Bob Parr has given up his superhero days to log in time as an insurance adjuster and raise his three children with his formerly heroic wife in suburbia. But when he receives a mysterious assignment...
“We’re superheroes, what could happen?” Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) smugly asks his bride, Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter). The answer? A lot. A lot can happen to superheroes apparently, everything from getting sued to their house blowing up. From those opening vows we are taken on an action-packed adventure with a family that challenges all our preconceptions about superheros. There are countless superhero movies thrown at us year after year, and rarely is anything new brought to the table. While Pixar brought their take on the sci-fi genre with 2008’s “Wall-E”, “The Incredibles” is their refreshing variation on the much-imitated superhero formula.
“The Incredibles” is in the running for the best superhero movie of all time. Okay, if you don’t agree, you can’t deny it’s surely a top candidate (my personal winner) for the best Pixar movie. All 20 Pixar movies have thoroughly ironic plots, but in my opinion, none is more clever than the one we experience here: superheroes mired in the drudgery of civilian life; they get sued, they have midlife crises, they have “very loud discussions” about their family life — all things that we ordinary human beings go through. Pixar does not shy away from how unsatisfied Bob is with his life, how hard Helen works to keep the family intact, how insecure Violet (Sarah Vowell) is, and from Dash’s (Spencer Fox) prideful pre-teen ambition. “The Incredibles” expertly does what many films fail miserably at: it makes spectacular, lofty characters extremely relatable.
But the irony does not stop there. It keeps challenging the superhero genre by poking fun at its many clichés and trends; two prime examples of this are the repeated joke on how villains always start giving long, unecessary monologues when they can just wipe out the hero with one button — Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) and Incredible burst into laughter when reminiscing on this — and Edna’s unforgettable “no capes!” soliloquy. Not only that, but just the fact that we see a chubby Mr. Incredible suffer a mid-life crisis is a hilarious contrast to the common, extremely-ripped superhero figure.
“The Incredibles” is the epitome of Pixar’s ingenious storytelling and their expert filmmaking. It is never hard to enjoy a fast-paced fight scene here because you can easily keep track of everything that is going on (difficult for many action movies today). With classy 1960’s looks and a jazzy score, it exudes the fun vibe that was tragically missing in the cheesy superhero movies of that decade. Never forget: before “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” (both 2008) revolutionized the superhero genre by making it…good, “The Incredibles” had already shown us just how entertaining it can be.
Even though all the Pixar films are spectacular, many are not so easy to rewatch. For example, as great as “Wall-E” and “Up” are, a decent amount of time must pass before I can watch and thoroughly enjoy them again. Not so with “The Incredibles”. What makes it such a joy to rewatch is how many classic scenes are tightly strung together so that you are never, ever bored no matter how many times you see it; it’s unbelievably fun to watch superheroes casually use their powers in everyday life (like when Mr. Incredible lifts a couch so Elastigirl can vacuum underneath), and it’s memorable moments like the opening car chase, the hilarious family dinner, the stunning “100 Mile Dash” sequence, and of course, every Edna Mode scene, that made this last for 14 years and will surely hold it up for many more.
In all this, “The Incredibles” never loses track of the journey every character is on. Mr. Incredible begins the story undervaluing his family and moody because he longs for the glory days, but later— in the most heartfelt scene — confesses that he is (ironically) not “strong enough” to lose his family. It’s said that a superhero movie is only as good as its villain, and I heartily agree. Here, we have Syndrome (Jason Lee) who is mainly after petty revenge — perfectly believable considering the kind of encounter he had with Mr. Incredible when he was a kid; Syndrome ends up being the foil that makes Incredible see how selfish he has been from the start, something all good villains should be written to do to their heroes. Rarely do we see such a complete character arc in our blockbusters today.
Even as an animated movie, this stands alone in the vast sea of the superhero genre, and it’s smarter, more rewatchable, funnier, and simply better than any other movie Pixar has made.
