If Pixar values a good story, then "The Incredibles" makes sense. As the years go by, films come and go, but no group of filmmakers in the past nine years - since the release of "Toy Story" in 1995 - has produced such consistently excellent films. From the "Toy Story" movies, to the "Seven Samurai"-inspired plot of "A Bug's Life," to stories of monsters and fish, Pixar has been a mainstay in quality filmmaking. And with "The Incredibles," Pixar will not have its first misstep.
When you thought that the people at Pixar couldn't get any smarter, they took pre-emptive measures for "The Incredibles." They signed hand-drawn animator Brad Bird to write and direct. This is like pulling your starting pitcher after five shutout innings. The reason? They wanted to shake things up and get a new perspective before things even thought about getting stale. And boy, does it pay off.
"The Incredibles" is not your typical Pixar film. First, it's rated PG, which may not sound like such a big deal, but after five G-rated Pixar films, "The Incredibles" has references to suicide, lawsuits and even machine guns. The film is entirely suitable for all audiences, but Pixar is still taking risks by upping the ante in content. Unlike recent smash-hit computer-generated movies like the "Shrek" films, Pixar movies give the audience an unbelievable amount of credit, and don't treat viewers like commercial whores who just want to see more farting and references to "Spider-Man" ('cause we've all seen that movie, so we can all be in on the joke!). Thematically, "The Incredibles" is a step forward for Pixar by addressing more complex content.
What Bird's film also brings is the more-amazing-with-each-movie computer effects of Pixar films. With "The Incredibles" being the first human-starring Pixar film (humans being very difficult to animate), and featuring eye-popping and engrossing action sequences, it surpasses expectations and sets standards for movies of this kind.
Balancing out the stellar animation is the equally stellar story. The plot concerns a society that turns away its superheroes and forces them into hiding. However, it's up to Mr. Incredible and his superpowered family to stop Syndrome, voiced by Jason Lee in a stroke of casting genius, who is threatening the world and has major beef with Mr. Incredible and his family. The characters are 3-D in more ways than just animation. Craig T. Nelson brings all the heartfelt emotion to Mr. Incredible that John Goodman brought to his character in "Monsters, Inc." However, the best character in the film is Mr. Incredible's teenage daughter, Violet. The shy, unsure-of-herself Violet, voiced by Sarah Vowell, is a reluctant heroine and a tremendously effective character.
The film also follows Pixar's past films by throwing in a handful of pop-culture references that award watchful viewers. Past Pixar films have referenced anything from "2001: A Space Odyssey" to "Evil Dead 2." "The Incredibles" is no exception. At one point, if you keep your ears open, you can catch a reference to Kevin Smith's cult film "Mallrats."
Fans of comic books or anything superhero-related will only eat up "The Incredibles" that much more, with everything from its "Watchmen"-esque use of retired superheroes to its "Batman: The Animated Series"-like cityscape.
"The Incredibles" is yet another powerhouse film from Pixar, and it makes you wonder just how long it can keep up this level of quality. Where individual filmmakers like Tim Burton, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg going off the deep end with remakes or unnecessary alterations, the collaborative atmosphere of Pixar remains the beacon of excellence and sanity in the film world. There is no better proof of this than "The Incredibles"
