The Incredibly Mediocre Movie..

Rating: 6/10 (24 November 2004)

Don't get me wrong...it has its moments. But they are few and far between in this film.
The decision to make the story more "real" by having the superheroes portrayed as an ordinary family with ordinary family problems went a long way to disappoint me, even though I had expected this from reviews. To me "ordinary" and "super" are two words that should never get mixed together. I appreciate the movie's thought that, if everyone had superpowers, then everyone would be ordinary, but come on. I want to be entertained, not run through an updated episode of The Flintstones.
Another nail in the coffin for this one was the hype. Once again, the movie moguls hype up a film, raising our expectations to silly levels. How can we be anything but disappointed with the reality?
If you compare this movie to the likes of Toy Story or Finding Nemo it doesn't even come close to being in the same league.
Unlike those movies, where a bit of affectionate scene plagiarism was appreciated for what it was, The Incredibles just annoyed the Hell out of me with its "Return of the Jedi" jungle chase scene. A quick flit through the jungle with the hero being chased by the bad guys - just long enough for you to realize it for what it was - would have been fine. But no. They had to drag the scene out for minute after minute, adding in all the scenes from the RoTJ chase, such as the enemy drawing alongside, the swinging from the vines etc. until you were sick of it and praying it would end.
There are some good ideas, but on the whole the film doesn't get my thumbs up of approval. Once again, partly the hype to blame, but also mostly because it's not that good.