Die Unglaublichen

This was somewhat of a surprise hit when it came out in 2004. Most of the attention was on a competing animated film but this is the one that turned out to be a huge box-office success. Word of mouth helped his immensely. It's what made me check it out, as several friends recommended it. I wound up agreeing with them: it's excellent entertainment.

The visuals and sound are very impressive, but it's the story that carries this film: a solid combination of humor, drama, suspense, family ties and action. The action, as in many modern-day films, was overdone in the last half hour of the movie but overall....the DVD is a good investment since people 3 to 63 should enjoy this.

As an adult, it's not always easy to keep my attention for two hours with animation but the fact this movie does, tells you how good the story is presented. There are wonderful colors in here, too, and a good 5.1 surround system with a sub-woofer would probably blow the roof off!

This is one of the finest animated films I have ever seen. Not only is it a fine animated film, it is a great film period. The film obviously takes its cue from several real life super hero comic books, especially The Fantastic Four and the Justice Society of America. The Fantastic Four comparison is obvious due to the fact that Elatigirl and Violet were obviously inspired by Mr. Fantastic (aka. Reed Richards) and the Invisible Woman (aka. Sue Storm Richards) respectively. The J.S.A. influence is a little more obscure. Several years ago, DC Comics issued a mini-series that attempted to explain the demise of the Justice Society by claiming that the group was forced to disband after their loyalty to America was questioned during the 1950's. In this film, all the heroes were forced into hiding after the government refused to pay for wrongful legal claims brought against the super heroes of this film. Also, there are many in jokes that the casual viewer might not get, but that made it enjoyable for comic book fans. This the island scenes look as if they could have been inspired by many of the series produced by Gerry Anderson of the 1960's (eg. the Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet).

Another thing that made this film unique was its look. If you notice, the city where the story takes place looks like a fairly modern metropolis. However, if you look at the cars in the film, most of them look as if they would have been more at home in the mid to late 1960's. Also, the way that many of the characters were dressed also could have put them in that time.

However, the thing that I really loved about this film was the fact that even though it was geared primarily to children, it was dark enough in theme to appeal to adults. In fact, there are a couple of scenes that you wouldn't normally associate with a film geared towards children.

This film is definitely a classic of animation and once again Pixar shows why they are the masters of computer animation.

I hope that this movie does really well because this has to be one of the best animated movies I have ever seen. The story is really cool and it's obvious that there is a lot of respect here for the source of superheroes, whether it be comic books, serial flicks or Saturday morning cartoons.

The movie has an undeniably cool retro feel to it and it shows not only in the design of the picture but also in the music, which definitely sounds like something out of a 60's 007 flick. It is also unusually dark, especially for a Pixar flick. I'm not saying it's dark where people are getting their heads delivered to someone in a box or family members are sleeping with each other or anything like that but there were moments where I found myself wondering if a little kid might be able to deal with the intensity of what was going on on screen. Maybe it was the fact that the heroes were in very real danger most of the time. The bad guys weren't out to catch them as much as they were out to kill them. When you discover who the film's villain is, you can literally feel his anger coming off the screen. I may be over-exaggerating a bit but then again, it really is to the film's credit that it deals with human emotions in the way that it does.

Even though you are watching a film that is populated by CGI characters, the emotions they convey in what they say and do come across as purely believable. Whether watching Bob Parr interact with people at his job or just sitting at his desk was something that rang true to me, just in the feeling of it. Everything about this movie has a very concrete feel to it, even while looking like something you'd see in a comic book. The computer graphics in general were absolutely amazing and the voice acting is excellent across the board, so good in fact, that I really can't pick a favorite from the entire cast. I have to say that Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter were very good as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl respectively. They had a moment near the end of the film that actually touched me but you can see that for yourselves. Samuel L. Jackson was hilarious and thankfully, he wasn't overused. Dash and Violet were realized so well that every time they came up on screen, I loved every minute of it. Dash, in particular was one of the funniest characters in the movie. Jason Lee made for a formidable villain as Syndrome. I loved the fact that he was your typical antagonist but was also aware of the conventions surrounding such a role, like when he chides himself for 'monologuing'. He was also one ruthless bastard, I'll give him that. Even the bit part characters were hilarious. There was a kid on a tricycle in this movie who comes out twice and made me laugh out loud both times.

In fact, this movie reminds me of why I like Finding Nemo over Monsters, Inc. In Finding Nemo, not only are the main characters great but every other character they run into makes some kind of impression on you. Remember all the characters that Marlin and Dory ran into on their adventures together? Of course you do. Whether it was that crazy pelican with the Australian accent, Willem Dafoe as Gill, leader of the fishtank crew, or Bruce the Shark, you remember them after all is said and done and it makes the viewing experience that much richer. That's exactly how The Incredibles is. Every character that appears will make you laugh or intrigue you in some way. I have to admit that I was laughing myself throughout the entire movie, especially with the character of Edna Mode who almost steals the movie. Man, even the end credits are awesome! I have to give the director Brad Bird a big thumbs up for this one. He pulled it off and hopefully this will attract attention to his other animated film, "The Iron Giant", which was sadly overlooked when it was released and is also a really great film.

All in all, I can't recommend this movie enough. I left very satisfied and felt no need to compare this to the rest of Pixar's movies. This one is just as good if not better than any other animated movie released this year and rightfully deserves its place among the best animated movies of all time.

RATING: ***** out of *****.

Writer-director Brad Bird here has something that I was caught off-guard by just a bit. I always expect Pixar films to be above-par, family entertainment, the kinds of films that can have an appeal to adults on a satirical, jab-in-the-side effect by having the characters reacting to each other as they would on a film with a higher rating, whilst giving the bright colors, action, and silliness that appeals to kids. Watching The Incredibles, their sixth feature-length offering, I wasn't so entertained and amused since their 98 film A Bug's Life, and it almost brought me back to the emotional impact I felt when in the theater for the first time getting Toy Story into my system.

It's a film that takes on a type in society that we all know well (in the past they've done toys, bugs, monsters, undersea life, and now comic book archetypes) and transforms it superbly to the imaginative computer-animated landscape. This is also in credit due to Brad Bird, who proved five years ago with his sleeper The Iron Giant that he could transcend the genre and appeal with heart and vigor for almost every age bracket.

So what little touches make The Incredibles so appealing? How it starts to deconstruct the idea of a superhero, perhaps, as well as how the family unit is shown in the usual conventions under unusual and funny circumstances. As an example, one of our heroes Mr. Incredible, a.k.a. Bob Parr (voiced wonderfully by Craig T. Nelson), goes to visit a woman who fixes and creates the uniforms of superheroes. In one scene she explains why a cape is not a good idea. This is the kind of scene that might not make it into most Hollywood movies, and would sometimes if not often be discredited as being too 'smart' for kids to get. But by appealing to a kind of level late teens and adults can relate to, it reaches a higher, far more intelligent plane. In fact, many of the best scenes in the film take on what we all know in films displaying the 'family unit' and morph it with the power and imagination of superheroes.

I won't go too much into the plot as some may already have, except to say that what makes the story in and of itself appealing is how it is a fully formed story, and doesn't try and sell itself short like other animated films (i.e. Sharktale for example). It also uses it's PG-rating perimeter wisely, and Bird and company create action sequences that are as exciting, if not more so, than in the action films that have been released this year (in fact, some of the scenes in the climax, for my money, could rival a couple of those in Spider-Man 2). By setting up the right emotional bases with the characters- Bob, his wife Elasti-girl (Holly Hunter), their kids, and with supporting characters voiced finitely by the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee, by the time the high-charged, internally fantasy scenes take off, they take off with great conviction and excitement.

Overall, The Incredibles is a film that is, in a way, what audiences wish they could get and rarely do- it's a film with wit and observance, a kind of video-game where the results are not as expectable as can be. Some kids may not get it as much as adults might, which is just as well, as it sometimes operates on a level like Antz did, only through the sphere of Disney. In other words, if you say the teaser trailer, which involved the out-of-shape Mr. Incredible trying with all his might to buckle his tights, you'll know what the film could bring. Personally, I can't wait to see it again.

An amazing family film and also one of the best superhero films of all time. Action is amazing, especially in the final act with such a range of powers all used brilliantly. And do I need to say anything about the animation? Pixar just knocks it out of the park every time. The Incredibles is just full of personality and charm, making it endlessly rewatchable.

Also we need a Frozone solo movie.