Enjoyable mix of superhero and spy tropes

Rating: Null/10 (3 October 2018)

With this film Brad Bird brings something interesting into the superhero craze. He takes the normal superhero norm (secret identities, superpowers, supervillain etc.), and combines it with the spy aesthetic of the early James Bond films. And why not? The stories, the covert operations, the code names and all that feel very much at home in both genres and they mix together almost seamlessly.
Bird's approach is also interesting in that he focuses rather heavily on family dynamics. And just how similar and familiar they feel despite the whole family having superpowers. Quite honestly it makes them more human than any X-Men film has ever managed. Not because their struggles are so similar, so humane in nature. But because they are human, plain and simple.
Not that the film doesn't work in any other way. Far from it. It's a beautifully - really beautifully, in fact - animated adventure film with great characters, great villains, great locations and all that jazz. I especially love the use of colour in the film. Every single frame makes me love the 60s aesthetic even more.
If I had to nitpick, I perhaps could say that the villain is perhaps a bit too goofy. He manages to be menacing when he needs to, which is not something every goofy villain can say, but there still a couple of scenes where his performance doesn't quite flow. At least for me.
Still, one of the better Pixar films to date and certainly one of the more unique superhero films our there. Certainly worth a watch.