Works for adults just as it works for kids

Rating: Null/10 (2 February 2005)

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
Mr Incredible (Craig T Nelson) battles to save the day as a super-hero,with his counterparts Elastagirl (Holly Hunter) and Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson).However,suddenly,following a circulation of bad press whipped up by the media for superheroes,he and his crime-fighting friends become prohibited from performing their everyday noble duties.Many years later,Mr Incredible is married to Elastagirl and they live life together with their two children as a normal suburban family.However,it is a mundane existence for both of them,and,when Mr Incredible is offered the chance to step back into his superhero suit for the good of humanity,he jumps at it.However,the stress call is being called by an old face to him who he had an inadvertent hand in corrupting.Therefore driven by a personal need of responsibility to save the day,Mr Incredible races back into action...
Pixar Animation have a wonderful talent for taking animated features that would appear primarily aimed at kids and making them perfectly enjoyable entertainment for adults as well,dating back,as far as I can remember,to 1996's Toy Story.And this latest colourful effort is absolutely no exception.It's very admirable in today's filmic climate,where a U certificate appears as rare as an arora boralis,how they can craft an engaging story with snappy,clever dialogue without resorting to gimmicks such as bad language and gratuitously nasty,Manga style violence.But here,certainly,they have pulled the trick off with definite aplomb.It's just as much fun to watch as an adult as it would be to a kid.
It's served well by another wise running time (very short!) and some nice in-jokes (primarily aimed at the recent Spider-Man franchise.)In fact,the movie manages to catch the spit-and-polish of the superhero movie and serve as a simultaneous parody and homage to the genre.
Another anomoly for me is sexy animated movie characters,a la Betty Boo,Dr Blight,and Stripperella fits perfectly into this category,with a sexy little strut to her and Hunter's sassy vocals adding sex appeal.Elsewhere,Nelson provides a solid lead and Jackson manages some laughs in the 'comedy-black-guy' role.
It's not quite on a par with the brilliant original Toy Story but it beats the most recent effort Finding Nemo and will certainly stay in the memory for awhile after you've seen it.*****