PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 11/05/04)


Bearing in mind how politically divided the country has proven to be, it’s as amazing as Spider-Man that Pixar’s latest animated film and soon-to-be box office juggernaut preaches post-9/11 family values to conservatives while appeasing liberals with ideas of tolerance and social activism.  Not that The Incredibles is trying to be overtly political, and any bipartisan appeal that this fantastically fun flick holds is well within the spectrum-scaling model that Pixar stole from Muppet-master Jim Henson: let it be palpably cute for kids, subtly smart for adults.  Here, it’s a hilariously spot-on spoof that melds the superhero-family of Spy Kids with Alan Moore’s seminal postmodern graphic-novel of has-been heroes, The Watchmen.  A clever combo, no doubt, but what The Incredibles most lacks (acknowledging its technical perfection down to the lighting, pacing and hair follicles!) is the magical human-realism that allowed writer-director Brad Bird’s last project—the vastly underrated The Iron Giant—to emotionally transcend the second dimension.

Insurance office drone Bob Parr (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) used to be high-profile, alpha-hero Mr. Incredible until a string of litigious assaults rendered all the super-people into retirement, or worse, government relocation.  His wife Helen, formerly the stretchy-limbed Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), has adapted to banal suburban living fifteen years later, but besides, she’s now a mother of three.  Demure teenage daughter Violet can—ironically—turn invisible, hyperactive Dash runs at hyperspeed, and baby Jack-Jack will predictably impress us at the eleventh hour, but "normal" they must live, and powers are parentally prohibited.  So why does a bored Bob sneak out at night with buddy Lucius a/k/a Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson as a rather useless, demographic-pleasing sidekick), searching the police scanner for crimes to fight?  And when Bob’s vigilantism turns into a top-secret assignment on an exotic island, will his family come out of the superpower closet after he’s kidnapped by Syndrome (Jason Lee, the funniest of the bunch)?  Without ruining the intricate plotting that keeps The Incredibles flying faster than a speeding piece of blockbuster mediocrity, be aware that after a year of polemical documentaries, even escapist entertainment this clinically zip-bam-wow should soothe your political burnout.

—Aaron Hillis