Cynical, Mean Spirited, and That's Why Its Great

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2013)

This is not your average Pixar movie. This is the kind of film Pixar originally intended to make. For those of you do not know one of the reasons Pixar was created was to make more "Edgy" films that Disney would not approve of. If you do not believe me watch one of the many documentaries about the origins of Pixar or look at the origin animation tests for Toy Story. The problem that lead Pixar to not go down the "Edgy" rout was that they felt they could not strike a balance between being Edgy and kid-friendly. With this film they found that balance. At its core this film share a lot of themes with Alan Moore's Watchmen and both feature a society that rejects superheros. This is notable because of it sets it apart from the other Pixar films as it is one of the only ones with strictly adult themes unlike say Finding Nemo which is has mostly universal themes.
While I enjoy most of Pixar's films I have always felt that their claims of not being as Saccharin as Disney are very overstated. That is until I saw this film. I was immediately taken aback by how Cynical this movie was and just how un-Disney it was. There is no way that a film like this could ever come out of Disney studios. In addition to being a radical change of pace for Pixar this film also mark a new sophistication in Pixar's writing and animation.For the first the characters in their films felt like real people and ciphers to do physical comedy and state the films themes. This likely is the only Pixar film that would work as Live-Action film for adults. While it does not have the heart of Toy Story or the wonder of Finding Nemo it more than makes up for it with it amazing animation, excellent writing, and and great voice acting.