A Look Back at The Incredibles

Copyright 2004, Disney/Pixar

First of all, apologies for stretching this out so long. I have still not yet re-watched the 2007 classic Ratatouille, the other Brad Bird-directed Pixar film, and will be making a pilgrimage to the local multiplex tomorrow to see, in digital 3-D, Up. There will definitely be a review of the latter film tomorrow; I've decided, though to forego a look back at WALL-E, partly because I'm not sure I'd have anything truly insightful to say on the subject that I didn't say back in late December. That said, let's begin.

Brad Bird was the first, and only (at this point), person to make a movie at Pixar without being a product of the animation studio. Yes, animation fans will know very well that Bird was good friends with John Lasseter and another future Pixar folk during his time at CalARTS, but even the 10th Pixar release, Up, was created by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, two men who have worked on every Pixar film in some way. Having someone like Bird make a Pixar movie isn't just comforting because you know his background (Family Dog, The Simpsons, and The Iron Giant are among his impressive filmography); it helps because Pixar is acknowledging that they alone do not corner the market on creativity.

And, in many ways, honing creativity, that special gift that may elude many of us, is what The Incredibles is all about. This 2004 superhero epic has a lot of fun subverting the genre while also providing the goods, with some slam-bang action sequences. However, Bird is far more interested with the state of the American person. We live in a society where mediocrity isn't shunned, but awarded. Though Mr. Incredible, or his alter ego Bob Parr, believes that truly special people are the ones who lose out, he's more frustrated that, for example, his son Dash is graduating the 8th grade and a ceremony is necessary. Why does that have to be celebrated in as serious a fashion as a high school or college graduation? Though Pixar easily stepped out of being strictly for children with its second Toy Story film, a movie like The Incredibles leaves kids in the dust. How will an eight-year old be able to relate with the point Bird is trying to make?

I say "trying," because one of the only flaws, and certainly a forgivable one, with The Incredibles is that the point isn't made very well. Think of how the movie ends: after triumphing as a family over the villainous Syndrome, the Parr family goes back to normal life, watching Dash in a track and field meet, encouraging him to not go too fast and, eventually, end up in second. Bob has spent the entire movie trying to convince his wife, Helen (also known as Elastigirl), that the kids should try and be special, that their talents should be encouraged. Oh, sure, Dash is finally on the team, but...shouldn't he be winning? Why should the family go back to a relative amount of normalcy? Granted, at the end of the meet, they're ready to do battle with the Underminer, but it's hard to believe the rant against mediocrity when Dash is meant to lose, if only by a few feet.

Flaw aside, The Incredibles is one of the most fun movies Pixar's made. Though all of their films are about adventure in some way (yes, Ratatouille is the most low-key film in this respect, but being in a Parisian kitchen is an adventure all its own), Bird's creation takes about 30 minutes to get going; once Bob, as Mr. Incredible, has traveled to Nomanisan, the mysterious island that Syndrome calls home, the movie never stops its relentless pace. The action sequences, from Mr. Incredible's first encounter with the smartest robot ever created to Dash's headlong run through the island, are frenetic, colorful, and thrilling to watch. In his first outing as composer with Pixar, Michael Giacchino (on a roll these days, with his work on Star Trek, Fringe, Lost, and even Up) provides a jazzy, bouncy score that harkens back to the 1960s and 1970s.

The voice cast, while not uber-popular (the biggest name is Samuel L. Jackson, and he only appears in about 20 minutes of the movie), is excellent. Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter are both powerful and browbeaten as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, a loving married couple whose spats are painful because of how real they sound. Jason Lee, as Syndrome, is probably the best actor to pull off a line such as "You sly dog! You got me monologuing!" Moreover, the animation of these characters is realistic enough; this film was the first with humans as the focal point, and it's easy to see how far the technology and craftmanship has come since they created Andy, his sister, and his mother in 1995's Toy Story.

Overall, The Incredibles, which currently boasts the highest opening-weekend gross for any Pixar film (though it's Finding Nemo that is still the highest-grossing film of all), is a fun, sly piece of entertainment. Of all of the Pixar movies, this is the one that demands a sequel, and would be easiest to create. The characters are just about as prickly and realistic as those in Ratatouille, the story is exciting and surprisingly relatable, and the whole film is one of the best Pixar's ever made. I dare not use the obvious pun on the title, but....well, you know what I mean.