Incredibly boring and not up to Parr

Rating: Null/10 (9 November 2004)

What would happen if Superman hung up his cape, gave up his superpowers, and settled down with Lois Lane (or his childhood sweetheart Lana Lang) on the outskirts of Metropolis? For that matter, what kind of life would Batman and Robin have as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, a plain, ordinary gay couple living la vida loca in Gotham City?
That's the kind of question "The Incredibles" sets out to answer -- and fails. This animated film could have been a truly funny satire of married, monogamous (monotonous?), suburban society. Instead, it aims for the lowest common denominator and settles for being a cartoon version of your average "guy movie" -- an action-packed adventure filled with chases and things blowing up all over the place, but no real heart and precious few brains.
The only saving grace in "The Incredibles" is Holly Hunter's spirited voicing of Helen Parr (a.k.a. Elastigirl). Craig T. Nelson, as Bob Parr (alias Mr. Incredible), shows potential but is not allowed to develop it to the fullest. The super-children in this little family -- Dash, Violet and baby Jack -- simply fly under the radar. That's a real shame, because Violet starts out as a teenager faced with the universal adolescent task of fitting in and being liked, especially by a cute boy at school. But her character development is as flat and one-dimensional as a Marvel comic book.
"The Incredibles" should have burned as brightly as Krypton's twin suns. Instead, for me at least, the film simply turned out to be as deadly as a fragment of Kryptonite.