First of all I would like to state that The Incredibles has never been at the top, or anywhere else, of my list of "must see" films but it rained all day on Sunday and small person was bored. We've already "done" Santa's Grotto so were struggling to think of something to entertain him when a trailer advertising The Incredibles popped on to the tv screen. Of course there was no quietening him now and he begged, pleaded and whined to be taken to see it.
In desperation, my husband finally gave up all hopes of watching footie and agreed to take him, provided I came too. My cunning plan was to sneak in to a different showing when we got there, but I was foiled when husband bought the tickets, all for the film in question. We had an embarrassing few moments, when he stood there, looking gormless after being given his change from a £20 note and waiting for the rest, whilst the cashier gently told him that that was all he was getting and yes, it did cost almost £17 for two adults and one six year old to get into the cinema. Just shows how long it is since he's been to the "pictures". Probably cost one shilling and nine pence last time he went, for a back seat in the one and nines.
How people with several children ever manage to afford to go to the cinema at current prices is a mystery to me. With a bag of popcorn at £3 and a large coke for the same amount, you would need a bank loan if you intended to go on a regular basis.
Finally the magic moment arrived when we were all herded in. How
come people miles behind us in the queue managed to get in before us? I thought us Brits were the best queuers in the world but this wasn't the case to get into the cinema. A mad stampede was underway as the film is fairly new and there were an awful lot of people waiting to see it.
In no time we were all sitting comfortably and ready for the film to begin.
For those who haven't heard of the film before, it is a animated film by Pixar, who also produced such delights as Finding Nemo and Toy Story, to name but a few.
At the beginning of the film we meet Mr Incredible, a super hero, who speeds around the city performing heroic acts whilst glancing at his watch to see if he has time for just one more before his important appointment.
Several good deeds later we see him charging up to just get to his appointment in time and that is his own wedding, to fellow superhero, or should I say superheroine, Elastigirl.
Unfortunately during the course of some of his heroic deeds along with other superheroes and heroines, they get lawsuits slapped on them by people they've saved which results in them all being hidden by the Government in witness protection programmes and left to lead ordinary lives. This brought images to me of all the ads on tv lately, "have you had a trip or fall etc." though I think younger viewers might not see the irony.
He becomes Mr Bob Parr and his wife is Helen and they go on to produce three children, Violet, Dash(Dashiel), and Jack Jack. He spends his days working as an insurance claims specialist where the objective is never to pay up and find loop holes in all the claims, which he hates and can be seen helping out old ladies by telling them how to get round the refusals, much to the annoyance of his boss.
Some of his spare time he spends with one of his old friends and former superhero Frozone, aka Lucius Best, telling Mrs Parr they're off bowling, whilst really listening to a police scanner and doing the odd helpful deed in secret so as not to blow their cover.
When a mysterious person contacts him to perform one last superheroic task he can't resist taking up the offer, but tries to convince Helen that he is going about his normal day to day business. He makes such a success of the task that he can't help accepting yet one more job which leads him to meet his nemesis, Syndrome, and his family need to come out of hiding to save both him and the world
Leaving baby Jack Jack with a sitter, the others go to Mr Incredible's rescue. The children have all inherited their own powers. Violet can become invisible and put force fields round things and Dash as the name suggests, is incredibly quick.
I should hate to spoil it for you and tell you the outcome so I shan't go any further into the plot other than to say that the superpowers are all put to good use and there is plenty of action.
The animation is terrific. Bob Parr has impossibly broad shoulders, a square jaw, muscular arms and legs and the tiniest feet imaginable. He reminded me a bit of another cartoon character, Johnny Bravo, with less of a quiff.
His wife Helen can certainly stretch those limbs and they've given her a really huge pair of thighs, which is reassuring.
Daugher Violet looks slightly oriental and if I was Mr Parr, I would be questioning her parentage. She has the most enormous eyes and long straight black hair. Son Dash is a chip off the old block, hasn't got the square jaw yet but is shaping up nicely and baby Jack Jack, for most of the time just looks like an odd little baby.
I've listed below the cast who supplied the voices of our heroes.
Craig T Nelson - Bob Parr/Mr Incredible Holly Hunter - Helen Parr/Elastigirl Samuel L Jackson - Lucius Best/Frozone Maeve Andres - Jack Jack Parr Spencer Fox - Dash (Dashiel) Parr Sarah Vowell - Violet Parr Jason Lee - Buddy Pine/Syndrome
Haven't listed everyone or the list would go on for far too long.
Before I went to see the film I read a review in a newspaper which said that although the film is aimed at children, at 2 hours long it wouldn't keep their interest. Not suitable for adults as there was no hidden humour such as there was in Shrek and Sharks Tale and only really recommended for ages around 13-14.
I hate to argue with someone who actually gets paid good money for writing reviews but our six year old was glued to his seat for the entire time and thoroughly enjoyed it. I did have my doubts about my husband's appreciation as I swear I heard him snoring at the beginning of the film, but a sharp dig in the ribs soon rectified that and I even caught him laughing occasionally and he's such a misery that this was a major achievement.
Me, I quite enjoyed it and found it a pleasant way to pass a chilly and wet Sunday evening.
I apologise in advance for the quality of my review. I've never done a film before and there are some superb reviewers here who put me to shame but thought I would try anyway.
I know we're supposed to mention the soundtrack when writing about films but quite honestly I didn't notice it, very unobtrusive so I can't comment on that at all.
Postscript:
It is now a couple of weeks since we went to see this film. I was itching to write about it and there wasn't a product category for it. My pleas to Ciao for somewhere to put it fell on stony ground and I've had people on the case to help me to get one and then bugger me, if they don't put it up and forget to tell me, so by the time you get to read mine there will probably be about a thousand others before it, so sorry if it's a bit boring.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Dec 9th, 2004
exceptional by (15%):
very helpful by (83%):
helpful by (2%):
