Film Review: The Incredibles

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this film, please go and do so before proceeding.

        Remember whenever Pixar actually was producing ground-breaking, unique movies? The Incredibles is the sixth film produced by the 3D animation studio responsible for stories such Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and UP and is one of my personal favorite movies of all time. This was a huge leap forward for the studio and it is a very ambitious story because, not only are people the main focus, but there are also fight scenes and sci-fi elements and explosions (lots and lots of explosions) to animate.

       Nobody can ever tell me that this was intended to be a kid's film. Just...just no. Did we even watch the same film? Much like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this story touches on some very adult themes. More so even than it touches on anything for kids. Sure Dash struggles with being different from everyone else and Violet wants to work up the courage to talk to the cute boy at school, but that is not the focus of the story. Really, when you look at things, this story is about Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (or Bob and Helen Parr) and their relationship both as superheroes and as parents. People always gush and squee over the couple of Carl and Ellie from the beginning of UP, but I really think that those famous two had their roots in this movie. Why? Well...let's talk about the story.




         In a world not so different from ours, there are a group of people called Supers. Much like the X-Men, these are children who are born with extraordinary and superhuman powers only, unlike in X-Men, the Supers are not feared or ostracized from society. Rather they form a community all of their own and work as a team to keep the world safe from the evils of the dregs of society. They are lauded by the government and supported by the police. Life is good. The movie opens with two famous Supers (Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl) getting married under their secret identities (Bob and Helen). They're young and in love and, hey, they're Supers...what's the worst thing that could happen?!

       Well we find out in a frankly hilarious news montage where Mr. Incredible is sued by a suicidal man for saving him from jumping to his doom. This event, of course, opens the floodgates for dozens of other lawsuits and finally things get so bad that the government initiates something called the Superhero Relocation Program where Supers are stripped of their identities, given jobs, and instructed to live quiet lives as ordinary civilians. This becomes the template that the rest of the film will build its narrative off of.

      I say that this is more a movie for older kids and adults, not because the action is too violent (it's not and it's very obviously animated...early days of CG animation, remember) but because the story is literally just about Mr. Incredible's mid-life crisis, except with the added twist that he is a Super gifted with extreme strength. Bob was never really able to fit in with a quiet civilian life the way his wife worked to assimilate due to the fact that he desperately just wanted to help people and he got dropped at an insurance agency that seemed more concerned about setting up obstacles for the customers than doing right by. By the time the story picks up with him again after the legal montage he is in his late forties, overweight, struggling at a dead-end bottom-of-the-ladder job that he hates, and he has three children who were also born with superpowers and who are struggling to fit in and not feel like freaks. He is tired, frustrated, and feels like nothing in his life is going right. Helen, on the other hand, is steadfastly trying to keep her family afloat and hidden from civilians and criminals alike, worried that Bob is tailspinning, and is having her own struggles. In short, basically think the Bailey family from It's A Wonderful Life, but with superpowers.

       The film is told almost exclusively through the POV's of the two parents, whether it be Bob struggling with his feelings of uselessness and trying to protect his family or Helen trying to support him and yet keep her own life going. They just feel very real. They argue and they fight and they even sometimes lie to each other (with terrible consequences) but in the end they have each other's backs.

          

         This story is also not afraid to go into some very dark places. Comics and superheroes have never been a medium that shies away from prejudice and cause-and-effect (just look at X-Men or Batman, to name two famous examples) but this is a Disney-endorsed movie containing torture, death, the threat of death to even children, a disappointed child who turns into a villain, and the very adult concepts of martial unfaithfulness and the parents grieving/preparing to sacrifice themselves for their kids. Not that children watching this movie will necessarily be oblivious to such things (goodness no) but they're definitely no themes that you normally see showcased in a children's movie. Especially not one under the name of ol' Uncle Walt.

        Take the moment when Syndrome sends off the missiles to take down the jet Helen and Violet and Dash are riding in. He shows absolutely no mercy to the fact that there are children on board, instead laughing and using it against Bob. For one terrible moment, we actually think that Bob's wife and children have died and the film lingers on that, letting us feel the depth of Bob's gut-wrenching guilt and grief. The movie totally goes there and doesn't gloss over. How about Helen's face when she pleads for the life of her children and then leaps towards them, shielding them with her own body? This is one of the films that I can say actually moves me to tears at places and...wow. I am amazed every time with just how intense, scary, and real the danger and action is.

        Helen even explains to her children at one point, using their memories of Saturday morning cartoons to illustrate. "Remember those bad guys on the cartoons you two used to watch on TV? Well these bad guys aren't like those guys. They won't exercise restraint or pity just because you're children. They will kill you if they get the chance. Do NOT give them that chance."

        But for all the dark, adult parts of this film, there is a lot of humor and heart to it as well. The Incredibles is a story that manages to be both a parody of the superhero genre and an excellent, serious story in its own right. Nowhere is this more obviously illustrated than in the character of Syndrome.

          Like all great supervillains, Syndrome has a very interesting back story. He starts off as a rather geeky, awkward kid who is a devoted member of the Mr. Incredible Fan Club named Buddy. He is so devoted, in fact, that he decides it is his destiny to become the Robin to Mr. Incredible's Batman and dubs himself Incrediboy. When he is rejected by his hero, though, Buddy's dreams are crushed and he resolves never again to hold anybody up as a hero because heroes only let you down in the end. Due to the fact that he is an untapped genius scorned, he becomes further obsessed with Mr. Incredible (only with the new goal of bringing him down) and fashions a new identity for himself as Syndrome, Mr. Incredible's nemesis. So Syndrome has a very solid back story and motivation (as well as being slightly insane...like all good supercriminals are) but much as he is a serious threat to Bob and Helen and their lives, Syndrome is also a very self-aware near-parody. (See gif about monologues above...)

        The whole film is like this. Edna Mode (one of the greatest characters ever invented, IMNSHO) makes frequent references to the famous superhero costumes in that she despises the hazards of capes and is always looking for a way to make that spandex both more breathable and machine-washable. There are countless visual gags involving superpowers scattered throughout the film and then we have the crowning glory joke of all jokes involving Frozone (Bob's best friend) and his wife who, come to think of it, we never see on screen and yet she is the character that, for most people, leaves a HUGE impact!

       I love that woman. 'Honey' is definitely someone I would like to see explored a bit more in a minisode or something about Frozone. C'mon, Pixar. You've given Mater how many features? Please could we have this one? Pretty please?

          The Incredibles themselves have a lot of funny scenes, most of which derive from classic everyday family situations that they go through...except with added challenge of superpowers or end-of-the-world missions. A sibling fight at dinner? Made worse by abuse of Quicksilver-like speed and force fields. (Come to think of it, Dash is probably based on The Flash.) A family vacation gone wrong? Try fighting off machine-gun armed forces in a dungeon. The road trip from Hell? Ha. Haha. I think we all know how that one is hilariously ridiculous.

This works because it humanizes this family of superhumans and helps us to relate to their story and characters. They are very real because they're people that we all have met and known (or even we are these people) and as a result we are more easily pulled into their world of supersuits, killer robots, and computer-generated icicles.

        Oh. And Jack Jack scares me. Sure he's cute and all now, but his powers seem to be based on emotion. Just imagine what'll happen whenever this morphing kid hits puberty! Now there's an idea for a sequel! Oh wait, I forgot, the movie already gave us one that PIXAR HASN'T CAPITALIZED ON YET DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT WOULD BE TWO-THOUSAND TIMES BETTER THAN CARS 2!!!!!!

           In my opinion this is one of the best films Pixar has ever produced. The characters are diverse, memorable, and a lot of fun; the story is fun, sad, touching, and both dark and light in places with a wonderful climax; it has a good message about family and loyalty; and the animation still holds up very well today, despite the fact that effects on humans in these type of films tend to show their age very quickly (just look at Andy from Toy Story). It is not a film for very young children as there is quite a bit of violence and adult themes, but it definitely is something that pretty much all ages can enjoy together. Clean, wholesome fun that isn't afraid to go to the dark places of both emotion and human nature while still keeping everything family-friendly and getting across a great moral without feeling preachy or sappy. The Incredibles is a SOLID 5/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?