It’s rare that a sequel can equal or surpass the original film, but Bird and his cast and crew deliver the goods with Incredibles 2. It was certainly worth the wait, though it should be noted that Bird did not spend 14 years developing the story or waiting for technology. He directed Ratatouille, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland, each taking at least a year or two to make. He also didn’t want to do something that was not up to the standards set by the first film. He could have dashed off a sequel years ago, and it probably would have been pretty good, but this feels like 14 years of care has gone into it to make sure it’s as good as it possibly can be, and if it takes another 14 years for us to get Incredibles 3, as long as it’s as good as Incredibles 2, it too will be worth the wait.
Read moreDespicable Me 3 (2017) ***
Despicable Me 3 is, by far, the weakest entry in the series. The best parts of the film deal with real-world issues like parenting and adjustment to new situations and the blandest parts are the copies of the previous films. Hopefully the repetitive story elements (and songs) will be ironed out and moved past if they go for a fourth and if not, we’ll just get the same cookie-cutter plot with new aspects of Gru’s family life layered on top of it and it’ll probably be funny and occasionally touching, just like this one.
Read moreStorks (2016) **
The degree to which Storks doesn’t work is astounding given the quality of animated films over the last 20 years or so. As the bar repeatedly gets raised (normally by Pixar, occasionally by DreamWorks or Disney), the flotsam and jetsam leading up to the bar gets more and more piled up. This isn’t the worst animated film of the year, Angry Birds still holds that title, but this is close. It’s frustrating when a clever concept gets buried in unnecessary plot and ignores the characters only to force development upon them in the last act whether they earned it or not. Keep the kids home and watch Zootopia or The Jungle Book instead or if you’re intent on going out, see Kubo and the Two Strings, everyone will be the better for it.
Read morePete’s Dragon (2016) ***
It’s no wonder Disney tapped Lowery and Halbrooks to make their upcoming live-action Peter Pan, given the solid treatment they gave to this film, transforming it from a dreadful musical to something magical. This picture also opens the door to a wide range of older Disney films, considering that they aren’t sticking to their animated films now. I honestly wonder if in the next five years or so we’ll be getting an update to The Apple Dumpling Gang or perhaps The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Whatever the future holds, Pete’s Dragon is a sweet little film that, while it doesn’t come close to topping The Jungle Book in terms of live-action remakes, it’s still a good film and a vast improvement over its source material.
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