Truly "Incredible"

★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★

The Incredibles (2004)

Runtime: 115 minutes

MPAA: Rated PG for action violence.

In light of the recent popular meme showing Mr. Incredible getting increasingly traumatized with creepier music in each phase, I figured out it'd be a great time revisiting this Pixar gem. Hailed as one of Pixar's best animations to date, The Incredibles takes familiar material and spoofs them with astounding energy.

Superheroes Mr. Incredible (named Bob Parr, voiced by Craig T. Nelson) and Elastigirl (named Helen Parr, voiced by Holly Hunter) are world-famous superheroes constantly battling crime in their local neighborhood, Metroville. Eventually, a series of events including a disrupted suicide and city wreckage brings superheroes to a ban, where they would have to blend in with civilians and adopt to a "normal life". We jump to 15 years later, where we see Bob working a mundane, 9-to-5 job at Insuricare. Helen, on the other hand, takes care of the three kids they have at home: Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Spencer Fox) and Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews). The children were secretly born with superpowers; Violet has invisibility and force field powers, Dash has super-speed, and Jack-Jack is an ostensibly normal kid, though we see his variety of powers in the end.

Bob, on the other hand, itches to return to action. Teaming up with Frozone (named Lucius Best, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson), makes an excuse for bowling every Wednesday, but they instead secretly fight crime in the city and save people. A mysterious woman by the name Mirage (Elizabeth Peña) offers Bob a chance to spring back into action, by requesting him to travel to a remote island for a top secret assignment. Life's Incredible Again (which is also the name of a featured song, and used twice in the meme), or it seemingly is. He soon finds out that the island's manager, Syndrome (Jason Lee), an old acquaintance turned foe, is creating newer robots to terminate Supers. Barely surviving a second attack, Bob discovers Syndrome's plan to launch the final version of the robot, named Omnidroid v10, for total destruction. Unless the super family co-operates together, the world would be at chaos.

It starts a little wobbly, taking some time to establish its groundings, but from there, the movie just gets better and better. The most astounding thing here is how the animation strangely holds up. After watching The Incredibles 2, I revisited the first Incredibles and noticed how the animation in the latter was way inferior and slightly lacking in definition, but if I take a rest and revisit it, the animation is fascinating. I can't wait for the day Pixar makes an animation that is indistinguishable from real-life. Jokes aside, I marvel at the objects Pixar animated and rendered for The Incredibles; the explosions and lush trees on the island are spectacular. The action sequences are also exciting and perfectly paced. It never runs too long to stifle character growths.

What makes The Incredibles such an enjoyable yet thought-provoking experience is how it blends the aspects of superhero and normal life with great precision. Looks like Pixar forgot to regularly sharpen their knives for the sequel. Besides showing the ups and downs of superhero life, and how Mr. Incredibles wants the world to 'stay saved', we get an insight into an average American household, and the critiques of the mundaneness and apathy of households. There is never a single time Bob feels something besides bored at work. Helen always has to tiringly take care of her children, and a threat to their lives proves worse. The emotive force flows in, as usual, as Bob realizes his mistake for stranding himself from his family, and how not to repeat it.

Halfway into the movie, we're introduced to a techy, energetic costume designer, Edna Mode (voiced by Brad Bird). Edna Mode excels as a side character, while cracking jokes about why superheroes shouldn't wear capes. There's always giddy energy every time the character or her lab of suit-making appears on the screen.

The villain, Syndrome, appears halfway in. He's Mr. Incredibles biggest fan but was rejected and pushed aside by Mr. Incredible just before the superhero ban. He's back, with the killer robots, and new technology, like a zero-point energy that freezes a person in that particular location. He can move his hand with the device to effortlessly move them around. Pixar also introduces a dark tone, by making us imagine the horrors or superheroes that were 'terminated'. It legitimately shows us the skeleton of a super, Gazerbeam, and a suicide attempt towards the start of the movie! Syndrome is made terrifying by these shocking sequences.

The Incredibles ends with a new villain, named The Underminer. We stop at a cliff-hanger, desperately urging to know the events that precede. Fortunately, as of writing, we're at a time where the sequel is already over 3 years old. In the end, I admit that I'm still very picky when watching critically acclaimed films. Has it become a habit to find tiny faults in great movies? I'm yet to know.

Note: I've given two four-star reviews currently, that is Whiplash and Tangled. I have re-read them countless times, and will definitely not change a single word or opinion for Whiplash. Tangled, on the other hand, could drop in rating, but I've analyzed it and decided not to change it. To Tangled, you're lucky I issued four stars before I started becoming a picky hack. I'm sorry, Spirited Away and The Incredibles.

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