Article on the Incredibles

[Sarangel]

From the Riverfront Times:

Since its initial publication in 1986, myriad filmmakers have attempted in vain to film Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic book Watchmen, in which costumed superheroes have been outlawed and are being summarily exiled and executed by an unknown baddie. At the moment Darren Aronofsky (Pi) is set to direct a screenplay by X-Men scribe David Hayter for release next year, but no one has yet been cast; doubtful it will arrive on time, or at all. But perhaps there is no need for a Watchmen movie at this late date -- not when Pixar, of all places, now offers its own Technicolor take on the bleak superhero tale: The Incredibles, the darkest feel-good fable thus far spun by the makers of toy stories and fish tales aimed at kiddies who play with dolls and the parents who buy them.
The Incredibles, written and directed by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, a masterpiece without the box-office to show for it), is a hybrid of several sources: James Bond movies, the angst-ridden pop-camp comics of 1960s Marvel (especially The Fantastic Four, a forthcoming movie now also rendered moot), the Spy Kids movies and Saturday-morning cartoons starring superfriends and other costumed hangers-on. But its main influence would appear to be Watchmen, among the first comics to wonder about the private, and often troubled, lives of heroes once they shed their Spandex skins and resume their secret identities. They rendered the myths almost mortal -- flawed, troubled humans who became heroes not because they were noble or generous but merely because they liked to flex their muscles. (Or they were megalomaniacs. Or just plain nuts.) Still, they talked like us, bled like us and loved like us, and you could almost imagine these heroes as next-door neighbors going off to their day jobs, which often involved saving the world from Armageddon.

In The Incredibles, that's precisely what they are: Bob Parr (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) is little more than an insurance salesman helping poor clients leap through loopholes in their restrictive contracts; you're in really good -- and really strong -- hands with this guy. Bob used to be known as the invincible Mr. Incredible -- until the government outlawed superheroes when the public turned on them, damning them as nuisances. Bob and his wife Helen, once known as Elastigirl (and voiced by Holly Hunter), have gone into the superhero relocation program, along with their speedster son Dash (Spencer Fox) and disappearing daughter Violet (NPR commentator Sarah Vowell). Among the other banished heroes is Lucius Best, a.k.a. Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), the coolest of all heroes, with the ability to freeze anything so long as there's moisture in the air.

Bob, his hair receding and his gut expanding, is itching to get back in the hero biz; he'd rather punch villains than clocks. He and Lucius have even taken to surreptitiously listening to a police scanner, in search of late-night adventures denied them. This doesn't sit well with Helen, who's stretched thin, as it were, trying to pretend hers is a normal family. "Reliving the glory days is better than pretending they didn't happen at all," Bob shouts at Helen after one of their myriad arguments. When there are no bad guys left to fight, Bob and Helen do battle with each other, and it's to Bird's estimable credit that in his second animated feature he doesn't reduce the Parrs to cartoon characters. Their disappointments are familiar; so, too, are their longings to be seen as something more special than suburban statistics.

Bob, whose home office is decorated from floor to ceiling with remnants and reminders of his crime-fighting days, is rescued from his funk by an invitation to once again don the super-suit to destroy a rampaging robot. He's born again with the chance to use his powers -- so much so that Helen starts to believe Bob's having an affair, given his newfound smile and penchant for disappearing at odd hours. But as it turns out, Bob is being set up by a new villain who was once an old acolyte: a creep named Syndrome (Jason Lee), who once idolized Mr. Incredible but was sent packing by the hero, who claimed he preferred to work alone. Syndrome has been killing off heroes, working his way toward Mr. Incredible to settle an old score; even better if he gets the chance to off Bob's super-family, too.

This is all grim, grownup stuff, but Bird keeps it from sinking in the depressing muck. He prefers the sweet to the sour, as evidenced in The Iron Giant, about a lonely little boy finding a father figure in a kindly 100-foot-tall robot from outer space. Bob easily fits in the Pixar pantheon of would-be daddies trying to find the time for family; he's Sulley from Monsters Inc. or Marlin from Finding Nemo, one more lovable lunk looking out for his children in a terrifying world. Yes, yes -- The Incredibles is beautiful to look at, but it's even more lovely beneath the computer-generated surfaces. Bird's is just a different kind of fairy tale, one with its roots in the modern-day comic book, in which the invincible can be hurt and the super are just ordinary after all.

 

[Sarangel]

And here's one from Rolling Stone:

It's not every animated movie that deals with midlife crisis, marital dysfunction, child neglect, impotence fears, fashion faux pas and existential angst. But The Incredibles -- the latest in the line of miracles from Pixar (A Bug's Life, Toy Story 1 and 2, Finding Nemo) -- is not like any animated movie you've ever seen. While delivering the goods as a rip-roaring action-adventure and in the process rocketing the art of animation to new heights of imagination, humor and wonder, director-writer Brad Bird has crafted a film that breaks fresh ground and defies fogy rules. For starters, there's no talking fish, insects or toys. Bird -- who cut his satirical teeth working on The Simpsons and the criminally underseen 1999 feature The Iron Giant -- animates human beings.
Take Mr. Incredible, voiced with beleaguered bluster by Craig T. Nelson. This legend in spandex is so busy rushing to rescue people that he brushes off a kid fan who later becomes his archnemesis, Syndrome (Jason Lee never loses the hurt-boy tremor in the rage that pours out of this adult psycho -- he's one holy terror of a villain).

The plot thickens when Mr. Incredible, besieged by frivolous lawsuits from people who claim they never wanted to be rescued, enters a superhero-protection program. As Bob Parr, he hangs up his tights, becomes a suburban slob and relives his glory days with Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson in great, gritty voice), another rejected paragon.

Bob feels fat, unsexy and too beat to parent. Only wife Helen -- the former Elastigirl (Holly Hunter's vocal turn is a marvel of feisty comic nuance) -- tries to fit in. Faking who they are puts pressure on the Parr kids, and they give Mom and Dad hell for it. The baby just bawls. But teen daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell) hates hiding her ability to be invisible. And son Dash (Spencer Fox) itches to use his gift for supervelocity.

The situation is primed to explode -- and does it ever. When Mr. Incredible squeezes into costume and sneaks into service to save the world from Syndrome's weapons of mass destruction, The Incredibles takes off like a comic book on speed. The setup may try the patience of the very young, but Bird's insistence on getting us into the heads of this family pays off when the action starts up. Suddenly it's James Bond, Indiana Jones and the X-Men all rolled into one kick-out-the-jams spectacle.

Don't let anyone spoil the fun of what happens when Mr. Incredible is held captive on Syndrome's island and his family must suit up to rescue him. Just get psyched for the surprises that cannonball at you from every direction. Amid the dazzle, Bird also makes time for jokes that are smart and sidesplitting. Hold on for short, sassy ball of fire Edna Mode (Bird does her voice, hilariously), the guru of fashion insults who designs indestructible costumes that would drive Q, the old boy from the 007 films, back to his outmoded drawing board.

Skeptics say The Incredibles is too long at two hours and too PG-dark for the coddled general audience. This makes no sense, because there's no better expression of family values and fears onscreen right now. By building the family bond into the DNA of his story, Bird has crafted a film -- one of the year's best -- that doesn't ring cartoonish, it rings true.

 

[dcentity2000]

I would not be all that amazed if this unseats Shrek 2. The hype surrounding this is so thick you could cut it with a knife! Anyone who needs the lowdown, go to Apple's Trailer page or download Apple's iTunes and watch the new trailer in there.

By the looks of it, this is shaping up to be the best yet.

On top of this, The Incredibles 2 is an easy possibility - the concept is just so flexible and Pixar have pretty much pinned it down.

Anyone doubting that Pixar can hold on to it's crown should remember that the CEO has also ousted Sony's Walkman in favour of the iPod (and more recently Sony's new iPod clone by adding, two days after its launch, full colour photo viewing to the iPod) as well as crushing Microsoft's musical ambitions - the iTunes music store is the biggest of them all, is available globally, has sold hundreds of millions of tracks, holds over 70% of the market share (probably over 80%, I'm being prudent) and hosts the exclusive new album by U2, adding $2bn US to Apple's share price.

Pixar is here to stay and it isn't about to lose the crown to a company that made Shark Tale.



Rich::

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by dcentity2000
I would not be all that amazed if this unseats Shrek 2.

It @#$%^& well better beat Shrek2! I don't really have anything against Dreamworks, but I could never see why people got so excited about either Shrek movie. Shrek was at least coherent, but Shrek2 played like it didn't even have a director or a script -- they just used every idea that came into their heads.

And the promos for SharkTales left me so cold I didn't even go to watch it with the rest of my family.

 

[Cricket2]

I'm going to predict that Ipods are gone in 3 years or less in favor of pocket sat radios. They are debuting this year and should be affordable within 2.

This is an XM unit with a reported 5 hour PAR capability (think TIVO for radio).

MyFi