‘The Incredibles’ Proves Pixar Still

Fighting for Good Movies for all Ages

In Pixar’s new movie "The Incredibles," we are taken from the lovey-dovey, warm-feeling-inside kiddy cartoon with an unhidden brainwashing lesson about life into the world of superheroes that has a ring of … quality.

As we enter this realm of Pixar we meet the main character of the movie, Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson, whose voice has appeared in every single Pixar film that graced the googiplex screen). Mr. Incredible is one of those well-rounded superheroes that are super strong, fairly fast and really big and he has it all: a rip-off of the Batmobile, Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter) for a girlfriend, and a steady job that involves anything from helping old ladies to saving hundreds of lives simultaneously. He has a superhero best friend, Frozone (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson whose character I really wished had more screen time) and in general, has an incredible life.

What could go wrong? Well, of course the whiny public gets angry that these darn superheroes are getting broken glass on the flowerbed and the traffic slowed down from a superhero’s daring fight with a giant robot. After a string of irritating lawsuits, all of the superheroes in the world are told to keep their super abilities a secret and to settle down into the world of suburban sprawl. Instead of saving lives from a train wreck, our Mr. Incredible is to be enslaved in cubicle land and to come home to the wife, Elastigirl, who deals with the kids: the shy, teenage Violet with invisibility powers, the second child, Dash, blessed with superhuman speed, and the baby Jack Jack. Occasionally Mr. Incredible and Frozone may snoop out of the house to do some little-appreciated superhero work gowned in ski masks, but besides that these out-of-shape superheroes are begging to be set free.

That call is answered when Mr. Incredible responds to the mysterious Mirage, who offers a rare opportunity to get back into the superhero business on an unknown island. The plot thickens as we discover who Mirage is truly working for, the ever non-special, annoying nemesis Syndrome, with another plot to take over the world.

Not only is this movie entertaining with a smart script that remains consistent for children, (this film was approved by my 10-year-old brother) I is for teenagers and adults alike. Pixar’s personnel, of course, outdid themselves again with elaborate and ever-changing animation, but the story itself is also original and sound. As with other Pixar films, I cannot properly compare this film’s story with past flicks such as "Toy Story," "A Bug’s Life," or "Monsters Inc.," because all of them are so varied when it comes to personification, characterization, and setting, but this story is about family, not friendship.

While the violence is unusually more present in this Pixar movie as compared to others, I never got the impression that the very young children in the theatre were intimidated to a point of screaming, "MOMMY, I WANNA LEAVE!" And believe me, the theater was packed with these kids, but that is a given hazard when one goes to any all-ages movie. Don’t begin to think that I was surrounded only by five-year-olds for two hours, for I was also in the same cinema with seniors, middle school students, and a fair amount of high school students. Take that as a sign that just because you aren’t the same age as you were when you first saw "Toy Story," that doesn’t mean that you won’t like "The Incredibles." Actually, you may like it even more.