I Love Both INCREDIBLES 2 and SPIDER-VERSE

Awards season is over.

For the first time in years, an animation giant other than The Walt Disney Company took home a majority of the awards, including the coveted Oscar. Yes, Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was the grand champion of 2018’s animated feature crop, in a year with some pretty fierce competition. Big Disney, with its two massive animation heavy-hitters, didn’t win this time.

It seemed unlikely, but the film managed to beat more widely-seen competitors like Pixar’s Incredibles 2 (a film that made nearly double the amount Spider-Verse has made worldwide, domestically alone) and Disney Animation’s hit sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. Of course, smaller fare and independent films never stand a chance against the mainstreamers in these “prestigious” award shows, but Spider-Verse also happened to stand tall with works like Mirai, Isle of Dogs, and plenty of others. Not too shabby!

Some of us feared that the Academy would pull their usual nonsense, and just give the Best Animated Feature award – already a token category to begin with – to the Pixar movie. The movie that the few voters only saw because “their kids dragged them to it.” (These adults must be weak, their own kids really seem to drag them a lot!) Because the shoe-in Incredibles 2 happened to an animated superhero movie much like Spider-Verse, there was some resentment in some circles. Soon, there was commentary on how it wasn’t all that good, how it was forgotten, forgettable, mediocre, nothing game-changing, etc.

Having seen both films more than once, and having my mind blown by Into The Spider-Verse, I want to say that… I love both movies, and my opinion of Incredibles 2 remains the same. It’s still an exceptional movie.

So… What is “wrong” with Incredibles 2? What makes this some inferior, forgettable film? What makes it cower when put next to the “infinitely superior” Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse?

For starters, some feel that Incredibles 2 was undone by its very obvious twist. Yes, one of the Deavors being behind the whole Screenslaver act was clear as day, long before the film even hit theaters. But I really don’t think the film is hinging on the surprise reveal, I think it’s just a mere piece to the whole thing. Incredibles 2 wasn’t some throwaway superhero movie, nor was it some safe sequel to Brad Bird’s 2004 action-adventure masterpiece. Here is a film that takes place in a world of super-powered beings, and actually had the nerve to ask “In this world… Are superheroes even necessary? Are they more of a problem than a solution?” The villainous villainess Evelyn Deavor embodies this, her master plan is to frame superheroes for destruction of the metropolis New Urbem, and her reasons for doing so are not quite unfounded. Deavor’s elderly parents were murdered by an intruder, and it was mostly because her father didn’t call the police, but rather phoned up Gazerbeam, not knowing that the Superhero Relocation Program had just gone into effect. This painted Evelyn’s view on superheroes, and she vows to keep them illegal. Basically, Incredibles 2 – like any continuation that picks up RIGHT after the previous one left off – stays true to the ideas in the first film, but asks and answers its own question… Are superheroes necessary? Yes, this was asked at the height of the superhero movie golden age we’re going through right now.

This is a country mile from the more egalitarian nature of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, a film that shows how anyone from any background can become Spider-Man. Sure, Miles’ father not being fond a spandex-wearing guy fighting crime does play a part in their relationship, but what Spider-Verse ultimately has to say is different, and a little less complicated. However, Spider-Verse more than makes up for that, as it runs the gamut of various struggles, whether it’s Miles trying to balance what he wants to do against what’s expected of him, Peter B. Parker dealing with going wrong several times in his adult life, or even something like Gwen Stacy’s coping mechanisms. It’s a delicately layered film that more than utilizes its colorful cast of characters. Even the other three Spider-People get some kind of texture, despite being side characters who come in halfway through. With what’s implied and shown, you want to know more about these guys (or animals). This all bolsters the “anyone can be Spider-Man” through-line, a simple theme made rich and textured.

Now, Incredibles 2 doesn’t waste any of its cast, either. Helen Parr may be in the driver’s seat this time, but Bob gets a new arc, Violet’s life is dashed because of a first act muck-up, and Dash’s school struggles play into the story. Instead of going a cliched Mr. Mom-type route where the hapless dad comically tries to keep everything together, Incredibles 2 actually has Bob try, genuinely, to be a better father. Sometimes he’s spurred by his wife doing all the fun stuff with the Deavors that he so wanted to do, but as the film progresses, he begins to really care. The film is very much about a father’s relationship with his children. He accidentally ruins his daughter’s life, he does what he thinks will work. He initially writes off Dash’s New Math, but embraces it because he has to. It even takes a toll on him, and yet the script somehow manages to balance the actual struggles with well-done comedy. It more than balances out Helen’s journey, which provides the majority of the spectacle and superhero stuff. Think about it… Being set in an alternate midcentury America, Bob was always away, the man of the house doing most of the work. You can imagine that prior to Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack being born, he was always locked into work while Helen settled into post-superhero life as the homemaker. Here, Mr. Incredible must be the homemaker, and it is oddly relevant in a way, in the 2010s, despite its setting.

Incredibles 2‘s retro-modernistic setting shouldn’t render the film out-of-date or unhip. Incredibles 2 does not feel like it only belongs in 2008, four years after the release of the original Incredibles, I think it shines as a 2018 movie. The original 2004 movie still shines like no other. In fact, I think this series having such a setting makes it contrast nicely with Into The Spider-Verse. Miles Morales’ universe is very much our contemporary world, but with Spider-Man and villainous freaks in it. The fun stuff in Into The Spider-Verse comes from the alternate dimensions, something The Incredibles duology never attempted, and something the Marvel Cinematic Universe barely even scraped at. Spider-Verse‘s few alternate dimensions are things like a shadowy black-and-white Great Depression setting, an anime-tinged future, and a delightfully cartoony universe. We don’t even see much of these worlds, but what we do see of them? WOW! Each character takes something from that world when they’re plunked into Miles’ more normal universe. I think both are very much worthy superhero settings: Incredibles and its 60s-style world, and Spider-Verse with its multiple universes. Two different aims, both stick the landing. I’d love to see more of the stylized 60s-inspired world of The Incredibles, and who doesn’t want to see more of the different dimensions in Spider-Verse‘s story?

Both deliver on the action. Incredibles 2 and Into The Spider-Verse both utilize animation’s limitlessness to create exhilarating action beats that no live-action movie could even dream of having. Elastigirl’s square-off with the Screenslaver in a dizzying strobe-light cage is perfection, as is the multi-layered fight between the six Spiders and the Kingpin’s supervillain assembly in Aunt May’s house. Elastigirl’s pursuit of a runaway monorail blew me away, as did a more comical thrill ride of Miles Morales dragging a stunned Peter B. Parker through the snowy New York streets as cops pursue him. I wouldn’t want to do without any of it. This is action spectacle that live-action, with all the VFX in the world, just can’t emulate. That’s fine, live-action/VFX does good when it knows its limits and stays in its lane. Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Ant-Man and the Wasp all had very good action. All-out animation has no limits, animation can take any lane it damn well pleases. Incredibles 2 and Spider-Verse both showed that last year, with flying colors.

Both have an immense heart. Some people complained that Incredibles 2 “didn’t make them cry”… But why do we have to measure animated movies on how many tears they made us leak from the ducts? Incredibles 2 isn’t necessarily a “bring the tissues!” sobfest, but its emotional punch is more understated, and I’m glad it is. The original Incredibles was much like that, too. It wasn’t Finding Nemo or Up where it was recognizably emotional, it did not need to be. Neither did Incredibles 2. Animated movies in general don’t have to be this specific kind of movie. Into The Spider-Verse definitely beats loud, there is serious resonance in everyone’s arcs, whether it’s explicit (Miles’ final moments with his uncle) or subtle (Peter B. Parker bitterly scoffing at the late Peter Parker’s achievements). Even the death of Sp//dr, a robot belonging to a girl who isn’t the main focus of the movie, hit pretty hard. That approach works so well, as does the quieter one we saw in Incredibles 2. I felt bad for the Deavors, it wasn’t candy-and-rainbows seeing Mr. Incredible deal with the consequences of his actions, poor Violet, too! One film is like the person who openly cries with you, the other doesn’t quite cry, but isn’t lacking in empathy either.

The only thing Into The Spider-Verse has to its advantage is its willingness to take some real visual risks. Incredibles 2 is another Pixar film, it’s another photorealistic CGI film that just indulges on things a live-action movie can’t have, whether it’s bold color choices or exaggerated character designs or stylized art direction. It still operates within the limits of the photoreal Pixar style. Spider-Verse mixes complex three-dimensional modeling with hand-drawn, hand-painted beauty, throwing in different art styles to emphasize its diverse setting and worldbuilding. It did something new for a mainstream CG picture, an extension of what we saw in punky computer animated movies like The Book of Life and Captain Underpants. It did something no other recent animated movie has done, or any live-action movie for that matter. Spider-Verse did something new for cinema, period. That’s hard for the usual Pixar film to top. I think if Incredibles 2 came out in a year like 2016, where the best mainstreamers followed that photoreal sheen, it would’ve been cemented as a definite frontrunner and an animated classic. It’s almost unfair that it had to open mere months before Into The Spider-Verse.

Incredibles 2 will likely be loved over time much like its predecessor, for it was critically lauded. I just think that the film was getting a little bit of a bad rap for a little while. But with Spider-Verse winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar, among many other big awards, can we stop and marvel at the merits of both films? Pixar and Disney didn’t win again for the umpteenth time, and the award went to what a lot of us feel was the right film. Now with that out of the way, I’ll still stick to my guns: Incredibles 2 and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse are both wonderful animated gems, and more than made 2018 a great year for animation…