The Technology Has EVERYTHING To Do With It

Rating: Null/10 (21 November 2004)

In an age where well-crafted animated full-length films become available at the rate of two to three per year, we find again, in 'The Incredibles', one ostensibly for the ages. Critically acclaimed by nearly all (96% on the Tomatometer), again we pay tribute to the graphic artists and computer marvels generating inarguably clever entertainment. But is this more than a diversion? In other words, are we rating such animated features as 'The Incredibles' a little higher than they might actually merit?
We are a becoming a little less charmed with the onslaught, if you will, of cartoons. This author would like to be as hip as the next, but grading animated features as highly as live action releases might be a slight to the latter, more traditional, forms of film. Recent documentaries ('Fahrenheit 9/11', 'Super Size Me') and mainstream efforts ('Ray', 'The Motorcycle Diaries') are rated similarly (ballpark estimates); can we in fairness agree that an animated adventure might be in the same class? But let us approximate the value here.
The plot involves superheroes (Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, others) having to go underground, having been found by society to offer more peril to a litigious society than we might have conjured, and this is pretty funny fare. Languishing in retirement, Mr. Incredible and superhero-friend Frozone are bored; Mr. Incredible takes action and returns to the exciting life of villain-thwarting he has missed so desperately for fifteen years.
Eventually his wife (the afore-mentioned Elastigirl) and their children are drawn into Mr. Incredible's new life. And we are left with a bit of a warm feeling for how the family pulls together at the end after several adventures allow them to utilize their special skills.
When questioned in a recent interview (http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0411011) director Brad Bird (he of 'Simpsons' fame) makes an interesting comment:
Q: Is it more difficult or easy to direct an animated feature compared to a live-action one?
'I felt that the most important things to a film, no matter what the medium is - whether it's animation or real, are the same elements. It's still about characters that you care about and a plot that involves you emotionally, that is surprising but seems logical when you go back and think about what happened. I think that that is the stuff that dictates whether a film succeeds or fails. The technology has very little to do with it.'
Since Bird has had virtually no hand in anything but animated TV and film, this is a less compelling statement than it might be otherwise. So, let's put animation where it belongs, as even the Academy of Motion Pictures places it: a separate category.
Rating: Three Stars.