Absolutely incredible

Rating: 10/10 (31 May 2005)

Pixar rewrote the rule book for animation in 1995 with Toy Story and, less than a decade later, it has done it again. Toy Story, with its combination of wit and star-quality voice acting, was as entertaining for adults as it was for children. It made previous kings of the genre, like Aladdin, look dated.
The Incredibles has made another critical advance: animation can be cinematic as well as cartoonish.
Some films, such as Shark Tale or Madagascar, fall back on celebrity or madcap action as a substitute for plot or characterisation. Adult humour is inserted, but it is discrete from the children's jokes and adds no wit or depth.
Not so with The Incredibles, which has the self-confidence to combine an anti-politically correct message - that not everyone is special - with a structure that intersperses action with comedy and drama. The idea that ex-superheroes reminisce about their glory days while hanging out in a car listening to police radio chatter is as wonderful as the notion that there is one fashion designer responsible for all superhero outfits, and who hates capes because they are a safety hazard. "I never look back, darling," she admonishes Mr Incredible. "It distracts from the now."
And when the action scenes do come, they are better than anything you've seen before. The first time I saw this film I had to stand up at the back of the cinema because some creep had taken my seat. I was so captivated that I simply forgot the discomfort of standing for an hour and 45 minutes.
Brad Bird is a visionary. An amazing director, writer, and even a scene stealer as the voice for the fashion designer Edna Mode. The Incredibles succeeds not only as an animation, but as a comedy, a drama and an action film. It will be some time before we see its equal.