Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Incredibles 2 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 31, 2018

Pixar isn’t a studio to Dash into making sequels, but it also isn't afraid of returning to familiar and popular properties. Of its many films, only a few have enjoyed a second (or third) outing. Toy Story, the studio's first film, released in 1995. The studio's third film was Toy Story 2, released in 1999. Toy Story 3 released in 2010 and was, to that point, still the only franchise with a sequel. The studio released Cars 2 in 2011, Monsters University in 2013, Finding Dory in 2016, and Cars 3 in 2017 (Planes is technically not a sequel or Pixar film). Until Incredibles 2, that was it: six sequels out of 20 films over the course of about 23 years. That's nothing in modern Hollywood terms and timeframes. Pixar, bless it, is more about quality of content, good stories, and creating worthwhile endeavors, not just distributing the big-budget cinema equivalent of shovelware-meets-money-printing-press. Incredibles 2 follows the original The Incredibles, releasing 14 years later. It's a decent film about the family dynamic, super powers, and saving the world, but it's arguably one of the more inconsequential and least dramatically impactful films in the Pixar library.

Video hypnotized the television star.

Super heroes are out and apparently...crime is in? When the superhero Parr family -- father Bob/Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), mother Helen/Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter), daughter Violet (voiced by Sarah Vowell), and son Dash (voiced by Huckleberry Milner) -- attempts to foil the villain known as "Underminer" but fails to prevent him from robbing a bank (but does save the city from more destruction), they are chastised by the government and put out of a job. Superheroes are illegal, and the Parrs are suddenly out of work, forced to live out of a sleazy motel and the family is two weeks away from living on the streets. But the world needs superheroes, or so believe Winston Deavor (voiced by Bob Odenkirk) and his sister Evelyn (voiced by Catherine Keener) who head up the prominent telecommunications company DevTech. The pair have a proposition for the Parr family: a luxurious place to live in exchange for Elastigirl's return to the field to battle evil and reignite the public trust in superheroes. While she's away, battling a new criminal known as "Screenslaver," Bob, who is disillusioned because he was not chosen over his wife, attempts to raise his children as best he can: helping Violet with boy trouble he began, working through new-wave math with Dash, and attempting to harness baby Jack-Jack's burgeoning, and very impressive, superhero powers.

Incredibles 2 doesn't exert much effort in building a robust story of action and intrigue. The core plot elements are little more than window dressing for the more interesting storyline details, which include Bob's ability, or lack thereof, to care for his family as well as dealing with the disheartening news that his wife, not he, was selected to be the one to return superheroes to prominence. The film adequately develops various side stories, including Bob helping Dash with math and dealing with Violet's breakdown over her apparent breakup, but it's in how he discovers, and works to harness, Jack-Jack's own powers, powers which appear to be far greater than his own, his wife's, or either Dash's or Violet's, that the film finds many of its best moments. How Jack-Jack's newfound abilities will work into the story to help save the family when it needs saving the most is one of the great points of interest, but the action scenes in general don't much move the needle. They're fine, precisely executed and adequately exciting, but there's nothing creative here, nothing that really stretches the material (so to speak). Fortunately the supposedly ancillary, but truly focal, family dynamics are reason enough to return to the world. The voice cast doesn't miss a beat, and the movie does well to advance the Parr's story with enough charm, wit, and heart to cover up the otherwise linear supporting action dynamics and transparent plot twists. Maybe at some point in the future Incredibles 3 will feature a grown-up Jack-Jack raising his own family of superheroes, allowing him to be a bridge between a new and old generation of Parrs.

Incredibles 2 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Incredibles 2 features a 3-D Blu-ray presentation that presents core depth and dimensionally to impressive result. There's very good stretch throughout the screen, with expansive areas the most obviously noteworthy beneficiaries, such as the cityscape battlefield seen during the opening sequence. That world springs to life with very impressive world-stretching shape and depth that opens the environment to considerable success. The transition to the following underground scene featuring Mr. Incredible battling Underminer is again home to highly enjoyable and very stable and believable screen-extending depth, capably crafting a fully realized and convincing environment even in low light and without much opportunity to offer distinctive landmarks and scale as it did back up on the surface in the previous scenes. Such holds true for the duration. Screen depth and stretch are excellent as environments permit (and even in more cramped confines as well, limited as they may be). In 3-D, the film comes to life in a way even the 4K UHD release cannot offer in terms of directly pulling the audience into the picture.

The presentation's 3-D goodness doesn't begin and end at film's start. There's good separation amongst a crowd of people at a ribbon cutting ceremony in chapter 10, which also produces, a few minutes later, some of the most ambitious 3-D visuals in the movie when Elastigirl chases down a runaway high speed train. The sequence boasts dynamic screen depth, a tremendous sense of scale, and an enjoyably stretched perspective, all very impressive given all of the fast movement in the scene. Meanwhile, back at the family's new house, there's a nice balance between family intimacy and the environment's more spacious maneuvering room that is a subtle, yet key, factor in drawing the viewer into the family's new environmental and emotional realities alike.

Character and object shape and density are good, too. Never do those qualities find the same level of tangible excellence as the screen extension and environmental definition, but core models, large and small, prominent and background, all enjoy a quality sense of volume and shape. Core details and color remain steadfast components, both barely registering any loss in complexity or vibrancy, respectively, compared to the 2-D Blu-ray counterpart.

There are a few drawbacks. Would-be screen extending effects are not entirely convincing. Elastigirl uses her unique powers a few times in the fight against Underminer with never quite the level of extra-screen pop one would expect of her stretchy body reaching out to stop cars or grab a falling bystander. Additionally, the reference review 3-D monitor, a Sony XBR65Z9D, revealed far more crosstalk artifacts than expected. Nevertheless, the exceptional environmental shaping and screen depth are enough to rate this one very highly. It's a shame Disney continues to abandon the U.S. 3-D market, but fans can import this region-free release with no issues other than a longer wait time for the package to arrive.

Incredibles 2 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For Incredibles 2, Disney has once again demoted the Blu-ray 3-D to DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround rather than the UHD's Dolby Atmos presentation. It's also another victim of Disney's low volume output mixing, requiring listeners with calibrated reference volume settings probably wanting to crank things up a few decibels. Once the volume is adjusted, the track proves fairly good, with plenty of surround integration and effortless front width but lacking a little in terms of absolute low end output. Bass delivers effectively, but not to the prodigious levels one might expect the material to produce, with various large thuds and clanks and punches and machinery and all of the movie's weighty elements lacking that last little push to low end dominance. The same holds for music; it lacks the fullness and depth Michael Giacchino's score demands. Still, the track is fun and fluid, never wanting for more movement as necessary and atmospheric fill as scenes require. There is some good supportive surround use beyond more frenzied action scenes, including spacious reverberation when Bob, Helen, and Lucious meet with Deavor in chapter six and later at a ribbon cutting ceremony in chapter 10. Light, surrounding din in a school hallway in chapter 13 and at a restaurant in chapter 17 help define the sonic atmosphere at each location. Dialogue delivery is clear, well prioritized, and firmly planted in the front-center location unless otherwise necessary to move. The track is imperfect but still a good bit of sonic fun.

Incredibles 2 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

For its UK 3-D release of Incredibles 2, Disney has included the short film Bao in 3-D (1080p 3-D, 7:41) on the 3-D disc. All other extras appear on the bundled 2-D-only Blu-ray discs. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

Blu-ray Disc One (Feature Film):

• BAO (1080p, 7:41): A short film written and directed by Domee Shi.
• Auntie Edna (1080p, 5:08): A short film written and directed by Ted Mathot.
• Strong Coffee: A Lesson in Animation with Brad Bird (1080p, 18:50): Cast and crew talk up Brad Bird's best qualities while he covers his love for animation and influences in bringing him to the genre, character design intricacies, his history at Disney, his skills as an animator, and more.
• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Brad Bird introduces Animation Supervisors Dave Mullins, Alan Barillaro, and Tony Fucile and Animation Second Unit and Crowd Supervisor Bret Parker. The participants deconstruct the film from a visual perspective.

Blu-ray Disc Two (Bonus Disc):

• Bonus Features (1080p): A five-part feature.
• Super Stuff (1080p, 6:36): A discussion of the "Retro-Futurism" world, the contrasts between the fantastic and the mundane, location details, character diversity, vehicles, and more.
• Paths to Pixar: Everyday Heroes (1080p, 11:40): Pixar cast and crew discuss how the film's family dynamics reflect real life.
• Superbaby (1080p, 4:57): Bizaardvark learns about character design in rhyme and raps about Jack-Jack.
• Ralph Eggleston: Production Designer (1080p, 2:07): Eggleston discusses what, exactly, he does there.
• Making BAO (1080p, 6:02): Writer/Director Domee Shi opens up about the short she made.
• Heroes & Villains (1080p, 25:35 total runtime): Cast and crew discuss the film's main characters. Included are Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, The Parr Kids, Frozone, Edna Mode, Winston Deavor, Evelyn Deavor, and Wannabes.
• Vintage Features (1080p): Includes Vintage Toy Commercials for Mr. Incredible (0:32), Elastigirl (0:32), and Frozone (0:32). Also included under this tab are Character Themes Songs for Mr. Incredible (0:32), Elastigirl (0:32), and Frozone (0:32), which differ only slightly from the Toy Commercials.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 39:44 total runtime): Following a brief Introduction with Writer/Director Brad Bird, the following scenes are included in storyboard form: Suburban Escape, Kari Revisited, Return of the Supers, Chewed Out, Late Audition, Slow Day, Frozone and Honey, Restaurant Robbery, Fashion Show, and Security Breakdown. Bird does chime in during the entire runtime.
• Trailers & Promos (1080p): Includes Powers - Global Leader Trailer (0:56), Family - Global Trailer (2:20), Theatrical Payoff - Japan Trailer (2:00), and Promo - Super Moments (4:03), which is just a fun collection of character moments.

Incredibles 2 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Incredibles 2 may be a little lower on the rung than most Pixar films, but that still makes it a standout in the greater movie landscape. The film exudes family-centric heart and charm, which largely covers the deficiencies that stem from a transparent story and well crafted, yet still relatively formulaic, action sequences. The film is gorgeously animated and a major step forward from the previous in that area. The voice cast again nails the parts. Disney's UK Blu-ray 3-D release delivers very good depth and dimensionality to environments, good core character and object shape, and little in terms of very impressive screen extension effects. Audio is typical modern Disney and the supplemental selection is good. Recommended.