Animated. Directed by Brad Bird. Voices of Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, Dominique Louis, Spencer Fox, Sarah Vowell, Jason Lee.
Synopsis: A family of super heroes go into retirment and try living as a normal suburban family after public opinion turns against them. Years later, bored by civilian life, they find themselves drawn back into another adventure to save the world..where they go up against an adversary from the past.
I wanted to see this when it first came out in the theaters, but, believe it or not, I just recently had the chance to watch The Incredibles recently. It was certainly worth the wait, this is probably the best animated film I have ever seen, and you're talking about a guy who really loves animated stuff.
The premise is unique, which makes it fresh and interesting right out of the gate. Bob Parr is Mr. Inredible (Craig T. Nelson Poltergeist, Devil's Advocate), a superhero with unbelievable strength who also has a love of being a superhero. His best buddy is fellow superhero Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson Do The Right Thing, Basic), who can use immediate streams of cold air and ice for do gooder purposes. Mr. Inredible has a friendly rivalry with Elastigirl (Holly Hunter The Firm) a/k/a Helen, yet another superhero. Turns out that Bob and Helen are actually engaged and due to be married on the same evening that they butt heads over thwarting a bad guy.
It seems that Mr. Incredible has an overzealous fan who wants to be his partner. Incrediboy (Jason Lee) has his own suit made to match Mr. Incredible's and is gung ho. But, Mr. Incredible more or less blows him off. Incrediboy is too young, too raw and, he's not a real superhero. That decision might come back to haunt Mr. Incredible later.
The political winds change due to some frivilous lawsuits and headline seeking politician, superheros are no longer popular and have to go into hiding as normal, every day folks.
We fast forward 15 years and find Bob and Helen living the quiet life, now with two children, Dash and Violet. Helen is a homemaker and Bob is working unhappily, as an insurance adjuster. We can see by Bob's paunch that the time away from saving the world has not been kind to him. He gets to hang out and talk about the old times with Louis (Frozone), but its just not the same plus the superpowers of his two older kids have to be kept in line.
This all changes when Bob gets an offer from a mysterious agency to revive Mr. Incredible-coming at the right time as he has been fired from the insurance company-and go on some top secret missions. Well, everything is not what it seems and soon Mr. Incredible and his superhero family are back in the fight against good and evil...with the stakes higher than ever.
The animation and effects are so good, at times you forget that you are watching what people of my generation would describe as a cartoon. Its more like an alternative world where these characters are human like, with only some differences from me and you. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and they could not have done better in casting Nelson and Hunter together as Bob and Helen. It might sound corny, but they sound just like you would think they would sound.
There is a little bit more of an adult theme than most animated movies, but have no fear of your little ones looking at this, they will love it, too. The humor that will make you laugh will go over their heads a' la King of the Hill or The Simpsons.
As you might guess, there are several great special features, my favorite being a skit between Craig T. Nelson and Samuel L. Jackson as their superhero characters with 1960's era animation. Trust me, its hilarious.
This one goes right into the collection after just one viewing.
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