First of all, surrounded by my wonderful friends is always a treat. I love movies, but being with them just makes the night that much more special.
We all know what we're here to see, the latest entry in Pixar's notch as movie makers. And with movies like Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc, and Bug's Life on their resume I have very little to fear as the lights dim and the screen begins to jump to life.
But before 1 frame of the movie roles, we get a teaser trailer to STAR WARS EPISODE 3!!! Hopefully the movie that pulls Lucas out of the shitter as far as selling out his characters go. Just seeing Darth Vader again, Sidious with a lightsaber, and the dark yellow eyes of Anakin already had me wetting my pants. If the theatre screen were to darken this would have been a great night.
Again before the movie starts, per Pixar tradition, is a short. Produced again by Pixar! A great short entitled, Boundin'. Written by Bud Luckey and directed by Bud Luckey and Roger Gould. It tells the story of a sheep proud of his fluffy shiny wool. But when it's shaved from him he's left depressed and downtrodden until a care-free Jackalope crosses his path. He teaches him how to bounce, and shows him that life will always be full of ups and downs. But when you hit the lows you just have to rebound, thankfully for us there are Jackalopes around.
And then the movie starts. And right from the get-go, this movie is GREAT!!!!! Brad Bird helms this epic as director. His last and first venture into the movie format gave us the incredibly endearing Iron Giant. Unfortunatly it flopped like a fish out of water in theatrical release. Which is a shame because it's truly one of the best animated movies out there. And proves beyond doubt that Brad Bird loves giant robots and unusual heroes.
Which brings us to Robert Parr. An insurance broker disillusioned with his life. In his prime, he was the hero of the century, Mister Incredible. A man of super strength and cunning. But shortly after marrying the love of his life, Elasti-Girl, Mister Incredible was sued by people who were injured during one of his rescues. What followed was the systematic suing of every "Super" on Earth. The public demanded that the Supers quit their heroics and lead normal lives. Hence the creation of the Super Relocation Program. Where men and women of extraordinary skill and strength were sent in order to protect their identities. Forcing them to embrace their alter boring egoes.
Craig T. Nelson is shockingly amazing as Mister Incredible. Seriously, back before this movie was released I could picture anyone doing this role other than Coach. But now, I see that there really was no other choice. It was Craig T. Nelson or die. To hear his voice in the beginning when his nemesis were super villians and crooks, to the mid-point where his nemesis is the weasily Gilbert Huph. President of the insurance company where Bob works at, and listen to how it changes in intesity and then falls down low to damn depression is magic. Having his super hero actions shift from saving an entire city, to telling little old ladies how to file their claims through all the backdoor beaurocracy is close to heartbreaking. Basically, Bob Parr is the home-town football hero who is stuck in a dead-end job for the sake of his family and longs to relive the glory days. That's Mister Incredible, and Craig T. Nelson caught onto that brilliantly. But when Mister Incredible makes his triumphant return, Craig bring a certain debonaire flash to Mister Incredible. Making him not only heroic, but charming.
Elasti-Girl is simply a joy to watch. Her alter ego, Helen, is the matriarch of the Parr family. She is the one with the strongest will, and the smartest brain. Always thinking logically and calmly. Voiced with the calm, soothing drawl of Holly Hunter. Watching Elast-Girl in action is great. She stretches and morphs and becomes just about anything you could come up with thanks to the imagination of the Pixar gang.
To lable the antagonist of the movie Syndrome as a villian is a little harsh. He's actually not a bad guy. He just desperatley wants to be a super. But he was born as a normal human being. Thus relying on the technology he invents to do the work for him. He's strong willed, and dastardly enough to kill off all the remaining supers out there. But the only reason for that is so that he can create a machine that only he can stop, and then unleash it on civillians so that he can emerge as the hero. He wants to live out the fan-boy fantasy each and every one of us have. To do something amazing, and be thanked and applauded for it. Jason Lee is Syndrome's voice. And instead of going so far out as to make him the A-typical villian, he goes over-the-top with fan boy adoration. "I'M SO TOTALLY GEEKING OUT RIGHT NOW!!!"
Violet and Dash Parr are the kids of the family. Dash, the youngest, is super-fast. So fast that you couldn't see him with your naked eye. He's the hyperactive 10 year old son that threatens the patience of every family. Violet has the ability to turn invisible, and has some control over force fields she creates with her mind. Although she's really not that good at it. Jack-Jack is the new born of the baby, and his talents are nil. The only "normal" one of the family. Dash is voiced by Spencer Fox and Violet by Sarah Vowell. And these two steal the show. Quite literally one of the best sequences of the entire film is the Velocipod chase. My favorit of the whole film. When Violet disappears and Dash takes off running, the movie suddenly becomes this huge roller coaster ride! Sitting there watching this for the first time, my mouth was a-gape and my voice caught in my throat. At this moment it was longer, "Jeeze how did they get the pictures to look so good." Or, "Gosh that hair really reacts well to light." It was. . . .HOLY SHIT!!!! And then when Violet discovers her latent powers and the two of them pair up, it's just. . .WHOAH!!! And then to top it off, Mom and Dad show up, the four them strike a super hero pose, and they WHOMP SOME ASS!!!!!!!!
Per Pixar tradition these days, a character in the cast is usually voiced by someone working for the company. And this time, the director Brad Bird gets in on the action as one of the most memorable characters. Edna "E" Mode, fashion designer. These days she's limited to so called "Super" models. But she longs to return to her old job. That of making the costumes for the local super heroes. She's eccentric and a little crazed, but easily one of the most popular in the film.
But as entertaining as the cast is to watch, it's the attention to detail that sets Pixar far above the rest. And I'm not just talking about the detail to story and writing. They excel at those elements far better than the Mouse House could ever, EVER hope to. It's the detail they put into everything you see on screen. John Lasseter has a saying for the Pixar animators. "We sand the underneath of the desks." Meaning they leave no detail ignored. Every prop, and every setting is as important as the last. And in this one, they couldn't be more right.
The settings in this movie, simply, are amazing. The theme and the design of each set, from Bob's office, to the lava flowing lounge on Syndrome's island is flat out gorgeous. And the slightest flick of hair, to the wrinkle of the clothes on the passersby is a detail few will notice, but many would miss if it wasn't there.
This also marks Pixar's first feature length movie that stars a cast of humans. Many have tried to capture the human element in CGI form. And very few have come even remotley close to looking real. Choosing to go a different route from the "real" human look, Pixar does one better and cartoons them up. Giving them exagerated features like giant chins, and ultra skinny bodies, but playing those features as real as possible, and matching them into their world is far more realistic than trying to make them so human like we wouldn't know if they were real or animated.
None of this however, would come to exciting life without the enchanting score of Michael Giacchino. The score is terrific as a big fat jazz band. It plays with the sexiness and adventure of the old Bond movies, and gives the movie a true life of it's own. Michael Giacchino gives us a theme for the Incredibles that I'll be whistling to myself for months. Also, Mister Giacchino does the music for the television show EVER! Lost.
FINAL ANALYSIS!The Incredibles is now my most favorit Pixar movie EVER! For a long time, A Bug's Life held that title. But it has been soundly trounced to 2nd place because of this movie. It's seriously in the top contender for best Super-Hero movie of all time! The soon to be released Fantastic-Four movie can only hope to be as good as this.
What's so amazing about Pixar as a company is that with each release, they top themselves. Not only technically, but story wise. They grow and mature with their audience, while capturing the imagination of brand new fans.
Brad Bird and the geniuses kept under lock and key at Pixar bring wonder and enchanment and adventure back into the animation Disney thought they were able to hold onto forever. And with trailers for Disney's upcoming Chicken Little, which looks like utter SHIT!! Pixar has a strong firm grip on the animation market. They have nothing to worry about when they're thankfully freed from Disney's selfish grip.
As for me? I'm getting ready to go line up for my third screening of this movie. I can't wait to see it in the next hour!