed several characters from the first film.

Incredibles 2's world premiere took place in Los Angeles on June 5, 2018, and was released in the United States on June 15, 2018, in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX. The sequel was dedicated to the memory of Bud Luckey, following his death in February 2018. The film received positive reviews, earning particular praise for its humor and animation.

Plot
Three months following Syndrome's defeat, the Parr family – Bob, Helen, Dash, Violet and Jack-Jack – continue operating under their superhero identity, the Incredibles. After unsuccessfully preventing the villain Underminer from robbing Metroville Bank, the authorities become concerned over the level of damage caused by the incident. As a result, Rick Dicker informs the Parr family that his department's "Super Relocation" program is being shut down, forcing supers across the world to permanently adhere to their secret identities. Soon thereafter, Bob and Helen, along with family friend Lucius Best – the superhero Frozone – are contacted by Winston Deavor, a superhero fan, telecommunications tycoon, and owner of DEVTECH, who proposes a publicity stunt to regain the general public's support of supers.

Helen Parr, considered the least-destructive of the supers, is selected to undertake the stunt by openly fighting crime in New Urbrem, under her old identity of Elastigirl. As part of the plan, Winston provides the family with a new home, to which Bob offers to take care of the kids while Helen is away. During her absence, Bob discovers that Jack-Jack has various super powers, but struggles with controlling the family's infant. Seeking help, Bob takes Jack-Jack to Edna Mode, a family friend and superhero-costume designer, who agrees to help upon seeing the baby's superpowers in action. Helen meanwhile confronts the Screenslaver – a mysterious villain who hijacks screens in order to project hypnotic images that can brainwash civilians.

After rescuing an ambassador from the Screenslaver's clutches, she manages to defeat him, only to find that he is no more than a pizza delivery man, who has no recollection of what he did. While attending a celebration of the Screenslaver's defeat at the Deavor's, Helen realizes that the pizza delivery man was being controlled by hypno-screens within his goggles. Before she can alert anyone to this, Winston's sister Evelyn Deavor overpowers her and brainwashes her with Screenslaver's goggles glasses. Evelyn reveals herself to be the mastermind behind the Screenslaver – seeing supers as a threat to humanity's independence, she sought to undermine her brother's mission, and plans to brainwash the world's leaders so that they cannot re-legalize superheroes. Evelyn then manages to lure Bob and Lucius into a trap, and place them under her control with brainwashing glasses.

Avoiding the same fate as their parents, Dash, Violet, and Jack-Jack, whom Edna had outfitted with a super-suit, sneak aboard the Deavor's ship to rescue their parents, as the world leaders meet for a hearing on supers. After freeing their parents and Lucius, the group reveal Evelyn's plan to the assembled leaders. A battle on the boat ensues, threatening to crash the ship into New Urbrem. However, the group manage to stop it, while Helen apprehends Evelyn when she tries to make an escape. Following the incident, the Supers Relocation Program is reinstated in response to the group's heroism, making supers legal once again.

Voice cast

 * Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible, who possesses super strength and limited invulnerability.
 * Holly Hunter as Helen Parr / Elastigirl, who has the ability to stretch her body into many shapes and forms.
 * Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr, the family's daughter and first child, who can become invisible and project force fields for limited lengths of time.
 * Huck Milner as Dashiell "Dash" Parr, the family's troublemaker first son, who has superhuman speed.
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best / Frozone, Bob's best friend, who has the ability to form ice from humidity.
 * Bob Odenkirk as Winston Deavor, a superhero fan who leads a telecommunications company with his sister Evelyn, and wants to bring back the "supers" by revamping the public's perception of them.
 * Catherine Keener as Evelyn Deavor, Winston's sister and a technological genius who has never encountered a problem she couldn't solve.
 * Brad Bird as Edna Mode, a fashion designer to the "supers" and a close friend of the Parrs.
 * Jonathan Banks as Rick Dicker, a government agent responsible for helping the Parrs stay undercover and unremarkable. When his department is shut down, the Parrs are left to their own devices.
 * Michael Bird as Tony Rydinger, Violet's love interest.
 * Sophia Bush as Karen / Voyd, a young Elastigirl fan who aspires to be a true superhero, as she has the power of creating voids where objects can appear and disappear.
 * Phil LaMarr as Krushauer and Helectrix, two Supers, alongside Voyd, who aspire to be true superheroes. Krushauer has the power of telekinesis while Helectrix has the power of controling and projecting electrical currents.
 * Paul Eiding as Reflux, an elderly Super who has the power of heaving hot lava.
 * Isabella Rossellini as The Ambassador, a dignified foreign official committed to the support and legalization of superheroes.
 * Bill Wise as Screenslaver, a pizza delivery man converted into a villain by the real "Screenslaver", who hijacks screens to project hypnotic images in order to brainwash civilians.
 * John Ratzenberger as The Underminer, a mole-like supervillain who seeks to bring war and destruction to the world.
 * Kimberly Adair Clark as Honey Best, Frozone's wife.

Development
Following The Incredibles, Brad Bird directed his next film for Pixar, Ratatouille, which was released in June 2007. Near its premiere, Bird said he was open to an idea of a sequel to The Incredibles, but only if it could be even better than the original. He stated, "I have pieces that I think are good, but I don't have them all together."

In a May 2013 interview, Bird reiterated his interest in a sequel: "I have been thinking about it. People think that I have not been, but I have—because I love those characters, and love that world." He added: "I am stroking my chin and scratching my head. I have many, many elements that I think would work really well in another Incredibles film, and if I can get 'em to click all together, I would probably wanna do that." Bird had already conceptualized an approach where Bob and Helen would switch roles while publicizing the first film, as well as Jack-Jack having multiple powers yet known by the family, which were the basis for writing the sequel 14 years later.

At the Disney shareholder meeting in March 2014, Disney CEO/chairman Bob Iger confirmed that Pixar was working on an Incredibles sequel, and that Bird would return as writer. Bird started the script around April 2015, and said that the Incredibles sequel would be his next film after Tomorrowland.

One challenge in writing Incredibles 2 was how to deal with the large number of superhero films and television shows that have been released since the first film, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To try to differentiate the sequel, Bird wanted to avoid tropes related to the superhero genre: "I don't think that kind of idea stays interesting for very long. For me, the interesting thing was never the superhero part of it. It was more the family dynamic, and how do superhero things play into that." He said he wanted to include some unused ideas that "didn't fit" in the first film, and that the new story would focus on Helen Parr / Elastigirl. Even though the sequel was released fourteen years after the first, Bird did not want to use a narrative element like a timeskip or to come up with new characters and instead continue from where the first film left off. This allowed him to keep characters with the same superpowers and not have to develop new ones, nor would he need to figure out how to deal with Violet and Dash being adults. This also allowed him to keep Jack-Jack as an infant with a variable array of powers, which Bird likened to how infants are able to understand numerous languages.

Casting
In November 2016, Pixar announced that both Holly Hunter and Samuel L. Jackson would return to reprise their roles, and later announced at the July 2017 D23 Expo that both Craig T. Nelson and Sarah Vowell would also be returning with them. As the original voice of Dashiell "Dash" Parr, Spencer Fox, had experienced puberty since the first film's release, Pixar announced that he would be replaced in the sequel by young newcomer Huck Milner. In that same month, both Brad Bird and John Ratzenberger were confirmed as returning to reprise their characters from the first film.

In November 2017, Pixar announced that both Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener had been signed up to the cast, but did not disclose their roles as new characters Winston and Evelyn Deavor until a later date. In January 2018, it was announced that Sophia Bush and Isabella Rossellini would be the voices of new characters Voyd and The Ambassador, while Jonathan Banks would voice Rick Dicker, after the character's original voice actor, Bud Luckey, retired in 2014; after his death in 2018, the film was dedicated to Luckey's memory.

Music
In 2015, Bird confirmed that Michael Giacchino would return to compose the score. Giacchino began work on it around May 2017.

The soundtrack album was released on June 15, 2018. In addition to the film's score, it includes the vocalized theme songs for Mr. Incredible, Frozone, and Elastigirl heard in the credits, as well as bonus versions of the song sung by Disney's a cappella group, DCappella, and the latter's version of the track "The Glory Days" from the first film.

Release
The official premiere of Incredibles 2 took place in Los Angeles on June 5, 2018. It was theatrically released in the United States on June 15, 2018, including an IMAX release as part of Disney's new distribution deal with IMAX, but only in 2D, and was accompanied by Pixar's short film Bao. The film's release was originally scheduled for June 21, 2019, but was moved forward after Pixar handed the release date over to Toy Story 4, after its production fell behind schedule.

Marketing
A 53-second teaser trailer premiered on College GameDay, November 18, 2017. It received 113 million views in its first 24 hours, becoming the most viewed trailer for an animated film, and the 7th most-viewed trailer overall. A new sneak peek premiered during the 2018 Winter Olympics on February 14. On April 13, a new trailer was released.

Merchandise
In March 2018, it was announced that an Incredibles 2 graphic novel and comic miniseries would be published by Dark Horse Comics for a 2018 release. The graphic novel, titled Incredibles 2: Heroes at Home, will be written by Liz Marsham and illustrated by Nicoletta Baldari. The comic miniseries, titled ''Incredibles 2: Crisis in Mid-Life! & Other Stories'', will be written by Christos Gage and Landry Walker, and illustrated by Gurihiru, J. Bone, Andrea Greppi and Roberta Zanotta.

In May 2018, a prose novel was released entitled Incredibles 2: A Real Stretch: An Elastigirl Prequel Story, which focused on the life of the character Elastigirl before the events of the first film.

A Lego video game adaptation of both films was released on the same day as Incredibles 2 is released.

Box office
In April 2018, early box office projections had Incredibles 2 grossing $110 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. In May 2018, a month before the film's release, tracking revised to an opening weekend of $140 million or more. A week prior to the film's opening, Fandango reported that pre-sale of tickets for the film had exceeded that of previous mid-year blockbusters Finding Dory, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Suicide Squad at the same point in their release cycle. By the week of its release, opening weekend projections had reached upwards of $150 million. A day before release, it became Fandango's top pre-selling animated film of all time, outselling the previous record-holder, Finding Dory.

The film grossed $18.5 million from Thursday night previews, increasing weekend projections to as high as $174 million. The previews set the record for an animated film, doubling Finding Dory's $9.2 million, and were higher than the likes of fellow superhero films Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League. It made $71.6 million on its first day, including previews, the best-ever for an animated film (besting Dory's $54.7 million by 31%) and 14th highest all-time.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Incredibles 2 reunites Pixar's family crimefighting team for a long-awaited follow-up that may not quite live up to the original, but comes close enough to earn its name." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 92% overall positive score and an 80% "definite recommend".

Robert Abele of TheWrap praised the film, saying: "Whatever the opposite of phoning in a sequel is, that's Brad Bird's progressive-minded, thunderously fun mix of super saves, throwback aesthetics and family comedy." David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a "B+", saying: "When the Parrs are pushed out of their comfort zone, Bird settles into his...inciting a Spielberg-level monorail chase that reaffirms Bird's lucid gift for kinetic and character-driven action filmmaking, the movie blasts off and never looks back."

Variety's Owen Gleiberman called the film "fun but far from incredible" and wrote "It's true that the Toy Story films, all three of which are fantastic, did variations on the same theme of a toy's obsolescence, but as movies they kept the emotions close to the surface. In Incredibles 2, we never get that rush of feeling." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and said, "Incredibles 2 is content to punch the clock and stick to straight, bombastic action mode. In that mode, composer Giacchino's music is the most successful element, running nimble, beautifully orchestrated variations on themes that feel familiar in the best ways while retaining their spark. The animation is bright and visually dynamic. The script, well … if the title were Satisfactories 2, it'd be about right." Alex Hudson of Exclaim! praised the film's action sequences, but criticized the lack of original story, saying "This is a by-the-numbers redux of the first Incredibles movie — it's fun to watch, but it's too predictable to be truly gripping."