(First review written) 5 outta 5

With a new superhero movie hitting the multiplex seemingly almost every week its kind of hard to get enthusiastic for yet another trip to the well of daring do-gooders.  But “The Incredibles” thankfully revamps the superhero genre and gives it a sorely needed injection of super-serum in the arm.  Being a crime-fighting marvel is cool and fun again.    

Pixar Animation Studios has been responsible for revolutionizing animated movies in the past decade with the mega-hits “Toy Story”, “Monsters Inc.” and “Finding Nemo”.  Its success shifted the film industry away from the traditional “cel” animation to flashier CGI movies (that’s Computer Generated Images for you non-tech readers out there).  The distinctive look may be part of CGI’s recent success, the main draw of a Pixar film is the focus on stories and character, and “The Incredibles” delivers all of that easily.

“The Incredibles” dispenses with the dry-as-paint “origin story” that’s been the bane of superhero movies since the first “Superman”.  It drops you right in the middle of the action with a typical day for Bob Parr aka. Mr. Incredible.  This opening sequence is fast paced and does an efficient job of setting up what type of world they live in and who the characters are.  But the good times can’t last forever.  The heroes get outlawed and disband so Mr. Incredible has to settle into a regular life with his new wife, Helen (formerly known as Elastigirl).   Fast-forward a few years and Bob has been reduced to a desk job as an insurance adjustor. He’s Superman crushed into a tiny cubicle and an even tinier car.  Trying to juggle a superpowered family without revealing themselves to the public, Bob is pinning for the glory days and he is suddenly offered a chance for just that.  

The setup and the plot are refreshingly imaginative, but the true joy of this movie comes from the characters.  A fight between Bob and his wife has them subliminally manifesting their superpowers when angry.  Their children’s emotions are reflected by their powers.  The son, Dash, is a hyperactive young boy so naturally his power is super-speed.  Violet, the daughter, is perpetually shy and tries to hide herself from others which is easy to do since her superpower is invisibility.  Its not exactly subtle, but it works very well.  You get a good sense of family from the characters but it doesn’t drive the family theme down your throat like “Finding Nemo” did at times.  A scene where Bob is pontificating about the importance of family is abruptly interrupted to get the action rolling again, something you’d never seen in the old “shamelessly-tug-at-the-heartstrings” Pixar movies.  

The voice talents are uniformly good.   Craig T. Nelson makes up for 8 years of “Coach” with his work as the superhero-turned-workaday-shlub-turned-back-into-a-superhero dad.  Holy Hunter’s distinctive twang gives her role as the mom/superhero Elastigirl a lovingly paternal air.   It’s also oddly sexy for some reason.  Jason Lee, serving penance for “A Guy Thing”, “Stealing Harvard” and “Dreamcatcher”, lathers pure evil onto every word as the main bad guy Syndrome.  It makes you nostalgic for the days when he was a stock player in Kevin Smith’s movies.   Another superhero, Frozone, is brought to life by Samuel L. Jackson and his voice. . . well, its freakin’ Samuel L. Jackson’s voice.  Its great!  He’s probably the only person in the world who can make a line as simple as “I’m thirsty” drip with menace.  Wallace Shawn gives life to Bob’s nasty boss, Gilbert Humph.  You’ll recognize his squeaky voice instantly because he was the “Inconceivable!” guy from “The Princess Bride”.  

This is definitely the most “adult” of Pixar’s movies so far; it doesn’t play to the youngest kids in the audience as their films have done in the past.  Nary a toy, bug, monster or talking fish are in sight.  Take note if you’re bringing younger kids to the show: there’s quite a bit of character-oriented dialogue in the movie that’s free of any “zaniness” so it might make them fidgety.  Older audiences will appreciate the time spent on characterization, but the tykes might be antsy for some superhero smashie-smashie during these segments. 

Speaking of the smashie-smashie: there’s a lot of it.   There’s so much destruction that the MPAA in the U.S. gave it a “PG” rating (in Canada we’re much more lenient and happily labelled “Incredibles” a “G”).  But all of the action is handled with a light carefree touch so the kids won’t be freaked out by it.   The action rocks, by the way.  Elastigirl manages to knock the lights out of three different sets of bad guys while being stuck in an awkward position.  There are no less than two metal crunching fights with gigantic robots (yay!).  The sequence where Dash and Violent learn to use their powers moves along at a tight clip.  It’s definitely the most kinetic and action filled movie to ever be released by Pixar.  

Overall, it’s a nice departure from the Pixar’s recent fare.  The schmaltz level is kept at a minimum and it’s the first Pixar movie that doesn’t follow “Buddy Movie” formula that’s has been repeated since “Toy Story” ad nausem.  There are jokes in the movie, but there’s not a consistently “funny” character like the one-eyed guy from “Monsters Inc.” or Ellen DeGeneres’ short-term memory afflicted fish from “Finding Nemo”.  There isn’t a single Randy Newman song to be heard in “The Incredibles” either, so that’s always a plus.  It’s a welcome change but it may alienate the younger audience members who are used to the familiar Pixar style.   But with an opening weekend take of 70+ million, its safe to say they won’t really mind deviating from the norm.  

Writer/Director Brad Bird cut his teeth on early Simpsons episodes and the underrated animated gem “Iron Giant”.   He’s been trying to make this movie for over a decade and it was well worth the wait.  The film looks awesome.  The frame arrangements are very dynamic and comic book-y. The camera is often moving and panning around like a Jerry Bruckhimer movie (I mean that in a good way).  A sequence where Mr. Incredible is brought down has a rapid-fire quick-cut pace that may induce nausea in some viewers (I also mean that in a good way).   The film has a 50s retro vibe to it from the look of the homes and right down to the bulky looking sci-fi robots.  But the retro aspect isn’t beaten over the viewer’s heads; it’s simply another element to the film.  (The makers of “Sky Captain And the World of Tomorrow” should take note of this.) 

As a writer, Bird throws in a few sly references that only true superhero/comic book geeks will get.  Such as, if you think about it, capes are really impractical for costumed superheroes to wear. There’s a character, whom Bird did the voice for, who is “Q” from the James Bond films cut in half, switched genders and given a kooky accent.  Also a running gag about the supervillain tendency to start “monologuing” at inopportune times is a good one. 

With “The Incredibles” Pixar is nearing the end of their distribution contract by way of Walt Disney Pictures.  After next years “Cars” and 2006’s “Ratatouille” Pixar will be shopping their movies around to other studios.  Considering how badly Disney’s own 2-D non-Pixar movies have been doing in recent years, Michael Esiner probably still kicking himself over that.   To combat this potentially devastating loss, Disney is releasing two CG films in the upcoming months, the direct-to-DVD “Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas” and the theatrical CG film “Chicken Little”.  

But Disney will definitely lose something when Pixar leaves the House of the Mouse.  It’s hard to say what it is exactly, but there’s something about Pixar movies that make them a cut above the regular “Shrek” or “Jimmy Neutron” CG movies.   Maybe it’s just the style.  Maybe it’s just the characterization.  Maybe it’s just the attention to detail.  Maybe it’s the story.  Whatever it is though, “The Incredibles” is it.  And “The Incredibles” is definitely one of Pixar’s best.