The Incredibles (November 4/04)

The Incredibles marks the first Pixar film to feature an "outsider" as director - ie someone who's had no involvement with the company until now - and this is certainly one of those cases where the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies.

The story opens 15 years ago, with superheroes (and supervillains, of course) a prominent fixture in an unnamed big city. But after a series of crippling lawsuits, said superheroes are forced to abandon their powers and change their identities. This is true of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl - now known as Bob and Helen Parr - who have retreated to the suburbs, with Bob becoming an insurance adjuster and Helen a housewife. It's not a life that holds much excitement, much to Bob's chagrin; when he receives an offer to go on a top-secret mission for a mysterious client, Bob naturally jumps at the chance. But things aren't necessarily what they seem, and it's not long before Bob and Helen are forced to resume their crime-fighting ways (along with two of their children, who also have superpowers).

The Incredibles essentially plays out like a slightly above-average summer movie, complete with big explosions and underdeveloped characters. It's because of writer/director Brad Bird's sharp dialogue and the expected visual splendor that accompanies every Pixar production that the film remains a cut above most big-budget fare. But when you're talking about the company responsible for such instant classics as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, it's hard not to have extremely high expectations for their latest work.

But The Incredibles never quite makes it up there, primarily because most of these characters aren't even close to as engaging and intriguing as Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear, Finding Nemo's Marlin or even A Bug's Life's Flik. When you get right down to it, Mr. Incredible is basically just a guy suffering from a mid-life crisis - a personality trait that would've been fine in a drama, but just seems strangely out of place here. As a result, the first hour of The Incredibles - which focuses almost entirely on Mr. Incredible - is far from engrossing (to be fair, the film is never boring).

Fortunately, Pixar has once again outdone themselves in terms of creating a world that's full of jaw-dropping visual splendor. The Incredibles is fascinating virtually from start to finish on a purely visceral level, and one wonders how Pixar will manage to top this (something that's said after every new movie by the company). The voice acting is expectedly stellar, with Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter perfectly cast as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. But the real winner here is Jason Lee as bad guy Syndrome, with the actor giving a performance that's best described as animated (bad pun, I know).

In the grand scheme of Pixar's films, this is probably their least effective project to date. But still, this is the sort of movie that demands to be seen on a huge screen - if only to soak in the amazing effects and computer imagery.