Incredibles 2 Is Certified Fresh

If you’re going to try and follow up an acclaimed blockbuster, you might as well take your time getting the sequel right — and in animation, where time can stand still forever, you have the added benefit of not needing to rush your cast back in front of the camera. Still, after waiting nearly 15 years for a second installment of The Incredibles, fans can be forgiven a certain amount of impatience; while the creative teams at formerly franchise-averse Pixar dreamed up new stories for the characters in Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc., the ability to return to theaters continued to elude the superpowered Parr family. All that waiting has finally paid off with Incredibles 2, which reunites the original voice cast for a new adventure serving up more of the domestic turmoil, superhero satire, and brilliantly animated action that made the first one such a hit. It’d be tough to improve on the original Incredibles, and critics say that while this sequel doesn’t quite pull off that feat, it comes impressively close, adding yet another acclaimed entry to Pixar’s already estimable filmography. If you were a kid when The Incredibles came out, you might have kids of your own now — and like all the best stuff the studio has put out, the whole family can look forward to enjoying Incredibles 2.

On one hand, it’s easy to believe Hollywood has long since exhausted most of the reasonable possibilities for comedy that exist in movies about grown men acting like boys. On the other, when you’ve got the Wall Street Journal writing about a real-life group of guys who take a month off every year to continue the game of tag they’ve been playing since they were kids, well, it’s awfully hard to resist the temptation to turn that into a film. Enter the descriptively titled Tag, starring Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, and Jeremy Renner as the fellows in question — a talented bunch whose commitment to the story was reflected in the set injury Renner sustained, breaking both of his arms and necessitating some last-minute CGI limb replacements in post-production. It would be wonderful to report that Renner’s suffering came in service of one of the year’s best-reviewed action comedies; alas, the truth is that critics are kinda meh on Tag, which reviews describe as funny and engaging in fits and starts, but ultimately not consistent or committed enough to fully deliver on its premise. Still, this is one talented cast, and even the critical pans say the movie isn’t without its moments, so if you’re in the mood for some arrested development laughs, you may want to check your local listings.

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