Pixar bats another one out of the park.

Rating: 8/10 (18 September 2008)

The Incredibles is a fun little film when you watch it; interesting, kind of engaging, but nothing terribly special; it's doesn't reach out and grab hold of your throat and slap you around the room with its greatness the way Monsters, Inc. does. It's only later, when you've reflected on the little details for a while, that you come to realize how much of this film is simply, as the kids say these days, made of awesome. Bird, one of the better directors in the Pixar stable, filled this sucker chock-full of fun in-jokes for the adults whilst keeping the action coming for the kiddies. In this installment of the great Pixar dynasty, Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) has been forced into retirement after a rescue gone terribly wrong in the opening scenes. Mundane life is, shall we say, not treating him terribly well. He and his wife, the former Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), have moved to the suburbs and are trying to raise their family-- all of whom, as it turns out, seem to have inherited superpowers from their parents-- in relative obscurity. The most superhero-like thing Mr. Incredible does is get together with his old pal Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) and talk over old times. Until, that is, he receives a secret message saying that his powers are needed... It's a fun movie, the kind of thing you expect from Pixar-- lots of action, witty dialogue, visual gags, a good time to be had by all. You'll enjoy it. But then, go and read the trivia page over at IMDb and marvel at the number of in-jokes in this movie. There are homages to what seems like every superhero comic, every movie any of these actors has ever worked in, every member of the crew. And none of them interferes with the movie's plot or pacing. That's brilliant. Either Bird is the world's biggest geek and had this entire thing cast before he started writing, or his eye for detail is unparalleled. (Or both.) It's the technical equivalent of the emotional punch of Monsters, Inc., and what makes it great is trying to think of another studio that could have cranked those two movies out back-to-back-- and not being able to come up with one.