For a number of years in the late 90’s and early 00’s Pixar were considered one of the greatest animation studios currently working in Hollywood, and 2003’s Finding Nemo arguably shifted that viewpoint to one of the all-time greatest animation studios. The pressure was higher than ever to deliver, but the traditional Pixar formula of doing everything in-house with their best employees helming the projects was quickly becoming unmanageable. Studio head John Lasseter needed to draft in people from outside Pixar otherwise the studio would simply burnout and collapse with how hard they were pushing themselves. Following the poor commercial performance of his 1999 film, The Iron Giant (great film, highly recommend it), director Brad Bird was at a low point in his career where no animation studio wanted him. Seeing the potential in a superhero script Bird had written, Lasseter brought him in to direct the film at Pixar, seeing the potential solution to his problem. But development of The Incredibles proved to be just about the hardest film Pixar had made to date because of Bird’s seemingly impossible vision for the film. But it’s not like Pixar to accept defeat, and The Incredibles was not only a success, but it’s arguably one of the best films they’ve ever made.
Following a downturn on public opinion of superheroes and the destruction they bring, super powered individuals are forced to blend in with normal people and become ‘everyday heroes’, hanging up the costumes and capes for good.
Fifteen years later, former superheroes Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), his wife Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), and their three children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Spencer Fox), and Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile & Maeve Andrews) live peaceful, normal lives in suburbia. But Bob’s yearning for his former glory days brings about new undercover superhero work, eventually landing him in big trouble with a new supervillain, Syndrome (Jason Lee).
Following a downturn on public opinion of superheroes and the destruction they bring, super powered individuals are forced to blend in with normal people and become ‘everyday heroes’, hanging up the costumes and capes for good.
Fifteen years later, former superheroes Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), his wife Helen/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), and their three children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Spencer Fox), and Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile & Maeve Andrews) live peaceful, normal lives in suburbia. But Bob’s yearning for his former glory days brings about new undercover superhero work, eventually landing him in big trouble with a new supervillain, Syndrome (Jason Lee).
I know it’s cheesy, and I know it’s been done so many times before, but The Incredibles really is incredible. I can’t think of another film that emphasises the political ramifications of super-powered vigilantism aside from Captain America: Civil War, and that came out twelve years after The Incredibles, and it handles the whole ordeal in a much less entertaining and concise way. Also, the fact that my review for an animated family film is talking about politics is kind of crazy, so many I need to dial things back a bit?
I think what I’m really trying to get at is that The Incredibles could have so easily just been a film about a family of superheroes fighting bad guys and saving the day, job done, and Brad Bird would have achieved his goal of wanting to revive the mid-century cartoons and comics he used to watch and read as a kid. But he’s taken this concept and really tried to expand on it as much as possible in new and interesting ways by putting the world and the characters that inhabit it ahead of the superpowers. Something I don’t think many writers or directors would do when creating a family film of this genre.
Bob is going through a midlife crisis because he is unable to truly help people, this is putting an extraordinary amount of stress on his marriage with Helen. This is contributing to a tense home living situation, which is of course being picked up on by the kids. Violet is dealing with self-esteem issues and fears her parents’ marriage breaking down. Dash meanwhile is being stopped from doing any kind of physical activity for fear of his powers being discovered, which in turn is causing him to act out for attention. Plus, there’s then the normal difficulties of dealing with a baby with Jack-Jack. All of this is compounded by the reality that the world the Parr’s live in does not want superheroes to be a part of it, their time has gone and the modern world must survive without them.
I can’t understate how brilliant of a villain Syndrome is either, and this will edge into spoiler territory here (but the film is almost twenty years old so if you’ve not seen it yet then you’ve only got yourself to blame). Syndrome is the embodiment of toxic fandoms, and also an extreme representation of a forgotten generation. Once Syndrome shows himself, Bob quickly realises that Syndrome is in fact Buddy, a fan of Mr. Incredible who used to cause untold chaos for Bob fifteen years ago and was instrumental in the downfall of superhero vigilantism. As a child, Buddy always wanted to be Mr. Incredible’s sidekick despite having no powers. He desperately wanted powers and so used technology to achieve those means. Now an adult, Buddy has made his wealth from weapons manufacturing which he has used to fund his plan where he will save the city from a robot he created, thereby cementing himself as a new kind of superhero. In order to stop the limelight being stolen away from him, he’s been killing off former superheroes whilst developing this robot. It’s incredibly dark for a Pixar film, but it works so well because all this kid ever wanted was to be a superhero, and that opportunity was taken away from him by Mr. Incredible, so now he’s getting even.
I think what I’m really trying to get at is that The Incredibles could have so easily just been a film about a family of superheroes fighting bad guys and saving the day, job done, and Brad Bird would have achieved his goal of wanting to revive the mid-century cartoons and comics he used to watch and read as a kid. But he’s taken this concept and really tried to expand on it as much as possible in new and interesting ways by putting the world and the characters that inhabit it ahead of the superpowers. Something I don’t think many writers or directors would do when creating a family film of this genre.
Bob is going through a midlife crisis because he is unable to truly help people, this is putting an extraordinary amount of stress on his marriage with Helen. This is contributing to a tense home living situation, which is of course being picked up on by the kids. Violet is dealing with self-esteem issues and fears her parents’ marriage breaking down. Dash meanwhile is being stopped from doing any kind of physical activity for fear of his powers being discovered, which in turn is causing him to act out for attention. Plus, there’s then the normal difficulties of dealing with a baby with Jack-Jack. All of this is compounded by the reality that the world the Parr’s live in does not want superheroes to be a part of it, their time has gone and the modern world must survive without them.
I can’t understate how brilliant of a villain Syndrome is either, and this will edge into spoiler territory here (but the film is almost twenty years old so if you’ve not seen it yet then you’ve only got yourself to blame). Syndrome is the embodiment of toxic fandoms, and also an extreme representation of a forgotten generation. Once Syndrome shows himself, Bob quickly realises that Syndrome is in fact Buddy, a fan of Mr. Incredible who used to cause untold chaos for Bob fifteen years ago and was instrumental in the downfall of superhero vigilantism. As a child, Buddy always wanted to be Mr. Incredible’s sidekick despite having no powers. He desperately wanted powers and so used technology to achieve those means. Now an adult, Buddy has made his wealth from weapons manufacturing which he has used to fund his plan where he will save the city from a robot he created, thereby cementing himself as a new kind of superhero. In order to stop the limelight being stolen away from him, he’s been killing off former superheroes whilst developing this robot. It’s incredibly dark for a Pixar film, but it works so well because all this kid ever wanted was to be a superhero, and that opportunity was taken away from him by Mr. Incredible, so now he’s getting even.
There’s also the great supporting cast. Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) is a smooth-talking former superhero and one of Bob’s best friends. Like Bob he has a yearning for the glory days, but unlike Bob understands the risks involved in trying to do undercover vigilantism. Edna (Brad Bird) is a fashion designer who was at one time renowned for making super-suits. She similarly has a yearning for the glory days and is thrilled to be brought back into the fold of making super-suits for Bob and by extension the rest of the Parr family. Whilst there are more, these two characters stand out as being some of the funniest and most memorable characters in the film.
The Incredibles was Pixar’s most complex ambitious and complex film up to that point. Where previous films had concerned themselves with the lives of non-human matters (toys, bugs, monsters, and sea creatures), The Incredibles is about people, and a world that feels not too dissimilar from our own. Any animator will tell you that humans are some of the most difficult things to animate, particularly if you want them to appear realistic. Skin in particular is difficult to get right without everything looking horrendously fake, plus then there’s hair to factor in, and the way that clothing moves against the body. These issues in themselves may not have been a particularly big issue for Pixar to overcome if that was all, but The Incredibles rarely re-uses environments, plus there’s action sequences to account for which require the use of fire, smoke, water, and various other particle effects which require an extraordinary amount of computer power, and require their own physics separate from that of people.
The result is stunning, something far beyond what was considered feasible in 2004. Leagues ahead of the competition, and could easily stand toe to toe with live action superhero films in terms of its scale and its action sequences. Bringing forward the technological leaps they had made with hair in Monsters, Inc. and water in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles has hair and clothing that react naturally to the environment, and then also react differently when they get wet. Some action sequences use water and fire to great effect, altering the way that objects in the world work as a result of heat/wet.
But the visuals aren’t everything. The Incredibles also features a pulse pounding score from Michael Giacchino. Inspired by classic spy movies and superhero cartoons from the 1950’s and 60’s, The Incredibles has a jazzy kind of feel, with blaring brass instruments leading the charge, with a heavy and distinct bassline and some powerful percussion to match it. It not only gives the action sequences a distinct momentum, different from any other action movie of the time, but it gives the quieter moments a level of sophistication and intrigue that would not have been able to be attained through a more traditional action-movie score. It feels classy yet also exciting, and there’s little else like it.
The Incredibles takes everything that Pixar have mastered so far and pushes it to the extreme. It has an amazing story at the centre of it all that is emotionally gripping, filled with complex and deep characters, in a world that feels lived in with its own social and political struggles at the heart of the conflict. It’s then compounded with some truly spectacular visuals, far beyond what anyone else was doing in the early 00’s, even when compared against Pixar’s back catalogue of work; that is then complimented with a gorgeous score and some amazing voice work. The Incredibles marks the end of an era for Pixar as between this and their next feature, 2007’s Cars, the studio would be bought up by Disney, and there’s a distinct shift in the kinds of films that Pixar made for a short time whilst this transition worked out the kinks. The Incredibles is a testament to the kind of studio that Pixar was, and to a large extent still is. A team of people who want to push the medium of computer animation to heights never thought imaginable, and achieve the impossible. It is not only one of the best films that Pixar has created, but it’s one of the best superhero films ever made. A truly incredible piece of animation that should be on everyone’s must watch list regardless of whether you’re seven or seventy.
The Incredibles was Pixar’s most complex ambitious and complex film up to that point. Where previous films had concerned themselves with the lives of non-human matters (toys, bugs, monsters, and sea creatures), The Incredibles is about people, and a world that feels not too dissimilar from our own. Any animator will tell you that humans are some of the most difficult things to animate, particularly if you want them to appear realistic. Skin in particular is difficult to get right without everything looking horrendously fake, plus then there’s hair to factor in, and the way that clothing moves against the body. These issues in themselves may not have been a particularly big issue for Pixar to overcome if that was all, but The Incredibles rarely re-uses environments, plus there’s action sequences to account for which require the use of fire, smoke, water, and various other particle effects which require an extraordinary amount of computer power, and require their own physics separate from that of people.
The result is stunning, something far beyond what was considered feasible in 2004. Leagues ahead of the competition, and could easily stand toe to toe with live action superhero films in terms of its scale and its action sequences. Bringing forward the technological leaps they had made with hair in Monsters, Inc. and water in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles has hair and clothing that react naturally to the environment, and then also react differently when they get wet. Some action sequences use water and fire to great effect, altering the way that objects in the world work as a result of heat/wet.
But the visuals aren’t everything. The Incredibles also features a pulse pounding score from Michael Giacchino. Inspired by classic spy movies and superhero cartoons from the 1950’s and 60’s, The Incredibles has a jazzy kind of feel, with blaring brass instruments leading the charge, with a heavy and distinct bassline and some powerful percussion to match it. It not only gives the action sequences a distinct momentum, different from any other action movie of the time, but it gives the quieter moments a level of sophistication and intrigue that would not have been able to be attained through a more traditional action-movie score. It feels classy yet also exciting, and there’s little else like it.
The Incredibles takes everything that Pixar have mastered so far and pushes it to the extreme. It has an amazing story at the centre of it all that is emotionally gripping, filled with complex and deep characters, in a world that feels lived in with its own social and political struggles at the heart of the conflict. It’s then compounded with some truly spectacular visuals, far beyond what anyone else was doing in the early 00’s, even when compared against Pixar’s back catalogue of work; that is then complimented with a gorgeous score and some amazing voice work. The Incredibles marks the end of an era for Pixar as between this and their next feature, 2007’s Cars, the studio would be bought up by Disney, and there’s a distinct shift in the kinds of films that Pixar made for a short time whilst this transition worked out the kinks. The Incredibles is a testament to the kind of studio that Pixar was, and to a large extent still is. A team of people who want to push the medium of computer animation to heights never thought imaginable, and achieve the impossible. It is not only one of the best films that Pixar has created, but it’s one of the best superhero films ever made. A truly incredible piece of animation that should be on everyone’s must watch list regardless of whether you’re seven or seventy.