1st THE INCREDIBLES Review!!

By Wind(up)bird September 20, 2004 4:55 AM

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Had the great fortune of seeing a work in progress and all I can say is, roll on November so I can see it complete. Posted on aintitcool.com CONTAINS SPOILERS

Some of the situations the super heroes find themselves in are so typical of society today - if you sneeze at the wrong person you get sued and that's what happens to our poor heroes who are just trying to live up to their reputations and keep the world a safer place - they get sued for damage to property, endangering innocent lives and forced to renounce their powers and go into hiding ? think of it as witness protection plan for superheroes.

But some of them find it difficult to cope, especially if you work in a deadend job as an insurance adjuster with a snotty short guy as your boss, out to humiliate you every day because that's the only way he gets noticed ? being stuck in traffic with the rest of us mere mortals - but Mr Incredible's temper tantrum is slightly more damaging than ours - think very small Japanese car, 6.8 tall superhero with his arm out the window, crumpling the frame of the door and roof unintentionally as he tightens his grip out of sheer frustration.

The scene where he gets home, gets out of the car, trying to close the door but of course it won't since the frame is crumpled, is priceless.

There are many such comedic moments but you can absolutely identify with these characters. Poor Dash (their young son) has a very difficult time too - at athletic events at school his parents confuse the hell out of him when they're "cheering" him on ... 'no, no slow down slow down .. OK, go faster now .." obviously he'd leave the rest of the sprogs in the dust if he were to run at full speed but that would risk exposing the family's 'true' identity. But the film has darker moments than most of Pixar's films to date.

SPOILER SPOILER; At one point, Dad thinks his family had been killed in a plane crash as mom and the rest of the gang attempt to rescue him - I must admit, as a CG character Mr Incredible actually displays more emotion than some of the A list actors we've seen recently - you really feel for the guy. There's lots of stunning moments that lift Pixar movies from the 'rest' - Edna Mode is one of my favourite characters - that deadpan voice and expression gets me every time. And Mr Cool himself, 'Frozone' nails it every time - you've seen the bit in the trailer where he asks his wife for his superhero suit in that resigned whine husbands usually have when asking their wives something without wanting to piss them off.

I'm sure other readers will have more detailed and better reviews than this one but I really felt that The Incredibles reached so many different levels that would appeal to different people out there - the frustrated husband who feels worthless because he can't save lives anymore, Elastigirl who seems happy doing the whole family thing but you can't help but think she's also longing for the days when she kicked butt and showed the guys how it should be done, and the kids who have these superpowers but it's drilled into them from an early age that they cannot be preceived as 'different'.

It would be interesting to see feedback once more people have seen the film but for one, I'll be there when it opens, waiting to share this fantastic experience with an audience.

Call me Miss Harris

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