THE INCREDIBLES REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

The animated production company are best known for impressing critics and audiences alike in 1995 with their feature debut, Toy Story, which was the first animated film to be created using computer generated imagery. Since then, they've created many successful features that are entertaining for the whole family. The Incredibles, which was released in 2004, is no different. Since its release, it's gone on to become my favourite ever of Disney/Pixar's animated features. Yes, Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and all of their other features are great, but, in my opinion, The Incredibles is the one that stands out. It's full of action, comedy, interesting and memorable characters and a well-written villain. Combine all of this together and you get one of the best superhero films ever made.

Once one of the world's top masked crime fighters, Bob Parr (voice of Craig T. Nelson) - known to all as 'Mr. Incredible' - fought evil and saved lives on a daily basis. But now fifteen years later, Bob and his wife, Helen (Holly Hunter) - a famous superhero in her own right - have adopted civilian identities and retreated to the suburbs to live normal lives with their three kids, Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Spencer Fox) and baby Jack Jack. Now he's a clock-punching insurance claims adjuster fighting boredom and a bulging waistline. Itching to get back into action, Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top-secret assignment.

In 1999, Brad Bird released his directorial debut, which was an animated feature, The Iron Giant. It told the story of the friendship between a lonely boy and the titular Iron Giant and it had a lot of heart at its centre. Despite receiving a lot of praise from critics, the feature underperformed at the box office making $31.3 million worldwide against a budget of $70–80 million. This was blamed on an unusually poor marketing campaign. When The Iron Giant became a box office bomb, he reconnected with old friend John Lasseter at Pixar in March 2000 and pitched his story idea, about a family of superheroes, to him. Lasseter was sold on the idea and convinced Bird to come to Pixar, where the film would be done in computer animation. The studio announced a multi-film contract with Bird on May 4, 2000, breaking Pixar's mold of having directors who had all risen through the ranks. The Incredibles was written and directed solely by Brad Bird, a departure from previous Pixar productions which typically had two or three directors and as many screenwriters. In addition, it would be the company's first film in which all characters are human. 

One of the main themes of The Incredibles is family. Since retiring from superhero work, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (now known as Bob and Helen Parr) are trying to live the normal life, with their three children, who each have powers of their own. The eldest, Violet, can turn invisible and turn on force fields and Dash is very energetic and can run incredibly fast (no pun intended). However, Jack Jack's powers aren't revealed until towards the end of the film and he can transform himself into anything. Despite their superpowers, they still try to live an ordinary life. Bird captures the family dynamic really well as we see Violet and Dash arguing at the dinner table and Helen struggling to keep them under control as they begin to fight. I think that one of the funniest thing about this scene is when the doorbell rings and they all immediately resume to their original positions on the table. I'm sure a lot of families will be able to relate.

When one thinks of superhero films, they think of The Avengers or The Dark Knight. While these are both great superhero films in their own right, they're mainly aimed at older viewers, especially the latter with its dark tone and violence. The Incredibles is a superhero film that the whole family can enjoy. The official rating is PG which means it's suitable for viewers aged 8 and over. I was 7 at the time of The Incredibles' release in 2004 and I really enjoyed it. Whenever I rewatch it, I feel really nostalgic as I remember the first time I watched it. I loved the characters, especially Elastigirl, and could relate to the brother/sister relationship between Violet and Dash as I have an older brother. The Incredibles is one of the few films from my childhood that I still enjoy after over a decade.

One aspect of The Incredibles was its score by Michael Giacchino. During one of my rewatches, I'd assumed that it would've been nominated for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards in 2005, unfortunately, it wasn't. At first, I was shocked as I think Giacchino's score for The Incredibles is one of the best as it sounds triumphant, exciting and empowering. Despite Giacchino being overlooked for his score, Bird did walk away with an Oscar for Best Animated Film and the film also won the award for Best Sound Editing. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing. 

The voice cast for The Incredibles are all well chosen. The only recognisable name is Samuel L. Jackson who voices Frozone, a superhero who can freeze anything and is a friend of Bob's. He has a memorable scene when he goes to find his supersuit after he discovers chaos going on outside and he discovers it's missing. This leads to an hilarious argument between him and his wife about where his supersuit scene. Many fans of the film, including myself, think it's one of the best scenes in the film. Craig T. Nelson is the voice of the main protagonist, Mr. Incredible, who misses the life of being a superhero and jumps at the offer he receives to relive that life again. While Mr. Incredible isn't a perfect character, we can understand why he makes certain decisions. We can clearly see he's unhappy in his current job at an insurance company. Nelson proves he's the best choice to voice the character and, now, whenever I watch a film that he's in, all I can hear is Mr. Incredible's voice. Holly Hunter is perfect as his wife, Helen, as she makes her a very feisty and brave character. In the beginning, she's a stay-at-home mother, raising the children, however, she gets more action from the middle of the film as she goes to find her husband. Violet and Dash have great action scenes between them, especially the latter, who we see running away from bad guys in the jungle. As he's running away, he learns that he can run on water, which is an impressive power to have. The main villain is Syndrome (Jason Lee) who idolised Mr. Incredible when he was a child but, after Mr. Incredible is rude to him, he becomes set on getting his revenge. Fifteen years later and he's a grown man and ready to get his revenge. He's a well written villain as we understand his actions. Lee is clearly having a lot of fun voicing his character and makes him a likable villain. He has funny lines such as "You got me monologuing!" which was voted as the #15 of 'The 100 Greatest Movie Lines' by Premiere in 2007. Another voice that stands out is Edna Mode, the fashion designer who creates the costumes, voiced by none other than Brad Bird, the director. Edna was originally going to be voiced by Lily Tomlin but, after hearing Bird's vocal performance of the character, she turned it down by saying. "What do you need me for? You got it already." Bird brings comic relief with his voice performance of Edna and makes her one of the funniest and most memorable characters in the film.

Due to his previous feature, The Iron Giant, being a disappointment at the box office, it's understandable why Bird was nervous about how The Incredibles would perform, fortunately, it proved to be a big success, making over $633 million and becoming the fourth highest grossing film of 2004.

Overall, The Incredibles easily lives up to its name as it's full of action, is thoroughly entertaining and is Disney/Pixar's best animated feature.

9/10