Incredibly Above Average
The Incredibles
Edward Savoy
Issue date: 11/10/04 Section: Features
Three Stars
When your company's track record (Disney/Pixar, in this case) includes the Toy Story movies, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo, it is not unusual that expectations, particularly mine, may be a little high for The Incredibles. I have seen all of the aforementioned movies and loved them all dearly. However, high expectations, though a wonderful thing to have, are a difficult thing to meet. It is in this spirit that I review The Incredibles and find it a good movie, but not a great one and while it is no sin to be good, when you have the amount of talent that this film does behind it, it may be a venial sin not to be great.
As I noted, The Incredibles has a great deal of good working in its' favor. The voice cast, including Coach's Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr, Oscar winning actress Holly Hunter as Bob's wife/Elastigirl, and Wallace Shawn as Bob's boss, is frequently engaging and witty. The premise, of superheroes in hiding from a law-suit happy world, is bitterly funny and very creative. Also, as happens with almost all Disney/Pixar films, there are serious and captivating themes beneath all of the frivolity. Among the topics touched on include the dull sterility of suburban life, the increasing tendency of this world to settle for mediocrity when it could have greatness, and a few moments which subtly, though not condescendingly, touch on the terrorist fears of today. These underlying themes, along with the unusual (for Disney/Pixar) action violence make The Incredibles easily the darkest of the Disney/Pixar collaborations and more, dare I say it, adult-like than any of the aforementioned.
So, that having all been said, what's wrong with it? There isn't much that is exactly wrong with The Incredibles so much as there are things that may be slightly less than right. For one, too often the movie shifts its focus away from its plot and characters in favor of action sequences that, while visually captivating like the rest of the movie, were, on the whole, unnecessary. Additionally, I found the interludes that included Edna Mode, the costume designer to the superheroes (who knew they had their own?) largely annoying, inane, and often incomprehensible.
Even with its flaws, The Incredibles is a movie that is deserving of monetary investment; namely, yours. While it is unfair of me to judge the film against such high, past standards, when you've seen such standards attained and passed by the same people in the past, you can't help a little bit of disappointment. However, that doesn't mean you can't swallow the disappointment and watch for the great things that are at work in The Incredibles.
When your company's track record (Disney/Pixar, in this case) includes the Toy Story movies, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo, it is not unusual that expectations, particularly mine, may be a little high for The Incredibles. I have seen all of the aforementioned movies and loved them all dearly. However, high expectations, though a wonderful thing to have, are a difficult thing to meet. It is in this spirit that I review The Incredibles and find it a good movie, but not a great one and while it is no sin to be good, when you have the amount of talent that this film does behind it, it may be a venial sin not to be great.
As I noted, The Incredibles has a great deal of good working in its' favor. The voice cast, including Coach's Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr, Oscar winning actress Holly Hunter as Bob's wife/Elastigirl, and Wallace Shawn as Bob's boss, is frequently engaging and witty. The premise, of superheroes in hiding from a law-suit happy world, is bitterly funny and very creative. Also, as happens with almost all Disney/Pixar films, there are serious and captivating themes beneath all of the frivolity. Among the topics touched on include the dull sterility of suburban life, the increasing tendency of this world to settle for mediocrity when it could have greatness, and a few moments which subtly, though not condescendingly, touch on the terrorist fears of today. These underlying themes, along with the unusual (for Disney/Pixar) action violence make The Incredibles easily the darkest of the Disney/Pixar collaborations and more, dare I say it, adult-like than any of the aforementioned.
So, that having all been said, what's wrong with it? There isn't much that is exactly wrong with The Incredibles so much as there are things that may be slightly less than right. For one, too often the movie shifts its focus away from its plot and characters in favor of action sequences that, while visually captivating like the rest of the movie, were, on the whole, unnecessary. Additionally, I found the interludes that included Edna Mode, the costume designer to the superheroes (who knew they had their own?) largely annoying, inane, and often incomprehensible.
Even with its flaws, The Incredibles is a movie that is deserving of monetary investment; namely, yours. While it is unfair of me to judge the film against such high, past standards, when you've seen such standards attained and passed by the same people in the past, you can't help a little bit of disappointment. However, that doesn't mean you can't swallow the disappointment and watch for the great things that are at work in The Incredibles.
