As the cast reminds us in a brief clip before the movie starts, it’s been 14 years since the The Incredibles hit theaters. While not nearly as good as the original, Incredibles 2 is not terrible, which is a notable achievement for a sequel.

The visuals have the Pixar look and polish that we’ve come to expect, but they don’t push the envelope much. Pixar has always done quality work in this department, and maybe they’re a victim of their own success. They’ve set the bar pretty high, so a Pixar movie that doesn’t look any better than you’d expect is still a fine looking film.

Holly Hunter and Craig T. Nelson in Incredibles 2. IMDb.com

The story is nothing special. It has a couple wrinkles, but, for the most part, is a by-the-numbers super hero movie. It’s pretty easy to guess who the villain is, and there are no real surprises as the plot unfolds. While nothing in the film is bust-a-gut funny, there’s enough witty banter and sufficient sight gags to keep the audience entertained. I was happy to see the stale “Mom goes to work while Dad falls apart at home” trope somewhat subverted. Mr. Incredible does, indeed, have a rough time of it at first, but, unlike so many buffoonish and incompetent fathers portrayed in the media over the last few decades, he gets his stuff together and ultimately succeeds in handling various household crises.

Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, and Huck Milner in Incredibles 2 IMDb.com

Incredibles 2 toys briefly with some potentially meaty themes. It leads with the suggestion that simply letting a criminal get away with it causes less damage than trying to stop him. There was a brief discussion about the morality of obeying laws just because they’re laws vs disobeying unjust laws. And the villain actually had a really good point. None of these ideas, though, were explored in any depth. Pixar had the opportunity to create some serious ethical conflict but chose instead to brush off the moral dilemmas and make a safe, predictable kid’s movie. With the unpleasant amount of sermonizing infesting so many movies of late, maybe that’s just as well.

Action sequences were standard cartoonish, over the top mayhem. The tension and high stakes of the first film were absent here, but there were enough cool gimmicks and snarky comments to keep it interesting.

Kudos to the voice acting. All the main cast – Craig T. Nelson (Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible), Holly Hunter (Helen Parr/Elastigirl), Sarah Vowell (Violet Parr), Huck Milner (Dash Parr), Catherine Keener (Evelyn Deavor), Bob Odenkirk (Winston Deavor), and Samuel L. Jackson (Lucius Best / Frozone) – had real chemistry and interacted with each other most convincingly.

The Raccoon from Incredibles 2 IMDb.com

Incredibles 2 wasn’t outstanding, but sometimes good enough is good enough. Kids will get a kick out of it, and there are enough funny bits to keep adults amused.

Overall rating: 7/10