The Incredibles

I confess, I’ve always been a fan of Pixar‘s films (although I draw the line at “Finding Nemo”, which I still think is a hunk of crap, but that’s my perspective on it, rather down to the film itself) so going to see the Incredibles was always a case of “when” rather than “if”. And last night turned out to be the “when”.

I lost count of how many “superhero” movies the Incredibles features. The speeding bus from “Speed”, the slow character build-up of “Spiderman” and “Hulk”, The ‘group of heroes’ thing from X-Men etc., and many other far subtler ones. Interestingly, the film has a much maturer aspect than their other works, this one really isn’t that much of a kids film, in the way the Nemo and Monsters Inc. were. It’s not “adult” humour, but it demands a more adult outlook- understanding the frustrations of Mr and Mrs Incredible, forced into being “everyday” people, using their secret identities as their only identities, and put in everyday jobs.

The entire film is beautifully done – as with Monsters Inc, it will stand up to repeated viewings – even in scenes you get familiar with, it’s all too easy to simply look at the detail the animators put into everything. For example, the water in Incredibles is simply stunning, as are the fabrics, and the way they move and flow just like the real thing.

Technically superb, Pixar’s films always seem to be firmly based in the storyline – these films aren’t a series of setpieces about “look how great we are at animating”, instead they follow the full story curve, and their work has always been more of a film than a cartoon.

Incredibles is a step up for Pixar, and well worth seeing (
and probably buying the DVD) several times. Now, when’s their next one “Cars” due out – that looks fantastic too!