@RegalBeagle watched the sequel yesterday, then this video. i pretty much agree. it's a very weak movie held up largely by fanservice (e.g. frozone getting more screentime, repeated lines and motifs) but the overall story i just wasn't as invested. i thought maybe it was just that I've seen the first movie so many times i basically know it by heart, but i really think there's too much going on at once and it hinders my immersion. the flashy animation doesn't help either, feels harder to identify characters.

as for the art direction, it's fine with the main characters but all of the extras and minor characters (like the new superheros) look awful (and too diverse for a movie that is supposed to look like 60s America). the new superheros look like they belong in a Dreamworks movie lmao, it's bad. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see any of them in the next movie, except Voyd because her powers were cool.

overall the biggest problem is that it's shallow. it's got maybe 25% as much depth as the original had. in the first one, everyone went through some character arc, but this one it didn't even feel like our protagonist Elastigirl went through one. By the time she stopped that train, her initial skepticism about returning to hero work was completely gone. But she didn't seem all that skeptical about it at the end of the first movie, partially because the implication at the end was that superheros had been legalized again. Aside from there being a scene officially declaring superheros legal, the second movie ends almost exactly the same as the first one.