The Incredibles

Voices of: Samuel L. Jackson, Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee
Directed by: Brad Bird
Rating: PG
Genre: Animated, Superhero, Adventure
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After an exciting life as Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) retires to live a quiet existence, raising his family. However, a mystery develops when he is summoned to a strange island, allowing him to don his costume once more and return to being a superhero.

Review:

Tim: At first, I thought this movie would be really bad. Right before I watched it, I had convinced myself (after listening to heaps of praise on it) that it would be a good movie. I heard so many great things about the film that I figured worst case scenario, I'd mildly enjoy it. I did not.

The worst part of all is that all the characters are blatant rip offs of long developed superheroes. See if you can follow me here- Mr. Incredible obviously takes his name from Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four and has a congolmeration of superheroes' powers- he is Captain America/Superman (without the flying and lazer eyes)/The Thing (without orange rock skin). Elastigirl is a female Mr. Fantastic. Dash is clearly The Flash, and his sister is the Invisible Woman. Frozone is Iceman. These are all blatant rip offs. The worst of all is that the biggest theft comes from The Fantastic Four, a family of superheroes. I thought people would actually care, but apparently I'm the only one who is loyal to the original incarnations.

Even worse, the film is incredibly predictable. I know it is a children's movie, but I didn't necessarily know how The Little Mermaid or The Lion King would turn out. With this film, I saw everything coming a mile away.

Most good animated movies have hilarious humor in them, designed to appeal to all demographics. Take Shrek, for example- the film is very, very funny. With The Incredibles, I maybe laughed once. The rest of the time, the jokes fall flat or just aren't very good at all.

I was barely entertained throughout the film, and more often felt pangs of boredom. The strongest part of the movie is the animation- it is awe-inspiring, truly something to behold.

Although I'd convinced myself I would like it, and actually looked forward to seeing this movie, I have to say that I was incredibly disappointed. However, I also recognize that once again, I am in the minority. I am still baffled as to how this film financially and critically succeeded. I'd recommend this to little kids because they'll love it, but I simply did not.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Fantastic Four, Superman, Shrek, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo