More Animated Than Most: The Incredibles is a Super Story

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2005)

More Animated Than Most: The Incredibles is a Super Story By Shane Shellenbarger
If you haven't seen The Incredibles in a theater by now don't be disheartened. As of this writing, the movie about a very above-par family of superheroes is still playing at twenty-two theaters in and around the Phoenix Metro area. Granted, it moved from the largest screen at Harkins Metro where I saw it on November 6th to the smallest screen at the same theater when I saw it on December 23rd, but it was every bit as enjoyable during the second viewing.
The Incredibles is proceed by the western short tale, Boundin', an allegorical of a lamb, a jack-a-lope, and ridiculing prairie dogs. While I didn't care for the character design, and the story didn't have the depth of Red's Dream or the ending poke in the funny-bone of Tin Toy or Knick Knack, Boundin' is still a delight for children of most ages.
When The Incredibles begins, we're treated to what appears to be an old interview of Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), at first fumbling with his microphone and then bemoaning the tendency toward chaos and entropy. "I just cleaned up this mess," he says. Then we move to current times where we find a very busy series of events to complicate Mr. Incredible's day: A bank robbery, a cat stuck in a tree (these events become linked), an over-achieving fan-boy, a holdup followed by an unexpected assist from another Super, a foiled suicide, an coincidental encounter with a super villain, a second (and portentous) encounter with Buddy(Jason Lee), the fan-boy, culminating in a late arrival at his own wedding! An amazing first few minutes. But, marital bliss is not to be Mr. Incredibles fate. He and all of the other super powered peoples must soon stop their aid to the common good. Are the Supers brought down by alien creatures, bent on subjugating mankind? Has a plague robbed the Supers of their powers and abilities? Alas, the greatest examples of mental and physical perfection the world has ever known are defeated by lawyers. Sued by the man who sought suicide as a solution to his woes, Mr. Incredible hangs up his super-suit, a hero no more. Soon, the government places all of the Supers in a form of the witness protection program, calming the lawsuit-mania and forcing anonymity on the former heroes.
Flash forward fifteen years. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, now known only as Bob and Helen Parr (voiced by Holly Hunter), their children, Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dashell (Spencer Fox), and Jack Jack (Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews), live quiet lives in suburbia. Unbeknownst to his family, Bob is living a quiet life of desperation. He can't stomach that the insurance company for which he works is more concerned about the quarterly profit statement than it is about the ruined lives of customers whose claims they constantly deny. One day, Bob snaps, puts his boss, Gilbert Huph (voiced by Wallace Shawn, but looking like a diminutive William H. Macy) in the hospital, loses his job, and risks revealing his superpowers and forcing a relocation on his family. Just as he is about to confess his dire state to his wife, Bob discovers a mysterious envelope containing an invitation to be a hero once more and the promise of financial freedom for Bob and his family. Little does Bob know, but his life and the lives of all of the Supers will be forever changed by what he does next. To find out what happens next race to your local theater now!
I found this movie a delight, one of the most entertaining films of 2004, and I can hardly contain myself waiting for the DVD release and the hoped for extras disc. With an estimated cost of $92,000,000.00 and a gross of $251,657,004 as of January 2nd, 2005, The Incredibles is a solid hit doing incredibly well. Just imagine the DVD sales.