Les Indestructibles

17 years after incredibles was released, it continues to be a compelling, entertaining, funny, smart, ambitious, original, mature and just simply enjoyable movie. The dialogue is exceptional and the animation holds up surprisingly well. The characters are well written and very fleshed out. It is an animated film about superheroes and yet the chatacters and world feel so real.

It is my favourite pixar film and probably always will be. If you haven't seen this masterpiece yet, stop reading this review and go watch it right now. Infact, even if you've seen it before, just watch it right now. It is that freaking good.

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.

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.

Shortly after Dreamworks screwed up with the uninspired "Shark Tale", Pixar contains its remarkably success story with "The Incredibles". And while I have to say that I liked "Finding Nemo" a bit better, "The Incredibles" is still an amazing movie.

First of all, this is because it's funny. It's not so funny that you're constantly laughing out loud, but there are more than enough good jokes in the movie to keep you entertained, and it's full of good observations about superhero movies (note all the ridiculous superhero and villain names) and references to other movies. It's also a brilliant James Bond spoof/homage, containing all the gadgets, secret island bases and crazy schemes that made early Bond movies so much fun.

Secondly, this movie has heart and charm in droves. It's full of memorably and likable characters you can really identify with and care about. Characters like Edna are instant classics. The voice acting is universally excellent, but Holly Hunter steals the show as Elastigirl. This is a movie that doesn't need toilet humor, characters modeled like celebrities, or a "hip" soundtrack...it easily succeeds on charm and style alone.

Also, I found it to be a surprisingly good action movie. The plentiful action sequences are full of energy, extremely fast-paced, and exciting, and put many a live-action movie to shame.

Finally, I also liked the tone and message of the movie. "The Incredibles" basically makes a plea against mediocrity, breaking with the politically correct idea that "everybody is special" (and thus nobody really is), and encouraging people to use the talents they have been given. I think this couldn't be more true. Not all people are equally talented (just compare Pixar to Dreamworks), but this is no reason to keep the talented people from not reaching their full potential just because it makes the less talented ones feel bad.

"The Incredibles", while maybe not as hilarious as I had hoped (though it's still very funny), is nonetheless an extremely entertaining movie, that manages to charm you wit its combination of great characters, lots of style, tongue-in-cheek attitude and good message. Highly recommended.

****1/2 of ***** stars