released 03 apr 05 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* At the beginning of the Disney / Pixar computer-animated movie THE INCREDIBLES, we meet two super-heroes, mighty Mr. Incredible (voice of Craig T. Nelson) and ElastiGirl (Holly Hunter), who walk up to the altar together after a typical day of fighting criminals and super-villains. Unfortunately, that day is the one when people decide to start suing Mr. Incredible and the other "Supers", and after massive litigation overwhelms the government, the authorities decide to ban the Supers and relocate them.
Fifteen years later, Mr. Incredible is Bob Parr, a mild-mannered (if oversized) insurance claims adjuster who is carrying on a corporate guerrilla war against a nasty little twerp of a boss. The boss doesn't want to pay out claims; Parr keeps coaching clients on how to beat the system. It's a frustrating life for a super-hero, but he has a family to support, including a teenaged daughter named Violet, who can turn invisible and create forcefields; a gradeschool son named Dash, something of a junior Flash; and the baby Jack-Jack, who doesn't seem to have any powers. Jack-Jack's lack of powers is something of a relief, since Bob and his wife Helen have to coach the other two kids to keep their powers a secret.
Parr and his pal, Lucius Best, AKA black superhero Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), chafe at their lives and try to do super deeds on the sly, wearing ski masks. It doesn't work out so hot, so when Parr gets a message from someone claiming to be from a "supersecret government organization" and offering him a chance to work as Mr. Incredible again, he jumps at it so fast he doesn't bother to wonder if there's something fishy about the deal, and even tries to keep it a secret from his family.
* This sets up the basic scenario for THE INCREDIBLES, leading to a slambang adventure in which the entire Parr family takes on a super-villain. OK, on first sight, this seems like something that could be incredibly dumb. The fact of the matter is that it's incredibly smart. Very few films that take themselves much more seriously are anywhere near as smart.
Director Brad Bird has a solid grasp of B-fiction comic / movie / TV adventure stories and manages to put together something that is a howlingly funny sendup of them while being a devout tribute to them as well. He loots such things as James Bond-style theme music, the RETURN OF THE JEDI forest chase scene, and a lot of technology from old JOHNNY QUEST episodes to come up with a movie that is a treat for the eyes and gets the adrenalin pumping. His humor blindsides the viewer -- for example, he introduces the hilarious character of Dame Edna (voiced very well by Bird himself), an egotistical fashion designer who also chafes at her life: "Supermodels! HAH! Nothing super about them -- spoiledt, stupidt lettle stick figures vith poofy lips who tink only about demselves. FEH! I used to design for GODTS!"
The production values are superlative, not only in terms of the implementation but in terms of the design. A lot of computer-graphics movies just try to throw as much visual noise as possible at the watcher, but THE INCREDIBLES thinks things out carefully, fleshing out the super-villain's Secret Island Base to a level of detail where it almost seems like a sinister theme park, with lots of beautiful scenery.
For those who like a family movie with a message, THE INCREDIBLES is a story of family values and diversity -- though I might warn that it has a certain level of violence, about the same as that of the STAR WARS film, and might not be appropriate for the youngest kids. For those who find messages annoying, be assured that they don't get in the way of the story at all. All in all, I can't find a single thing to fault about this movie, and all I can say is that anybody who doesn't take themselves too seriously is probably going to like it, too.
Incidentally, this is a two-disk set, with a second disk of extras. I usually don't have time for extras, but I knew that Pixar always likes to go the extra mile and come up with some nice stuff, and so I checked them out. There's the usual "making of" and "reference files" fluff, but there are three short features as well. One is Mr. Incredible done as the old cheesy cheap cartoons where they actually spliced in videos of people's lips moving; I think this is something we didn't really need to be reminded of. Another is "Bouncin'", a little computer-graphics parable that comes across as an updated classic Disney cartoon, fun but preachy. The real winner, however, is "Jack-Jack Attack", which shows things that had been going on in the wings during the story of the movie itself -- if you liked the movie, don't dare miss this item.
