n a world where superheroes preserve order, Mr. Incredible (Nelson) is the most super of them all—he can't even get to his own wedding without stopping along the way to foil a robbery, save a victim from certain death and help a cat out of a tree. But when a rescue attempt brings the first of a glut of lawsuits filed by ordinary humans who were injured or otherwise maligned by his lifesaving efforts, he and the rest of his kind are sent into hiding, relocating across the country in less-than-super jobs.
Discarding his trademark uniform, Mr. Incredible transforms himself into mild-mannered insurance salesman Bob Parr and takes up a domestic life with wife Helen (Hunter) and kids Dashiell (Spencer Fox), Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Jack Jack (Eli Fucile). Everything in his life is perfectly safe—a pencil-pushing job, a monotonous daily existence—until he receives a call from a mysterious figure named Mirage (Elizabeth Pena), who offers him the opportunity to don the tights once again and save an isolated island paradise from a powerful robot. When he easily succeeds, Bob feels incredible once again and secretly rededicates his days and nights to the life that once fulfilled him.
What Bob soon discovers is that Syndrome (Lee), a former fan club member turned supervillain, has set his sights on ruling the world as a "hero" with an iron fist rather than an open handshake. He captures Mr. Incredible with his latest invention and leaves him to die within his island compound. When Helen discovers Bob's ruse, she furiously returns to the superhero fray as well, enlisting their kids to rescue her husband—if only so she herself can wring his neck later. Soon, however, the entire family is embroiled in a battle for the future of the planet and must once again reveal their powers to the world in the hope that they might save the day.
Characters with character
Just weeks after Dreamworks creatively floundered with Shark Tale, their follow-up to the indisputably better Shrek 2, Pixar, the folks responsible for the best films of the digital era, step in to show them how CGI animation is done right. Like all Pixar films, The Incredibles bears all the hallmarks of their past classics: sharp characters, a well-written story, great animation and enough color and style to attract the attention of audiences from 5 to 50. But this film carries the distinction of being the first in the company's history to attack more adult material—such as Spider-Man-style action—and roundly earns its PG rating.
That isn't to say the film is designed exclusively for parents instead of kids; rather, instead of giving characters googly eyes and cutesy conflicts, writer-director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) embraces the pulpy comic-book origins of the material and allows for some truly incredible action scenes. At the same time, the story explores mature themes recurrent with the underlying motifs in Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo—namely, parental responsibility, aging and the realization that not everything can be controlled—and packages them in such a fantastic visual setting that you hardly realize that you're actually learning something while being entertained.
The voice casting in this film is particularly strong, featuring less familiar actors like Craig T. Nelson (TV's Coach) alongside stalwart performers like Holly Hunter, not for the purposes of stunt casting but for the best reason of all—to make the characters come to life. Nelson, whose actual career is on the wane, lends gravity and heartfelt sentiment to Mr. Incredible and reflects with remarkable power the feeling of obsolescence that people get when they realize their gifts just aren't in demand anymore. Hunter turns a shrill housewife role into something hugely more substantial and gives the film an emotional dynamism—and a genuine sense of conflict between the heroes' super and regular lives—that brings Bird's fantasy world back down to earth for us mortals to relate to.
