Movie Review: The Incredibles (2004) directed by Brad Bird
Once, there were superheroes. Brightly costumed beings with amazing inborn powers who fought crime and saved the world. But a series of lawsuits brought on by Mr. Incredible saving someone who didn’t want to be saved, plus having to clean up the mess caused by would-be sidekick Incrediboy, results in the government and public turning against superheroes. A law was passed making being a superhero in public illegal, and the heroes were brought into a sort of witness protection program to protect their identities.
Fifteen years later, we look in on the Parr family. Bob (Mr. Incredible) Parr misses his old life. He has no outlet for his incredible strength and durability, instead being stuck in a desk job he hates, working for a definitely for-profit insurance company where his asshole boss wants Bob to deny claims and crush the downtrodden. His only friend from the old days is Lucius (Frozone) Best, who has been out of touch with the other former heroes as well. Ellen (Elastigirl) Parr has been more flexible, adapting to her role as housewife and mother. She’d like to blend in and live a “normal” life, and only uses her stretching powers to help with household issues. Violet Parr is a shy teenager who has a crush on a boy, not helped by turning invisible. Dashiell (Dash) Parr is an energetic preteen whose superspeed abilities need a more productive outlet, since he’s forbidden to compete in sports. And “Jack-Jack” is the baby who hasn’t developed any powers yet.
After his abusive boss causes Bob to lose his temper and his job at Insuricare, Bob is told by his government contact that they won’t move him to a new location any more. But just as Bob is agonizing over how to tell Ellen and the family, he gets a job offer from a woman codenamed Mirage, who has an assignment only Mr. Incredible can fill. It’s too good to be true, but Bob decides not to ask too many questions as subduing a killer robot is right up his alley.
At first, everything seems fine, and Bob starts getting himself back in shape with a more positive attitude about life. But he’s lying to Ellen about what he’s doing for work. When an old enemy springs a trap for Mr. Incredible, it’s up to the rest of his family, the Incredibles, to get him out of this mess.
This 2004 movie is one of the best superhero films ever made. It has layers, from the awesome superhero combat, through domestic drama, to a surprisingly dark backstory.
The computer animation is state of the art for its time, and the cartoony character designs make up for some of its limitations. I especially like that the creators took time to animate the hair differently when it’s wet. While the exact timeframe of the movie is not clear (lots of anachronisms) the general aesthetic is Sixties spy movie and it looks great.
There are fun characters; costume designer Edna Mode is especially notable. The writers came up with a lot of quotable lines {“You sly dog! You got me monologuing!”) and the story flows well. Syndrome is a terrifyingly personal villain despite his plan being stupid.
There’s a lot of questions that don’t get answered in the movie (or the sequel), such as “where do superpowers come from?” and “wouldn’t the supervillains have just run rampant without the heroes to stop them?” Not to mention “wasn’t anyone in the government noticing all the disappearances?” Try not to think about these too hard during the actual movie.
Content note: There’s an attempted suicide towards the beginning, and a large number of people were murdered in the backstory. Also, children in peril. Parents may want to be sure to stay with more sensitive child viewers.
Overall: This is an excellent movie I’m happy to recommend to families and superhero fans.
