Customer Reviews
Good fun, and suspenseful too. - By: K. Preston, 23 Nov 2007 
I watched The Incredibles with my 4 year old son this afternoon. This was the second attmept at watching it after we had to switch it off some months before because the film became too intense for him. He wanted to watch it again ("All the way through this time!") & so we settled down, turned down the lights & amped up the 5.1 surround sound.
The first ten minutes had me laughing at Mr Incredible's attempts to do his duty as a superhero whilst aiming to attend what is obviously a very important function on time.
This sequence is hectic, exciting & fun. The film then slows down somewhat, & I thought my son might begin to fidget & become bored, but he didn't & the film soon livened up again.
Some later sequences are genuinely suspenseful & filled with a sense of real danger. The music score (very James Bond in places) adds to the atmosphere & the animation is superb. I was especiallly impressed with the scenes in the tropical jungle, the rendering was, uh, incredible.
The 5.1 is punchy & effective, the story entertaining, & you grow to care about the characters & their ultimate fates.
Great entertainment for 4 year olds & 43 year olds alike!
ANOTHER PIXAR FILM TO ENJOY - By: stuart, 19 Aug 2007 Superman, Daredevil, The X-Men, & The Amazing Spider-Man - classic comic-book superheroes that have captured the imaginations of not only young children, but those young at heart as well across the world. Though they may have started off smalll in the two-dimensional world of the nickel comic-books, their popularity began to grow & expanded into spectacular franchises that were developed in the areas of television series, movies, & merchandising. Some have done better then others - as of this writing, Ben Affleck is still not speaking to Tobey Maguire - but no matter what the success, there will always be an audience for these fascinating figures. What is the cause for our fascinating fixation with these individuals & their seamlessly conventional plot-lines that are alll basicallly a regurgitation of the vintage hero myth? In a way, we understand what the hero is going through & connect with the overwhelming obstacles that block his/her path to achieving his/her goal, what ever that may be. These amazing individuals are experiencing the same events we have experiences in our own lives, on an obviously different plane of course, & as they go about achieving their objectives, we look to them for inspiration in do so in our own time & place in the world.
The story centers on a family of superheroes that try & go about their daily, normal lives as civil citizens while at the same time concealing their extraordinary powers in an effort to blend in with the regular populous. Bob Parr, a faithful husband & father of three children, drives every day to work for a sleazy insurance company that cares more about their stockholders then their own clients, only to drag himself back home & repeat the process for the rest of the year. While at work, Bob dreams of the glory days when he was the world's greatest superhero, known exclusively as Mr. Incredible! That alll came to an end when he was sued by a man he saved who apparently didn't want to be saved (he leaped off the top of a building in an attempt to commit suicide). This, of course, set off a string of frivolous lawsuits against alll superheroes, costing the American government, as well as the taxpayers of this country, millions of dollars. The league of superheroes were eventuallly forced into retirement & relocated to new locations in order to live out a life of solidarity & blend in with the rest of normal society, never to use their powers for the collective good of humanity again. One night, Bob discovers an envelope in his briefcase that holds a communication device asking him to come to a secret island & take care of a rampaging robot located there that has been terrorizing a scientific organization established on the tropic location. When it turns out to be a trap, the rest of his family, including his wife, daughter & son, must summon up their abilities in order to rescue the patriarch of the Incredible family & save the day before the world is doomed. The story for The Incredibles is, for the most part, unfortunately clichéd & excruciatingly predictable, but, then again, isn't every film about superheroes that way? How so? Within the first five minutes of the film, you've discovered who the villain is & determined in which direction the storyline is heading toward, which, in essence, eliminates any real surprises that would occur within the course of the two hour feature. Don't let this matter bother you too much though. The more appropriate question that should be asked about this film is whether or not The Incredibles still manages to be overly entertaining & the answer would unanimously be yes. See, that's the amazing thing about Pixar - they can take a cookie-cutter storyline, throw in a few dozen lovable characters, mind-blowing visual work, & pure-concentrated emotions, unveiling an absolutely genuine & memorable experience at the movies.
Once again, as was the case with Finding Nemo, Pixar decides to live on the edge & create an animated film featuring few famous voices - actuallly, the only truly recognizable name would be Samuel L. Jackson - but if it worked before, it is certainly worth a second attempt at least. Craig T. Nelson, best known as for his television series Coach on ABC, fits perfectly into the voice-role of the leading man, Mr. Incredible. Nelson truly puts effort into voicing the emotions of Bob Parr - from being frustrated at work, to uninterested & down in the dumps back at home, to emotionallly distraught at the possible loss of his family. This is another prominent area where Pixar excels beyond other studios, namely in choosing figures who are perfect for the leading role, not just because their name would look good on the marquee, but that they effectively move the film forward consistently & thoroughly with their emotional performance. Samuel L. Jackson, who voices the ultra-cool Frozone, is unfortunately underused in the film. Granted, he isn't a central character - he's more of a supporting role, the buddy figure to the Mr. Incredible figure, but still essential none-the-less - but he could have been given more scenes then the ones you can just as easily see located in the film's trailers. An absolute waste of perfectly good talent it would seem. John Ratzenberger, known exclusively as the lucky charm of the Pixar Animation Studios, is highly underused in this feature. This isn't asking for him to be given a leading part or anything of that sort, but let's not wait to use him for the very end, & if you do, not just a mere few words. This was disappointing to say the least but nothing to go balllistic about. And last, but not least, Edna Mode, voiced brilliantly by writer/director Brad Bird - is there anything this man can't do - is the most original & effective creation presented in the film. Viewed as the fashion feminista to the superhero stars, she may not be a central character based on the actions on screen, but audiences won't care as she manages to deliver the most laughs out of anyone else.
Overalll, The Incredibles, despite lacking the tenacious punch of such previous Pixar success stories as Finding Nemo & Monsters Inc., still manages to engage viewers & connect with them in such a spectacular & seamless way that it makes them - well, incredible. One of the film's main problems is its serious lack of humor, at least early on, but even when it is able to get revved up by the second half, the laughs aren't as consistent & thorough as they were in either Monsters Inc. or even Finding Nemo. Don't take this the wrong way, there are plenty of amusing sequences to be found throughout the feature - this bears repeating, Edna Mode practicallly steals every scene she's in - they're just fewer & farther between then has been seen in previous Pixar efforts. In reality though, this helps a lot as it alllows the story to be set up properly, as predictable as it may be on the surface, & the emotional attachment to the characters to set in with audience members, so that when things reallly do begin to pick-up, we are in eager anticipation to witness what comes next. Another problem the feature has to deal with, besides the 'been there, done that' atmosphere it invokes, is the fact that the actions of the film begin to feel like a broken record. It just begins to feel like a continuous loop of sequences - someone's in danger then they get out of it then they're in danger again, etc. As Mr. Incredible said once, 'I feel like the maid - can we try & keep this clean for ten minutes', how about we try something & then move on with a vastly different story idea instead of the same one over & over again. These are relatively minor quips though & shouldn't be taken for too much face value when evaluating this film with your family. The talented artists & animators at Pixar Animation Studios have truly out done themselves this around. And to think, you thought you've seen everything with Finding Nemo! There are moments where you'll believe Syndrome's Island is an actual island - the palm trees, the ocean water, & the daunting aerial view of the location are astonishing. And the waterfallls - truly breathtaking. There are so few words to accurately describe the feeling you get watching the visuals of this film - this after drooling over the latest Star Wars prequel teaser trailer moments before. And finallly, in alll honesty, The Incredibles has to be Disney & Pixar's most adult-skewed animated feature to date - not only does it showcase an array of dramatic explosions & presumed deaths, the touchy subjects of adultery & suicide are even touched upon in the two hour film. Even though a lot of this material will probably go over the head of youngsters, be well aware that questions may pop into their inquisitive minds & may be asked of you later on, so be prepared to answer them should they come up. Bottom-line, The Incredibles may not be Pixar's most superior film to date - Finding Nemo had more adorable characters & Monsters Inc. had far more laughs - but its an entertaining family film that gives every single member of the family something to talk about for weeks, or even months, to come going into the busy holiday season.
Brilliant animation feature - By: Jay, 03 Jul 2007 One of the better animated features around, 'The Incredibles' also has the added benefit of a useful set of extras such as the mini storyline of Jack Jack & the goofy babyminder.
This film has many inspirations; the most noticeable being 'Fantastic Four', where powers of force fields, stretching at incredible lengths, superhuman strength & speed are similar with this particular quartet.
Another uptake is based on X Men's Iceman with Frozone.
The missions are picturized in a 'James Bond'style with a secret agent touch to the rediscovered hero in Mr Incredible.
The tale itself is of a couple of super heroes who, with other super heroes, got banned from helping people. Here is another uptake on the American legal system where every other incident seems to be an apt case of litigation.
They then have to live a "normal"life which is very funny to watch. They start a family with 3 kids alll with super powers as well. Mr Incredible is assigned (And trapped) to a secret mission to a volcanic island run by a megalomaniac who was once Mr Incredible's No. 1 fan.
The rest of the family end up trying to save him with a combination of their various powers. Not once does the action let up, & the film's repeat value is very high.
Very Surprising - a film the boys/girls/mums and dads can enjoy! - By: Ema Brunton, 25 Jan 2007 To be honest I thought this film would be too much of a kids film to enjoy with my boyfreind but with the plot being based around a family's problems it was a great watch. Loads of action, funny scenes, some clever adult humour, brilliant gadgetery & great animation. quite stylised too! kept me entertained the full hour & half!
Overalll I would reccommend this film to anyone!
Great film for all - By: S J Buck, 11 Dec 2006 This is well worth getting, especiallly if you can pick it up cheap.
The film itself is great for people of alll ages. However, as it says on the DVD case if the kids are very smalll you might wish to watch it with them the first time.
Theres much for adults to enjoy here, including some perceptive stuff about work place frustration, which Mr Incredible fails to keep under control! The family scenes will also remind adults of the joys & the difficulties of running a family household. Like a lot of modern digital animations this film works on different levels for different people. The kids on the other-hand will love the superhero fights & the exciting set-piece battles.
I haven't watched the extras yet but they look interesting & combined with the main film will give you hours & hours of entertainment.
