Film review: The Incredibles.
Just watched this for the second time, on DVD.
Pixar just can't do anything wrong, it seems. Ever since they released the very first fully computer-generated feature film, a decade ago this year, they've been on a roll. Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo and now The Incredibles - another Pixar-outing with cutting edge and simply stunning CGI animation, and a solid story as it's foundation. A winning streak, anyone?
Short summary - Bob Parr is bored to death at his insurance job, so when the offer comes to resume his superhero work undercover, he leaps for it without telling his family. In an attempt to find her husband who she suspects is having an affair, Helen Parr finds she is accompanied by their kids who have left baby Jack Jack in good hands. Madness ensues.
The voice-acting is superb; Craig T. Nelson is perfect as Mr. Incredible. He is bold, funny, and endearingly vulnerable. Holly Hunter is solid and folksy as Helen, who also projects a quiet power. Jason Lee is at his annoying best as Syndrome. And an inside joke - director Brad Bird voices Edna Mode, and she steals every scene that she is in.
Writer/director Bird gives us a film that takes on a type in society that we all know well (they'e already dealt with toys, monsters, undersea life, bugs, and now superheroes) and transforms it magnificently into the highly imaginative CGI landscape you see on the screen. The story is really well thought out and it's clear from the onset that there is much respect respect here for the source of superheroes; serial flicks, comic books or Saturday morning cartoons et al.
The film is basically split into 2 halves. After a superb opening sequence, that perfectly sets the tone, the film settles down into a drama-comedy which eerily resembles 'The Simpsons'. The humour in this part is dry, witty and mainly for adults. This part works very well in the building of anticipation. Having seen the humour and action of the opening minutes, I could identify immediately with Mr. Incredible's tedious boredom. I desperately wanted him to get out of his 'normal' routine. This part also packs a strong message saying that not everyone is special. Some of us are leaders. The rest of us are simply sheep. It's the kind of morality you don't expect to find in standard Disney flicks.
Once the second part kicks in, and Mr. Incredible gets back into the superhero business, we are witness of the best James Bond movie since, well .. ever. Fantastic set pieces, smart gadgets, exotic locations, beautiful women, smooth music – it's all here, but done in a clearly retro way. It is here where the film kicks into gear and reminds the viewers that spy work andsuperpowers and superpowers are actually fun.
The animation is the best yet seen in the world of CG animation. The film had a wonderful 3D-like quality to it; it felt like it had depth beyond the cinema's 2 Dimensional limitations. The characters and the world they inhibit look so real and believable even though they are knowingly false. The colours range from vibrant to dark depending on the mood of the film and the scene. The effects for water, fire and lava are beautiful to watch and caught me with my mouth open when I first saw them.
The action scenes are incredible. They attain a level of excellence seldom seen in live action films, never mind animated films; The Incredibles achieves fast, heart-pounding action. It shows how far this type of animation has evolved since the days of Toy Story. The action scenes score highly in creativity, action progression and geography, something many action-directors tend to leave out.
The Incredibles is all about the execution, which is simply flawless. The film is the perfect blend of character, story, action, humour and emotion we've come to expect from Pixar. This film is just as good if not better than any other CGI movie ever released, and therefore rightfully deserves its place among the best animated movies of all time.
An 80 out of 100.
Cheers
Pixar just can't do anything wrong, it seems. Ever since they released the very first fully computer-generated feature film, a decade ago this year, they've been on a roll. Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo and now The Incredibles - another Pixar-outing with cutting edge and simply stunning CGI animation, and a solid story as it's foundation. A winning streak, anyone?
Short summary - Bob Parr is bored to death at his insurance job, so when the offer comes to resume his superhero work undercover, he leaps for it without telling his family. In an attempt to find her husband who she suspects is having an affair, Helen Parr finds she is accompanied by their kids who have left baby Jack Jack in good hands. Madness ensues.
The voice-acting is superb; Craig T. Nelson is perfect as Mr. Incredible. He is bold, funny, and endearingly vulnerable. Holly Hunter is solid and folksy as Helen, who also projects a quiet power. Jason Lee is at his annoying best as Syndrome. And an inside joke - director Brad Bird voices Edna Mode, and she steals every scene that she is in.
Writer/director Bird gives us a film that takes on a type in society that we all know well (they'e already dealt with toys, monsters, undersea life, bugs, and now superheroes) and transforms it magnificently into the highly imaginative CGI landscape you see on the screen. The story is really well thought out and it's clear from the onset that there is much respect respect here for the source of superheroes; serial flicks, comic books or Saturday morning cartoons et al.
The film is basically split into 2 halves. After a superb opening sequence, that perfectly sets the tone, the film settles down into a drama-comedy which eerily resembles 'The Simpsons'. The humour in this part is dry, witty and mainly for adults. This part works very well in the building of anticipation. Having seen the humour and action of the opening minutes, I could identify immediately with Mr. Incredible's tedious boredom. I desperately wanted him to get out of his 'normal' routine. This part also packs a strong message saying that not everyone is special. Some of us are leaders. The rest of us are simply sheep. It's the kind of morality you don't expect to find in standard Disney flicks.
Once the second part kicks in, and Mr. Incredible gets back into the superhero business, we are witness of the best James Bond movie since, well .. ever. Fantastic set pieces, smart gadgets, exotic locations, beautiful women, smooth music – it's all here, but done in a clearly retro way. It is here where the film kicks into gear and reminds the viewers that spy work andsuperpowers and superpowers are actually fun.
The animation is the best yet seen in the world of CG animation. The film had a wonderful 3D-like quality to it; it felt like it had depth beyond the cinema's 2 Dimensional limitations. The characters and the world they inhibit look so real and believable even though they are knowingly false. The colours range from vibrant to dark depending on the mood of the film and the scene. The effects for water, fire and lava are beautiful to watch and caught me with my mouth open when I first saw them.
The action scenes are incredible. They attain a level of excellence seldom seen in live action films, never mind animated films; The Incredibles achieves fast, heart-pounding action. It shows how far this type of animation has evolved since the days of Toy Story. The action scenes score highly in creativity, action progression and geography, something many action-directors tend to leave out.
The Incredibles is all about the execution, which is simply flawless. The film is the perfect blend of character, story, action, humour and emotion we've come to expect from Pixar. This film is just as good if not better than any other CGI movie ever released, and therefore rightfully deserves its place among the best animated movies of all time.
An 80 out of 100.
Cheers
2 Comments:
dude it should get at least an 8.5! it was funny as hell!
If it had earned a 8,5 out of 10, I'd have given it an 8,5 out of 10.
:-)
Cheers
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