The Incredibles

Review by Tim Basham

When I was a kid (at this point my own kids roll their eyes), my favorite comic book heroes were The Fantastic Four.

To me, the Human Torch was just plain cool. And I loved how he and Ben Grimm would dis each other—the same way my brother and I would.

They just seemed like my family, minus the super powers. And Sue Storm the Invisible Girl and Reed Richards the, uh, stretchy guy were like our parents—always ruining our fun.

But no matter how mad we would get at one another, just like The Fantastic Four we would readily defend the other against anyone outside the family. And those bonds, (dare I say “family values?”), are why Pixar's newest animated money maker, The Incredibles, works so well.

The creative talents behind Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. could have just re-hashed the same successful formula and still made plenty enough money to please Disney's stockholders before Pixar heads out the door. But never ones to rest on their laurels, (and they have laurels-a-plenty) for this project Pixar went with an inventive, and somewhat darker, script by Brad Bird (Iron Giant, *batteries not included) who also directed the film and included dynamics of a family rarely seen in an animated feature.

Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (voices by Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter) are successful, newlywed crime fighters when the legal system forces all super heroes into retirement to avoid expensive lawsuits. Our super couple hang up their spandex suits, have kids, and lead ordinary, suburban lives as Helen and Bob Parr. At least, they try.

But Mom seems to be the only one succeeding. Son Dash wants to play school sports but exposing his supersonic speed is just too big of a risk for his parents. And sister Violet has a serious identity crisis—especially when she turns invisible.

In spite of Bob's attempts to support his family selling insurance, he struggles with the urge to fight crime.

Each week he tells his wife he's going bowling but instead he's listening to the police scanner with his friend and former super hero Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) and rescuing citizens from burning buildings.

When Bob arrives home late with a piece of rubble on his clothes, the ensuing argument contains some of the sharpest dialogue you'll hear, even from a non-animated film. And realistic, proven by my wife's elbow in my ribs.

But enough about lawsuits and family disputes. The real meat of this film is the action sequences, of which there are plenty. When Bob is fired, he is lured to a mysterious island for a secret mission as Mr. Incredible. However, the mission turns into a trap set by the evil Syndrome (Jason Lee) and Bob's family comes to the rescue, but not before being blown out of the sky by a guided missile and left for dead.

Intense scenes such as these warrant the PG rating, but are really no more intense than what children see on television cartoons.

And in between all the action are some very funny, and cleverly written, scenes, as when Jackson uses his best Pulp Fiction voice as Frozone searching for his “super suit”, or when Elastigirl becomes caught between numerous automatic doors at the same time but is still capable of fending off multiple bad guys, or when Dash is sent to the principal for putting a tack on the teacher's chair though never appearing to have left his own seat.

Whereas Antonio Banderas' role as Puss N Boots stole much of Shrek 2, the honors go to super suit designer Edna Mode in The Incredibles. Fast becoming a cult hero, her voice is ingeniously played by Bird himself. (I'm told she was modeled after the late fashion designer Edith Head, but I kept thinking of Dr. Ruth.)

Michael Giacchino's terrific film score, along with a kind of “retro” look to the animation, is all reminiscent of 1960's James Bond movies, Marvel Comics and The Jetsons all rolled into one. And it works incredibly well. (Pun intended.)

See this movie. Take the family. And watch out for elbows.

4.5 out of 5

The Incredibles
Australian release: Sunday December 26th
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee, Wallace Shawn, Brad Bird.
Director: Brad Bird.
Website: Click here.

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