THE INCREDIBLES

stars holly hunter, craig t. nelson, samuel l. jackson, jason lee
5/5

i really don't know where to begin when it comes to this film. writer and director brad bird ("the iron giant" - another great animated feature) knows how to combine the right amount to sentiment with action, humour, and emotion.

firstly, this is what the film is about. after an avalanche of lawsuits filed against super-heroes and the crippling effects of legal costs to the government, super-heroes were forced to relocate and make their "secret identity their only identity." moving fifteen years on, bob parr aka mr. incredible has struggled to let the glory days go, the days where he used his powers for the good of the people. instead, he is a pencil pusher at an insurance company being both degraded and unappreciated by his co-workers and boss.

bob then gets a mysterious message asking for his help. he jumps at the opportunity and starts getting back into shape and using his super powers and for the first time in fifteen years, mr. incredible was back. and his family? his wife helen (voiced by hunter) aka elastigirl has hung up her super hero outfit and has tried to lead a 'normal' like under the radar of everyone else. their kids, dashiel (or "dash") and violet both have their own powers too, super speed and invisibility respectively.

mr, incredible realises only too late that his new employer is really the bad guy, and suddenly his family are brought into the plans of a crazed fan.

while the animation in this film is definitely awe-inspiring, what really stands out are the interactions between the family members. brad bird has captured the essence of what it is to be a family in this film, and uses the characters to explore all those ideas. the script, voices (with an excellent performance by jason lee (mall rats, dogma) as "syndrome") and animation make this film absolutely amazing and while this is a family of super heroes, one can't escape the fact that deep down, emotion and feelings are something that everyone - super or not - has in common. and brad bird hits the spot every time.

other characters make this film really cool too, such as edna mode - the fashion designer of super heroes (voiced by mr. bird himself), and the kid who lives down the street (voiced by bird's son, also voiced "squirt" from finding nemo).

what this film is really about a family dealing with family issues... but being super heroes as well.

this film is the sh|t, it has everything to offer and only asks 115 minutes of your time.

go see this movie, it's bloody awesome.

-LOki