The best of Pixar's films and that is truly Incredible

Rating: 10/10 (16 May 2006)

When Pixar announced that they'd recruited Brad Bird to direct their new film it was treated with surprise. Sure Bird had been a major part of the Simpsons, he'd been instrumental in creating one of the best recent cartoon features (the Iron Giant) and sure he was a breath of fresh air to the Pixar formula. But why try and fix something that is not only not broken but is positively bursting at the seams with creative energy, commercial viability and critical acclaim? The naysayers, and there were a fair few of them, urged caution and sat back to see if Pixar would make their first misstep after a series of blindingly brilliant films that had knocked their competitor from a perch that had been regarded as impregnable.
Disney's misfortune had been our, the viewing public's, great reward. From their childish cartoons we'd suddenly learnt to appreciate and even prefer other possibilities, most specifically computer generated films. Toy Story had come out of nowhere to deliver a killer blow to Disney's tired remakes and uninspired sequels. Ignoring realism in favour of a fun, flexible world where reality existed but didn't automatically infringe on the entertainment, the geniuses at Pixar created a film that didn't try and reinvent the wheel but gave it such an overhaul that the finished product really did look completely new.
By realising that people don't like computer generated images, particularly of human beings, which always look and move too perfectly for us to ever accept them, Pixar instead showed us a world of cute toys and giant, fairly irrelevant humans. With the voices incredibly well cast and the images sharp enough to impress without trying to blitz us with colour, Toy Story demonstrated just how excellent CG could be, provided it was married to a good story aimed at kids and adults alike. From there Pixar went from strength to strength, both at the box office and in the reviews. So, again, we must ask: why did they seek the change? We may never know exactly what happened. My understanding is that Brad Bird approached Pixar with the story and they offered him the directing stint by way of reflecting how impressed they were. This rings slightly false in that you wouldn't entrust millions of dollars to a screen writer to make a live action film and the money and directorial duties are by no means reduced for 3D animation. Therefore I think that Bird was given the gig for other reasons, most specifically that the Pixar team were worried that their tried and tested formula was becoming too obvious - mismatched buddies must retrieve something/someone precious from a perilous situation. Regardless, employ him they did and The Incredibles was the result.
The Incredibles represents Pixar's best, most adult film and was both a critical and commercial hit with adults and infants alike. It contained all the action and special effects one could wish for, but kept them based around a solid, emotional core of plot, characterisation and witty story telling. Like most, if not all, Pixar films, The Incredibles was designed by adults for adults who were looking to entertain children, rather than by adults looking to exploit children (Disney should take note here and, given that they've recently acquired Pixar, it looks like they've done exactly that). This meant that the film was just as interesting to parents (and uncles) as it was to children, doubling the audience size and making the later, night showings at cinemas just as popular as the daytime ones. In foreign countries, France for example, many of the adults actually ignored the dubbed, local language versions in favour of the original English, for fear of missing some of the brilliant, adult orientated jokes (Bomb Voyage can't possibly have been as amusing in French as he was in English for example).
All this comes from Bird's screenplay and it is from there that The Incredibles bursts forth, ahead of the pack. Bird fused numerous, diverse elements to tell the story of a dysfunctional family of superheroes. Mr. Incredible, Bob Parr, is a former superhero forced into retirement, along with all other super heroes, through legal action , an idea I have long considered given how litigious modern society has become. Bob and his wife Helen, the former heroine Elastigirl, disappear to start a family in suburbia.
After 15 years and three kids Bob is fast approaching a midlife crisis. Other than helping the occasional client dodge the pitfalls in the insurance company he works at the only fun he has is illegal hero work found by listening in on the police radio network with his friend Frozone, another former superhero voiced superbly by Samuel L Jackson. Bob is heading for emotional meltdown when, through an unfortunate series of events, he finds himself approached with an offer for true heroism...
The first half of the film, Bob's emotional emancipation followed by his attempted breakout and its consequences, gives way to the action filled second, which I won't spoil by delving into, save to say that it incorporates more than Bob. There is brilliance a plenty, the jet fight was one of the most tense scenes I've ever experienced, while at no point do you end up seeing action purely for its own sake. Each action has a far more important reaction, not least in terms of emotional growth. Numerous issues are analysed and a very positive message of family, confidence without arrogance and just being there for other people are subtly advocated.
All in all I can't recommend this movie enough, particularly as it may well be the last great Pixar film. With Disney's takeover of the company we now have the bringing together of bland, tasteless, star heavy, plot lite films such as Shrek 2, Shark Tale and the like with the genius of Pixar. We can only hope that the heart and minds of the latter win out.