Bird veers more towards an audience of infants as pained formula and the drawn out unravelling of messages are the order of the day.

Rating: 4/10 (31 July 2010)

The title of the 2004 animated, American, child orientated film The Incredibles is wholly ironic. Lauded by critics and audiences on release, presumably for being yet another feature animated film to have come out of the American stable of CGI infused pieces, the likes of which for some reason everyone feels the need to jump to both the defence and lauding of as quickly as possible, The Incredibles leaves a lot to be desired as it weaves its way down a plodding road to an uninspired finale of crashing; hitting and farce. Where Brad Bird's previous film, 1999's The Iron Giant was sombre; sweet and mature in its observing of a friendship between boy and machine, The Incredibles is loud; in-your-face; obnoxious and a gross muddle of cross-contaminated child and adult orientated material which does not work. The film is dull; plodding; limp; lacking in imagination despite the sorts of ideas it takes on; predictable and without a mite of peril nor interest.
Bird plays too many cards at once, he ruins the omelet with too many eggs; his film studying the progressive, domesticated lives of two superheroes of 15 years ago whom have gone into hiding despite still having wondrous superpowers before having them branch back out into a life-saving lifestyle once more. They are husband and wife Mr. Incredible aka Bob Parr (Nelson), an Hulk-like figure whom is incredibly strong and can withstand almost anything and Elastigirl aka Helen Parr (Hunter), a Stretch Armstrong-style character whom can extend her limbs to great length as well as bend and flex her way around mostly all obstacles. Incedible lives a mundane office life with an insurance company, longing for days of old but stuck with his wife and three kids Dash (Fox); Violet (Vowell) and baby Jack Jack in a detached suburban house with a car that conks out just as he's about to get home. The family is dysfunctional, but powerful; Incredible goes through an identity crisis in what he wants to be clashing with what his wife wants him to be and what the public want them all to be; they are the light of one another's respective lives just as they are one another's deathly foils.
By way of a mysterious gadget, Mr. Incredible is lured back into the world of superhero-dom with the promise of a top secret mission; his home based office-come-hideaway shrine for the days of old shedding the dull grey shade it carries and lighting up with a brilliant shade of red in the process. His life is changed, and a bad montage robs the audience of his character's development as his attitude to life begins to alter in what is a cheap way of skipping forward towards the formula rather than focus on observed character change. Where The Iron Giant was all about these intricacies, The Incredibles isn't. The film has fun with the parents telling each other that days of old have gone, and that raising the kids is what ought to be occupying both their minds; something specific watching audience members will relate to more than I did as office politics and what's right for the people and the company clash at another time; the film even finding time to have Elastigirl suspect husband Mr. Incredible of having an affair in what is another suburban drama cliché included that only appears as a self-aware jab but is actually played for dramatic effect. The opening plods, it churns along at a rather excruciating pace; devoid of much interest and coming across as quite repetitive.
Bird wants to play the revisionist card, beginning the film with a newsreel detailing interviews with Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and a token African American character in Samuel L. Jackson's Frozone whom acts as the film's comic relief. Jackson has one good scene, the film's sole laugh, during which he sends up a subway sequence from the second Die Hard sequel here involving a water dispenser at a jewellers. The interviews see the characters plead to be considered as equal to human beings, each individual covered detailing everyday lives and activities. Later on, one or so characters make light of 'monologuing'; the act which sees the bad guy waffle on before having the hero get the jump on him. For all the self-aware, self-reflective material such as this; The Incredibles is deathly quick to conform, indeed descend into, rock 'em-sock 'em action as tales of good vs. evil and plots to take over the world with showdowns at baddie bases which come complete with greyed out uniform clad henchmen play out.
As estimated, things don't go according to plan and the ill effects of idolising someone is promptly brought to the forefront in the form of Buddy Pine's alter-ego Syndrome, someone whom isn't actually a superhero but is just a kid with a qualification in design technology in that he's invented an array of gadgets to help form a superhero persona. The film descends into dull formula, Elastigirl and the kids having to come to eventually rescue their husband and father after visiting a Central European mentor whom provides ready made hero outfits and advice, people are quick to point out 'monologing', but nobody ever asks if eye-masks are really that good in terms of concealing identity. The film's painfully obvious message about responsibility on the kid's behalf is put across limply as the henchman of the villain begins to succumb to their own conscience and come around to aid the heroes in what is an arc that, if you cannot see coming, you just aren't at all trying. Its tone towards the end is grossly uneven, skipping from sentimental to action packed to comedic content in an uneven manner; the banter between mother and kids is annoying and whiny, when it ought to be bouncy in the vein of the two leads from Toy Story or Monsters Inc. The Incredibles was a turgid, predictable, messy farce that bores the senses.