No Capes !

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2010)

Following bad press and expensive lawsuits, superheroes are forced to give up crime-fighting and live anonymously. Bob Parr, aka Mr Incredible, settles down with his wife Helen, aka Elastigirl, and resigns himself to his new life as a humble insurance clerk. But secretly he yearns to resume his alter ego and save the world from evil once more
Another great movie from the Pixar animation studio, this is a very interesting mix of comic book capers and escapist spy movies, a sort of weird hybrid of James Bond and The Fantastic Four. The talented Bird (who also made The Iron Giant and Ratatouille) turns in a writer-director tour-de-force, with both a sensational, thrilling, funny, satirical story and a visually gobsmacking adventure. We know Mr Incredible is going to answer the call to save the world, but both the identity of his nemesis and the fact that he brings his family with him for the ride are strokes of genius. Even better is the visual treatment of Syndrome's eye-popping villain's lair, a gleaming subterranean fortress built into the side of a waterfall, complete with a high-speed monorail and a secret control room hidden behind a wall of lava. Michael Giacchino's giddy overblown orchestral music recalls the great adventure scores of John Barry or Jerry Goldsmith, and is a perfect accompaniment to the crazy frenetic action as Syndrome's minions pursue Dash across the surface of a crystal-blue lake. The entire voice cast are terrific, with Nelson striking just the right tone of dramatic pathos, Jackson supercool as the stylish Frozone, Lee adding a second great villain to his canon (the other being Azrael in Dogma) and Peña a sultry showstopper as the glamorous, green-eyed but ultimately good-hearted Mirage. Even Bird himself gets in on the act with an androgynous voice-over as the crazed midget fashion designer Edna Mode (who looks like the legendary Hollywood costumier Edith Head). As always, Pixar understand that great characters and great stories are what make great movies, and then overlay that with fabulous artistry, technology and style. Here is a film which entertains anyone, no matter what their age or background. All you need is an imagination.