Yet another indication of just how busy I am, I saw The Incredibles two weeks ago, opening day as a matter of fact, and this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write a review for it. In all probability everyone who wanted to see it has seen it already, and most of the money it will make from here on out will be from repeat viewers - young children with very poor memories or incredibly desperate women who swoon over Captain Incredible (hey, if women can salivate over Leonardo DiCaprio, they can do it over anyone). The Incredibles is a far more dense movie than Pixar has ever attempted in the past. Whereas the entire plot of Finding Nemo can be summed up in a single sentence such as ‘small fish gets lost, father travels to find him,’ The Incredibles is going to take a little more work. Captain Incredible is a superhero, sort of like Superman only with no flying capability (and though he is tough we never get the impression that he’s actually bulletproof). In going about his superhero days, busting criminals and stopping natural disasters and such, people are inevitably injured. One day all these injured people decide to sue (though the fact that often the alternative to their injury would have been death doesn’t seem to dissuade them), and CI, along with the other superheroes, are put into the witness relocation program by the government to protect them from the lawsuits with the promise that they try and adjust to normal lives, that they will never be superheroes again. Married to Elastic Girl (think Plasticman as a woman) with son Dash (the Flash) and daughter Violet (invisibility and force fields, though why those two powers are related is beyond me), and living in the ‘burbs, grinding out a living as an insurance claims adjuster is a little wearying for CI. Together with Frozone (Samuel Jackson in a sort of insulting role as the token black guy), he hangs out and listens to the police scanner at night, reliving the glory days. Then one day he is contacted by a mysterious woman with a mission to corral a rampaging robot… See? It’s hard to cover all that in just one sentence, and that’s really only half the film. Beyond being more dense, The Incredibles is also far more violent than any previous Pixar movie. I’m not talking about cartoon superhero violence, of which there is plenty of POW! and ZOT! and such, but real violence, dark moments, and a little bit of death. Though not a parent, I think some of it would be a little traumatic for younger audience members. But what do I know? There were six year olds at the theater when I saw Freddy vs. Jason. The more extensive plot naturally carries with it more exposition, slower spots, not so much for adults with normal spans of attention but again the young children. There are also fewer overall laughs, leaning closer to action/adventure than comedy. The closest comparison that comes immediately to mind is Spy Kids. What this all adds up to is a Pixar film that really isn’t geared towards very young children, which represents a pretty radical departure from the typical cartoon business model which is written primarily for children but tries to include the adults. The Incredibles is instead a movie consisting of adult themes - life’s drudgery, jealousy, responsibility, and revenge - with some quick jokes and action to try and keep the children entertained. As a result I’m not sure I’d want to bring a kid to it at all. It’s certainly no Finding Nemo. The Incredibles is a film that is good but not great. It’s a cute film, carrying a little more entertainment weight among people like myself who are still into the whole superhero genre and watch Batman TAS and the Justice League, but for people like my wife who are not generally entertained by superhero stories - she was a little less thrilled, seeing it easily as the weakest Pixar movie yet (whereas I bestow that dubious honor upon Toy Story 2). Incidentally, with the Incredibles came the trailer to Pixar’s next movie Cars, which looks like nothing more than a Nascar primer for toddlers. I hope it’s not as weak as the trailer looks, because it looks plenty weak.

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