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...
WHAT I LIKED: By this point in the Pixar canon we'd seen this studio's incredible ability to push real adult themes through the membrane of fun family animation concepts many a time, but Brad Bird's 'The Incredibles,' genuinely represents a whole new step up as it not only tackles some serious territory with a startlingly amusing script, but it's also still by far the sharpest, snappiest and most stylish animated movie out there. Yes with its use of super-cool retro world-building, action and character animation that's years ahead of its time, and - of course - that incredible jazz fusion score by Michael Giacchino, it instantly slaps a smile on your face with its stylish aesthetic charm.
But of course, as with any Pixar venture, there's a whole lot more to it than that, and here the concept is just as ingenious as Toy Story's if not more so as we see a family of Superheroes dealing with the oppression of their dull everyday lifes until Daddy Incredible has what can only be described as a midlife crisis and goes on a glory mission in an attempt to relive the good old hero days. The plot thereafter is about his family coming to his rescue after it's revealed the mission is bogus, but crucially the premise unlocks some themes that we can all relate to in our modern lifes surrounding family dynamics, nostalgia for youth and the real troubles that youth can entail, the common suppression of greatness in society, and the burdens of everyday responsibility. Equally, that premise also presents constant opportunities for brilliant situational humour, as seeing these people with extraordinary abilities in simple jobs and living it out in our world is brilliant, and the script does an incredible job of tackling the funny and the serious at the same time.
Couple that with a set of iconic and engaging characters where the story works to give each of them their own arc, and what you've got is a smart and incredibly snappy film that steps above even the best of Pixar's previous and subsequent work to deliver as a truly timeless masterpiece that also remains my personal favourite animated movie of all time.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It is arguable that the film promotes those born with greatness rather than those striving for it, but the central message is really about letting everyone being the best version of themselves that they can be.
VERDICT: Still the snappiest, smartest and most stylish movie Pixar have produced, Brad Bird's 'The Incredibles,' is also my favourite animated that I've ever seen without a doubt.
