I am sure everyone reading this will by now be familiar with the storyline: superhero gets sued for saving someone's life; superheroes go into retirement to save the government paying out on more damages claims; master villain appears on the scene and the superheroes decide to come out of retirement, put on their costumes and fight the evil genius. In a nutshell that is what the film is all about - it doesn't sound that appealing though, does it?
Well, let me put this right.
My wife and I were in charge of six 7 & 8 year old boys: this was a birthday party for our eldest and taking him and his friends to The Incredibles was the party. I was in some trepidation, I must say, especially for the first 15 minutes when the local cinema was showing trailers and trying to sell ice cream (£2.80 a tub!!), I was concerned at my ability to keep the boys under control. But within seconds of the main feature starting, the boys stopped their noise, stopped the fidgeting and slowly became totally mesmerised. For the whole hour and forty minutes or so they were totally captivated - and they were not the only ones; at times my eyes were so full I couldn't see, I have never been so moved and laughed so much since I cannot remember when.
It is not just the brilliant animation and effects that make this film a joy to watch and listen - and this must be Pixar's best film to date - it was also the story itself: well written and entertaining at all levels. I have no doubt that some of it was too subtle and deep meaning for younger children (but they didn't notice!!).
The Incredibles was intellectually stimulating for the adults in the audience and made one think about relationships: making one realise that the way you treat someone as a child can dramatically influence how they behave as an adult; it also dealt with how people who are "different" can be pilloried by society, treated as freaks, ostracised and, essentially, feared - on account of the fact that they are different - in the context of the film it was applied to super heroes, but the analogy with the way people of different races, colour, religion etc have been similalry treated over the centuries was plain for anyone to see. The flip side was about integration, how those who are different have to work so hard to fit in and become accepted.
Don't let me put you off though, all of the above was there if you wanted to see it, but for those who wanted to enjoy the action, the imagery and enjoy a super hero classic - The Incredibles has it all.
It is a must see film if you have children. It is a must see fill if you don't - but if you feel a little guilty, offer to take your friends' or neighbours' children there as a treat and no-one will now better! And you won't have to worry about how much of a nuisance they will be - the film will take care of that worry!
I now cannot wait for The Incredibles to come out on DVD, it will be a must buy.
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Great review...No matter how many reviews I read about this, I dont seem to have put my wants into action and gone to see it.....I guess it will be DVD for me!
Dec 17th, 2004
very helpful by (53%):
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