The Incredibles: Superheroes Entertain, But Not as Much as Toys and Monsters

I love Pixar. So much that I can't believe I still haven't seen Ratatouille, which looks glorious and which comes so highly recommended. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, however, I did manage to catch The Incredibles, the previous Pixar flick also written and directed by Brad Bird. I'd seen it before, in the theater, and although I enjoyed it, I didn't like it as much as the others and couldn't quite understand the heaps of acclaim it seemed to be getting.

After seeing it again, I'd still rank it at the bottom of my Pixar list, but that doesn't mean The Incredibles isn't fantastic. As a send-up of spy and superhero films, it delivers plenty of laughs, though the jokes generally seem to aim at an older audience. This aspect of the film is both an asset and a weakness. It's sly and clever, but some of it probably goes over the heads of children.

Not only is the overall tone of the movie rather more sophisticated than would be expected for an audience of youngsters, the film gets pretty dark at times, and there is cartoonish violence aplenty. Nothing too graphic, but the fact that these are actual people as opposed to toys, monsters, cars or any of a variety of small animals makes the mayhem feel that much more ominous. And good as the animation is, these heroes in hiding just aren't as much fun to look at as Woody, Sully or Mater.

Still, the Incredibles, known to the rest of civilization as the Parrs, are an engaging family. Dad (Craig T. Nelson) is overweight and unfulfilled, dreaming of his glory days as a superhero in his prime while he fritters away his life in a tiny cubicle, attempting to actually help his clients despite the disapproval of his explosive, diminutive boss (Wallace Shawn). His wife Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) is determined to allow the family to blend in, even if it means never making use of their unique abilities. Hyperactive young Dash (Spencer Fox) races to and fro, always full of energy and frustration that he doesn't have a decent outlet for it, and brooding Violet (Sarah Vowell) feels invisible even when she isn't cloaking herself. Only infant Jack-Jack seems to boast no remarkable powers, but he has time to grow into that sort of thing...

Also integral to the plot are Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), the hip buddy of Mr. Incredible who does all sorts of nifty tricks involving the freezing of water, and Syndrome (Jason Lee), whose poisonous attitudes toward Our Hero were shaped during an unfortunate encounter years earlier. Bird himself joins the party as savvy fashion designer Edna Mode, who is eager to give this family a new look for this phase of their lives.

The animation is eye-catching, though again, I just can't quite get used to Pixar's humans. It's a movie that almost seems like it would've worked just as well as a live action movie, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. As with most Pixar efforts, this isn't a musical, but Michael Giacchino, who also composed the music for LOST, created a fun and evocative score.

The Incredibles are a family with a very unusual dynamic, since they must juggle superpowers with the desire to remain in cognito, the urge to help humanity with the need for some quality time on the home front. They're the average middle class family in many ways, one of which is demonstrated in a hilarious scene in which Elastigirl plays back-seat driver as her husband attempts to maneuver their car through heavy traffic. I think I laughed more the second time around and was a little less shocked by how sinister the plot occasionally became. The Incredibles is quite the entertaining ride. It's just not quite as incredible as its esteemed company.