I’ll be honest and admit that The Incredibles didn’t really appeal to me when I was a kid. Don’t get me wrong, I never thought it was a bad movie as there was some things that even kid me found amusing, but the sudden shift in tone and more mature dialogue when compared to the more quirky balanced tone in movies like Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo seemed to throw me off and didn’t impact me like Pixar’s previous films. I must confess though that this is a movie that gets better with age and while it’s not necessarily in my top favorite Pixar films, this is still an action packed and unique take on the superhero genre that was in many respects ahead of its time.
In the city of Metroville Superheroes or Supers live their day to day life stopping crime and saving the city from evil. This especially the case for Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) who just loves living his everyday life as a Super. Things could not be any better as he gets married to flexible super named Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) and it seems they are gonna live happily ever after until the people of Metroville start suing the supers for damage done from their crime fighting. It gets so bad that the government initiates a program to have superheroes to never resume hero work and remain in their secret identities. 15 years pass and Mr Incredible or Bob Parr is living an average but painful life as his job is frustrating and he misses his life as a superhero. Despite having a family with his wife Elastgirl now Helen Parr, Mr Incredible wishes to have his old life back. He may get more than he bargained for as he gets a secret message from a woman named marriage to come and stop a robot called the Omnidroid from causing destruction on Nomansland. Little does Mr Incredible know that this is all a setup to capture him along with his family. Now it’s up to The Incredibles to figure out what's going on and to stop a new villain named Syndrome (Jason Lee) from bringing destruction to the city of Metroville.
The film is directed by Brad Bird who got his start writing for the early seasons of The Simpsons and directed The Iron Giant at Warner Bros. His style of writing is more edgy and mature when compared to previous Pixar directors but he still maintains what made past Pixar films engaging and creative to begin with. This film came out when superhero movies were a relatively new thing and this film takes the idea of superheroes and puts a whole new spin on the mythos with many interesting concepts like how superheroes go into hiding after many lawsuits for property damage and all sorts of governmental issues. The great thing about the movie is that even though it’s more edgy and mature, they still have lots of fun exploring the unique world of superheroes and bringing the audience to cool locations that are either dangerous or breathtakingly grand. They avoid going too serious to the point of being boring and there are plenty of fun moments to balance out the film’s more serious tone.
The Characters are memorable and well developed especially when it comes to the family dynamic of The Incredible family themselves. Each character in the family has a superpower that matches their personality and the way they establish themselves as a very dysfunctional family is believable and well written. There are also many other memorable characters such as Mr Incredible’s best friend Frozone and a funny superhero fashion designer named Edna Mode who’s played by Brad Bird himself. Even Syndrome is a very engaging Pixar villain as he has the traditional tropes that many other superhero villains have but has many other qualities that make him a true threat to The Incredibles.
Humans are always the toughest things to animate in a computer which is why Pixar always focused on having animals or inanimate objects as the main stars because of the limitations of the technology. This time there would be no excuses as this would be the first time Pixar would have a full human cast and on top of that they would be very stylised humans that are unlike anything Pixar attempted before. The characters designs are done by Teddy Newton and they almost feel like they were made for 2D Animation first and then modeled three dimensionally into the computer which makes the characters as well as the designs a lot more memorable. The environments have a very modern 60’s or 70’s escq appeal and the way they combine that with high tech weaponry and robots makes for one of the most unique worlds Pixar has done. The action is very high paced and visually interesting and every super powered character gets their chance to show off their powers in many different situations. The only thing I'll slightly nitpick about is that sometimes the animation can feel rubbery in the action scenes but that is excusable because of the limitations of the technology at the time.
The Music is done by the great composer Micheal Giacchino who would become a frequent collaborator for many of Pixar’s greatest films. Giacchino brings a very retro but also extravagant music score that creates a very old but still fresh and vibrant superhero movie score. The main theme for The Incredibles is catchy and humable and the rest of the score follows with it’s edgy but classical action packed tunes.
Many people claim that this is the best of the Pixar movies thanks to it’s sharp and mature direction in it’s storytelling, lovable and memorable characters, animation that pushes the limits of what the technology can do, and a music score that is retro but modern at the same time. I definitely agree with all of those statements even if I will admit that it may not be my personal favorite of the Pixar movies. Still, The Incredibles is for a lack of a better word, truly incredible. It’s a movie that I appreciate more and more as I get older and it’s one of best superhero movies ever created.
(Final Grade: A)