The Incredibles (2004)

Incredibles, The

Matinee with Snacks

For me to say that this is my least favorite Pixar film is like saying which Swiss chocolate is the least fattening and delicious - it's a very fine continuum of high quality product. The Incredibles (written and directed by Brad Bird) is a fun, amazing ride with superhuman characters with true humanity, and to give it only the equivalent of 4 1/2 out of 5 stars seems petty. Perhaps it's the very different feel from the other movies - the movie had the slightest tinge of "must get going right away!" which infects many films in the animation medium. The action/adventure plot, starring humans and amazing machine marvels, relied less on the leads' humanity than other Pixar films have, even though it is the first to actually star humans. Perhaps it's the anything-is-possible vibe that took some of the edge off the tension. Maybe it's the completely fortunate confluence of everyone's powers that eliminated any sense of farce or worry. Be that as it may, I still had a heck of a time, and I guarantee that money spent here is money spent wisely.

The Incredibles enjoys the Pixar genius of timelessness in modernity (as seen in the Toy Stories, Monsters Inc, and Finding Nemo) with well-thought out plot devices. As Disney's last official collaboration with Pixar, The Incredibles brings with it a little bit of studio profiteering (if you hadn't noticed in stores) and maybe that is contributing a tiny bit to my less-than-orgasmic reaction. No character is unnecessary, and I found myself wishing I had a toy of everything; but the movie is no whore to commerce, never you fear. Dang, those ships are cool.

Hopefully by now I don't have to tell you that you completely forget you are watching something generated by a computer when you watch a Pixar film, this one is no exception. Every detail of light, atmosphere, texture, sound creates a seamless reality that you don't even notice, like traditional film's lighting and scoring at its best. Even when Elastigirl is stretching the confines of physics in the exercising of her powers, you are caught up in the comedy or the adventure, and not thinking of it as a cartoon. Elastigirl is the only vocal talent whose actress is obvious (OK, so is Wallace Shawn) - as a result, all the characters feel all the more real. Ellen DeGeneres could be a fish because she wasn't playing a person; here, the characters need to be their own people. Craig Nelson defies expectations and casting type to be a warm, funny Incredible.

Brad Bird hails (as a writer and a director) from the venerated Simpsons and the revered Iron Giant. His skill with humanizing that incredible robot served him well here, with all kinds of incredibly nifty powers, devices and set pieces; the combined experience has informed his work fantastically. And he voices the Edna Mode, so you know he's cool. Pixar is lucky to have him. Why haven't you seen it yet?

-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These reviews (c) 2004 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks. You can check out previous reviews at: http://www.cinerina.com and http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/listing.hsbr - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource

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X-RT-RatingText: 4.5/5