Absolutely Incredible

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2004)

Wow. This isn't just the best animated movie I've seen in a long time; it's one of the best movies, period. For sheer giddy enjoyment, stunning visuals, engaging characters. When the industry makes films with this much action and special-effects wizardry and a couple of big-name faces up front, they generally don't spend money on niceties like writing and character development. But Pixar, since they have something to prove with their computer-generated actors, has done the hard and loving work to infuse these cartoon characters with a humanity that most big-budget live-action movies don't match. Go see this one. Go see it for:
Visuals. There is a reality to this picture that hasn't been present in previous feature-length CG movies. Hair, foliage, rust, water-all are executed very convincingly. You know these characters aren't human beings, but it's hard to believe that they aren't somehow real.
Acting. The voice work is excellent, particularly Holly Hunter and Craig T. Nelson. The animators have done a great job capturing the subtleties of those performances in the motions of the on-screen avatars. If you saw the ill-fated Final Fantasy movie (of technical interest only, not really for the general public)-these cartoonish characters don't look as real, but they seem much more human.
Bond References. There is an secret lair in this movie the likes of which Dr. No and Blofeld could only dream. Every Bond homage is pitch perfect, and we found ourselves laughing in an otherwise quiet theatre at the wonderful invention of the production design. Hey, we're movie geeks; apparently the others weren't. This movie is worth ten bucks for the modern architecture alone.
Edna Mode. This character is the manic love child of 007's "Q" and Edith Head, and will surely be remembered as one of the great animated characters. She is voiced by the director, Brad Bird.
I know I'm not exactly going our on a limb here; the Tomatometer shows 96% as of this writing. But I wanted to see this movie again as soon as I left the theatre.
Notes: This one is for older kids and adults, as the PG rating indicates.
There are no "outtakes" in the end credits. (Anti-spoiler?)