A mediocre celebration of... mediocrity

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2006)

Fifteen years ago Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl were at the top of their game, saving the world and being celebrated as heroes by the public. Today they lead ordinary lives under new identities in Suburbia: Bob and Helen Parr, with three kids. The family go to great lengths to hide their superhero powers but once a week Bob sneaks out with his friend to look for some action to provide stimuli in his mundane life. When one day he is offered a secret superhero job, he cannot resist the temptation...
First, let me debunk the myth that this is a great animated movie as the outrageous 8.3 rating here boldly suggests. It undoubtedly lacks that sparkle in the eye and it never once reaches the level of hilarity that Blue Skye Studios or DreamWorks Studios offer. As it is a Disney production, expect family morals and heartfelt messages en masse to compensate for the lack of clever things to say. That said, the superhero genre was in dire need of spoofing  Spider-Man most of all  and The Incredibles does a fine job in this aspect. From the villain's mandatory monologue, the burning house to the mad scientists, nothing feels missing or incomplete in the genre.
Considerably more things feel incomplete in terms of characters and humour, however. Because they are humans and most of them lack 'assigned quirks' (such as Scrat from Ice Age, or one of the Aquarium fish from Finding Nemo), the characters in the film are completely straight and realistic. Bob, for example, is a middle-aged insurance worker with an expanding waistline and a limited intellect  your average Joe in every sense of the word  it follows then that no amount of flashy superhero powers (which he lacks, even, he only possesses strength) manage to elevate him above generic formula. It is glaringly obvious that the filmmakers, for this reason, expected the audience to identity more with 'Suburbian Superheroes' which would be cool and all, had the audience been middle-aged family men. But it is primarily kids and kids do not typically seek realism.
Yet it needs to be said that for all its failures in fun and interesting characters, 'The Incredibles' is a fine film that is perhaps even better sewn together than your average animated comedy. The plot unfolds like a James Bond movie and is appropriately accompanied by a Bond-like musical score. It is an amalgam of a spy-movie, a comic-book flick and a Hallmark family feature. All the ingredients are present for the aforementioned templates and it is mixed by a fully competent blender and sprinkled with impeccable animation and special effects. But ultimately, without any well-placed comedy or bouts of quirky absurdity, the film is a mediocre celebration of mediocrity.
6 out of 10