Movie Reviews
Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) is saver of the day quite a bit in the city. But he’s getting sick of saving someone and then having something else bad happening that he has to right. After doing three or four remarkable stunts of courage, he, along with many in the superhero world, are being sued for side effect damages resulting from their acts. They are forced to give up the superhero lifestyle and live amongst regular human beings.
So, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) marry and become Bob and Helen Parr, with three kids, Violet, Dashiell, and Jack Jack. All of them have some form of superpowers, but all are required to keep the, at bay. It’s Bob and an old hero-friend Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) that break that code by going out “bowling”. Although they tell their wives that that is what they’re doing, when in reality they are actually parked in a dark alleyway hoping to here that someone is in danger on the police scanner.
The grandeurs of being Mr. Incredible almost haunt Bob when Mirage (Elizabeth Pena) challenges him to come with her to a laboratory in a distant island to test out a new robot. The testing consists of fighting it, which he proves successful in. But there are other things happening on this island that seem a bit fishy. The prospects, however, of being the good old superhero keep him there: even away from his wife, who thinks he is on a business trip.
The plot thickens in a way that is unexpected and truly entertaining. Bird has the confidence to let his characters do what is natural, even if they are in fact animated characters. He has the creativity of transcending this into a larger-than-life, visual spectacle for little ones. It seems the little ones have been the ones neglected lately. I mean, really, would you take a toddler to see “Shrek” and expect it to laugh at any of the jokes? They may enjoy it, but not to the extent that they would watching “The Incredibles” because this is a film that is so much fun to watch all by itself.
Pixar and Disney have spawned a new genre. The animation title has been here since “Snow White”, but in 1995 when “Toy Story” took us by storm it became something new and something better. Of the Pixar movies, this is one of the best, if not the best. And this is something that is so fun, and so smart, and so appropriate, that the entire family can see this and every single one will have a truly good time at the movies. *** ˝