Pixar continues its somewhat odd tradition of being able to do everything right, except pique my interest in one of their films. I have to admit I wasn’t as impressed with ‘Toy Story’ as most, but it certainly surpassed my expectations. Talking toys and the few goofy gags I saw in the previews didn’t exactly have me waiting in line on the day of release. When the hype began about a fish with a gimpy fin and his overprotective father, it was hard to avoid suspecting that Pixar was making its best effort to keep me away from their films. Each successive movie leaves me torn, as Pixar’s track record competes with the ineffectiveness of their ‘no news is good news’ trailers. Their consistency is obviously not to be upset, as their latest ‘The Incredibles’ blew me away despite my usual trepidation, and I am again at a loss as to what I’m meant to get out of the trailer for their next effort, ‘Cars’, which preceded it.
I was even more secure this go ‘round though, because coupled with Pixar’s glowing record was the fact that Brad Bird, the writer and director, was also the man in charge of an animated film I hold in even higher regard than anything yet of the Pixar behemoth – ‘The Iron Giant’.
‘The Incredibles’ offers up a world absolutely riddled with superheroes. Mr. Incredible, whose superpower seems to be, more or less, simple indestructability and/or super-human strength, may have been named Superhero of the Year, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of competition. Adding to Mr. Incredible’s incredible life, we soon attend his wedding to Elastigirl. But all is not well in whereverville, and a wave of headlines tell us about a series of lawsuits that put an end to superheroes. After someone is injured when Mr. I rescues him from jumping off a building, the floodgates are open, and in the end a settlement by the government gives all superheroes immunity from civil actions if they enter the Superhero Relocation Program and refrain from all acts of superheroism. You have to roll your eyes at a movie that maneuvers through its setup in a way that is such a blatant thumbing of one’s nose (and rather illogical besides), but it’s hard to do it without also smiling here.
Flash forward fifteen years and we find Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) jammed into a cubicle working as a claims adjuster for a none-too-friendly insurance company. He’s an ordinary guy now living with his wife and two kids. Son Dash has super speed, and goth-angst daughter Violet can become invisible and create forcefields, but everyone feigns ‘normalcy’ so as not to upset... well, people who can’t really do anything to them frankly. They’ve managed three years in their current home without having to be relocated because of Bob’s apparent inability to maintain cover, and it looks like the Parr’s may be settling down. But, we slowly learn that the hiatus on helping people eats away at Mr. Incredible. Understandably, Mr. I and old buddy Frozone (basically IceMan) venture out now and again for a bit of vigilante heroics.
Luckily, fate steps in and offers Mr. Incredible a chance to do something with his abilities. A top secret, runaway robot opens the door for Mr. I to come out of retirement to some degree, and he grabs on with both hands. Then the villain raises his head, and the movie starts the race.
‘The Incredibles’ may have superheroes in it, but it feels a lot more like a James Bond film than anything you’ve seen torn from the pages of comic-books. Old Bond films that is, not the latest, rather unimpressive ones, and in case you think that’s just wishful thinking on my part, you’ll recognize many scenes, sets, and characters as being lifted directly from ‘Moonraker’ (not that it’s exactly the best Bond film), ‘From Russia With Love’, ‘Diamonds are Forever’, and others. It even has its own version of a Bond girl. But, the Bond play is thrown wonderfully off balance by a ‘Bond’ who, despite his superhuman abilities, is best described as a ‘big lug’, and by the utterly ‘normal’ family problems that follow in his wake.
The movie has exciting action episodes that carry things along, and it has some rather clever moments of superpower fun, but what really elevates the movie is the same thing that has pushed most Pixar movies – the simple reality. Sure, saving people is impressive, but you’ve got superpowers for that. There’s no special ability that helps you control your bickering kids, and super strength doesn’t keep your wife from telling you which offramp to take. A couple of guys going out for ‘bowling night’ are just like any other couple of guys, even if they are saving people from a burning building. Mostly, when you have a couple of kids who don’t fit in, and don’t know what to make of life or themselves, it doesn’t really matter exactly why they see themselves as different. That’s odd territory for a snappy, action-filled cartoon, especially when it manages to avoid collapsing in on its own semi-serious themes.
You hear a lot about the great animation in Pixar films, and ‘The Incredibles’ certainly looks amazing, but what Pixar really has going for them is a solid sense of filmcraft. ‘Finding Nemo’ put together an almost perfect combination of themes, fun, and solidly-constructed plot, and ‘The Incredibles’ follows suit. Whenever Pixar releases a film it’s hard for me to keep it off my top ten of the year list. This year it may be difficult to keep it from the top of the pile.
Bob Parr and his wife Helen used to be among the world's greatest crime fighters, saving lives and battling evil on a daily basis. Fifteen years later...More at HotMovieSale.com
From the Academy Award :-winning creators of Finding Nemo (2003 Best Animated Feature Film) comes the action-packed animated adventure about the munda...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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