THE INCREDIBLES

The Incredibles is the perfect movie. I can’t fault it, so if you’re tired of reading all the other glowing reviews out there, just stop reading right now, go to your local cineplex, and shell out the pittance that doesn’t even come close to approximating the value of viewing this film.

Genre films have seen a real resurgence in the past few years, mostly in fantasy and superhero stories. But almost all of them are disappointing in some regard. The Matrix was great, but the sequels were self-obsessed. Spiderman was loads of fun, but a little trite, and digital Spidey remained jarring even in the sequel. Even Lord of the Rings, probably the best and grandest fantasy movie ever, had to contend with Elijah Wood’s acting, and a CG character that was occasionally more marvelous than transparent. And these are the good ones. Awful movies like the new Star Wars trilogy make me long for the great cinematic tales of my youth, like the old Star Wars, but when I revisit the classics, they often seem silly (ewoks), dated (stop-action ton-tons), or laughably acted (“I care!”). Well, they do to me, at least.

The Incredibles is not like that. Somehow, the folks over there in Emeryville have once again put together a beautiful, hilarious, heartfelt, heart-pounding film that I can love without reservation. No one understands the strengths and weakness of CG like Pixar does. They know the technology to fully replicate human physiognomy isn’t there yet (just look at the Polar Express). So they took a page from Scott McCloud’s book and abstracted the human forms, but dropped them in a very realistic setting, maximizing both empathy with the characters and immersion in the environment. More importantly, they know that pretty pictures don’t mean jack in film without a tight narrative and convincing performances, and the writers, animators, and voice actors deliver in spades. The familiarity and humanity of the characters, situations, and stories might be unprecedented in an animated film.

One thing that struck me about the movie was that in truly emotional moments, moments that certainly kept pace with the rest of the movie and might have seemed cursory in live action, somehow felt all the more poignant here. For instance, when Vi tries to apologize to her mom for not being able to put up a force field in time, or when Mr. Incredible seems ready to strangle Mirage after she releases him from captivity. Their realism, both in vocal performance and sheer subject matter, is shockingly powerful in the context of an animated movie. They really got me. I’m not sure if Brad Bird was playing on my lowered expectations or just managed to get an exceptional performance out of his actors and animators, but it worked.

The Incredibles is also ostensibly an idea movie, lightly dealing with notions of mediocrity and giftedness in our society. It’s all wrapped up in the line, “When everyone is super, no one will be,” which is both Dash’s complaint and Syndrome dastardly plan. You might remember such ideas from Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, or, if you’re a super dork, you may have read David Brin’s take on the other side of the issue. Not sure where I stand, but I have no doubt there is a large body of philosophical literature that I’m too stupid and lazy to probe.

Anyway, go see the damn movie. You will be glad you did.