*** Official THE INCREDIBLES Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Adam_S]

The Incredibles - :star::star::star::star:
35mm print

...

I can't think of any single quote to pull from the film to preface how absolutely perfect this experience was. Besides I don't want to ruin the discovery of great moments that the trailers have brilliantly concealed.

There are so many great moments. Dash was easily the audience favorite, he has some of the best sheer on fabulously entertaining moments of the film. But the rest of the family was equally incredible. People will absolutely love Elastigirl, she's so damn, smart, savvy, sexy, and all around kick ass. And when she and Mr Incredible go into 1930s-40s Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy banter (actually I've not seen enough of that pairing to compare, a better analogy would be the leads in "Only Angels have Wings" but the Hepburn/Tracy analogy will be more well known) the film just enters pure bliss. And let's not forget that blossoming badass of womenhood, Violet. Don't get me wrong, she's no Charlie's Angel, she's much better--completely real and damn well done in gaining self confidence and control.

The bad guy is easy to spot and deliciously maniacal (in a Goldfinger sort of way). Frozo brought the house down every time he appeared on screen. The effects and action scenes were the most enjoyable this year, especially when the family comes into play. this is easily the most entertaining and effortless origin story since Spider-man, and in my opinion it surpasses it by doing so many of the things that film did right and then improving upon them.

Then there is the character of the whole family when they're together, absolutely beautifully done. Most live action films don't get family so right.

Add to this stunning animation full of sumptous detail (look at the subtle carvings barely discernable on Edna's walls!). The hair effects were amazing. Wonderful training sequence. The pace is brilliantly handled, as well done as Pirates, Bourne Identity, T2, and DieHard.

Oh and the score is wonderful, Bondish energy and homages abound in the music. Perfectly matches the action tone of the film.

I can't wait to see this again, in theatres on opening weekend; Brad Bird (and Pixar) knocked another one out of the park.

Oh and the cars trailer looks outstanding fun (also a scope film) and Boundin was good too (although it was not as good as the Birds in front of Monsters Inc.).

Adam

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "The Incredibles". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

 

[BridgetJZ]

After getting the opportunity to see a sneak peak of the Incredibles last night, I have to say that this is probably one of the best films that I've seen all year and possibly one of the best animated films ever made.



Amazing performances by the entire cast, especially Craig T Nelson, Holly Hunter and Brad Bird.



Some extremely funny moments, very likeable characters.



This is a movie that everyone will enjoy

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

This movie is, without a doubt, the best I have seen this year. It has real drama, surprises, action, and humor. Rarely have I seen such a combination of brilliant homage and sheer imagination. I look forward to seeing this again soon.



Rating:

/

 

[Peter Kline]

I saw the film today at a 12 O'Clock (midday) show. It was wonderful. One of the things that I realized after seeing it was that I completely forgot it was animated and just accepted the characters as if they were flesh and blood actors. An amazing feat considering they were not exactly "human-looking". Their movements were the best I've ever seen and the backgrounds and "art direction" and "sets" were spectacular. The ending seems to set things up for a sequel. Preceeding the film were lots of trailers for upcoming non-Pixar animation that simp[ly paled in comparison. The trailer for "Cars" was interesting but I'd suspect that those scenes may or may not be in the final film. A tv spot showing Mr. Incredible yelling that he'd like salad while attempting to get into his uniform is not in the film. The DVD should have lots of these unused scenes. The action sequences were quite exciting by the way. Estimates are that it will do between 75 and 80 million over the weekend (including the Thursday night showing). We'll see.



:star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2:star: out of 5

 

[Chris]

Hilarious. One of the best action movies I've seen (period). The spirit in the film captured everything I loved about the original superman, and early super-hero films, lots of heart, great action, spirited bad guys..



This was a film that had me saying "this is EXACTLY" what I wanted.



Parental asides were hilarious, some of the lines that stuck out to me included:



Bad guys watching destruction happen on TV in a van, as the incredibles sneak by.. the line "Ok, here's the rules.. when they run, you take 1 shot" while they pass around a bottle.. cracked me up!



The adult asides within this film were fantastic, went quickly by so as to not puzzle kids but blended into the film. Our young boys cheered and rooted on the good guys.. the action was fast, furious and hit on all the comic book elements you could want.



Toy Story 2 will always reside as what I believe the most touching Pixar film I've seen. But "The Incredibles" may exist as the greatest example of a pure-action film, in the spirit of Superman, Indiana Jones, etc. popcorn entertainment ever done in animation.


Even if you do not have kids, break it out.. go see this film for the action of it, it's -that- good.


This is a film you should see as many times as you can, I'd give it as high a rating I can, it's easily in my top ten for the year.

/

 

[Brian Kaz]

The Direction was superb. So were the sets, the voices, the animation, the lighting....



Everything I could ever want in a Superhero film is in The Incredibles.



Thank you, Brad Bird!

 

[Quentin]

Highest possible rating. Best super-hero/comic book movie of all time - eclipsing the original Superman for me.



Best Bond movie too...though, a Bond for kids.



Soundtrack deserves the Oscar as does the film.

 

[Chad R]

Don't get me wrong, Pixar's weakest effort (A Bug's Life) is still better than most people strongest efforts, but The Incredibles is not one of their best outings.



The effects are superb, the set-up is brilliant, and there are several hysterical bits--but the story arc is the problem here.



Mainly, the movie's spectacle become less incredible (bad pun, I know) as the movie plays on. Each set piece is weaker than that which precedes it, with a finale that's already happened once in the movie.



For such a wonderfully original premise, the film becomes very pedestrian by its conclusion.



It's hip, 60's throwback has already been done by Austin Powers three times, so the mood of the film seems more like borrowed parody rather than affectionate homage.



It's also difficult to come up with original Suerheroes, just about all of the characters here have counterparts somewhere (mostly in the Marvel universe), and since they're played straight there's less humor in them.



Disappointing for Pixar (but, only becuase they're set their own bar so damn high).

out of Five.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

My simple review: B+



I took my kids (4 and 7) to see this and I was disappointed for them. The first half really dragged once the setup of superheros must put away their capes was done. The movie was much more like a James Bond picture with 007 (Mr Incredible) having superpowers, right down to the villian's "secret lair" location and music. The violence of this movie was another big let down, again from my kids perspective. This wasn't Buzz Lightyear cartoon-like violence. This was realistic violence with realistic looking guns, bullets, and lots of talk about killing people, including kids. Way more adult than I was expecting.



For ages 8+ this movie is good but I think the first 60 minutes could have been cut to 20 minutes without any loss, especially since it deals with adults wanting to relive their past in the glory days and raising kids to hide their superpowers. My wife and I would definitely have enjoyed this movie more if we did not bring the kids. The kids mostly enjoyed it but it did get a little intense and scary at times.



Chuck Anstey

 

[John Haghighi]

I went into this movie for ROTS trailer, they didn't show it. What a disappointment.



After the movie, I was so happy I stayed, the most entertaining movie I've seen this year "."

 

[Randall Z]

I guess you can count me among the disappointed. No RotS trailer and then the movie itself was a big letdown. Lots of action, but I didn't find it as humorous as other Pixar films. I thought the cast did a good job with what they had to work with, but I was just disappointed by how much this film lacked a lighthearted side.



Another reviewer eluded to the violence. This too was a disappointment. There was a lot of talk about killing and seeing people shoot at kids was kind of disturbing in a film that is supposed to be geared toward children. There were also a couple of deaths in the film that were a little to much for a disney film, IMO. (I won't get into too much detail as I don't want to spoil it).



Anyway, the production quality for Pixar films gets better with each one. The animation was simply amazing. The soundtrack was impressive. This film is truly a technical marvel.



Unfortunately it just didn't do "it" for me.

/5

 

[Patrick Sun]

I think the first hour of the film stumbles a bit, more along the lines of "is there a good payoff for this detour?" and then when you get there, there isn't a truly interesting payoff for that arc, especially when the big bad is pretty much telegraphed, and the villainous actions just compels the retired heroes into protective mode for their family members. But, the 2nd hour offers much more in terms of super-powers on display and it's fun to watch because it's full-tilt action and spectacle. I think there's about 10 minutes that could have been pruned from this film and still have the core story be just as fun to watch.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

 

[ScottR]

Wow, what a huge disappointment. In my opinion, PIXAR failed on this one.



Pros- The "Edna" character was a lot of fun.

The realistic hair and backgrounds.

The music.

The voice actors



Cons- Way, Way too long

Felt more like a sequel...would have been better if

the film took place in the city with more crime-

fighting.

Wasn't as "cute", funny, or generally entertaining

as most animated films (especially those of PIXAR.)

The superhero film has been done to death, in live-

action.....so, I don't feel an animated film on this

subject is all that needed.

The villain was weak, in every sense of the word.



Grade: C- (The worst PIXAR film yet.)

My PIXAR RANKINGS FROM BEST TO WORST:

Finding Nemo

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

Monsters, Inc.

A Bug's Life

The Incredibles



Hopefully they can redeem themselves with CARS next year.

 

[Ray Chuang]

Having seen this movie, I felt that while technically the movie is a grand slam home run, storywise the movie is only a triple (the action sequences actually get a bit repetitive by the last quarter of the movie).



Alas, I don't think it will knock off Shrek 2 for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

/

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I have never ever in my life seen a picture more than once in a theater.



This film, will be the first.



I have only seen the Incredibles once, and it is already my favorite of the Pixar films. I thought it had a great mix of action, suspense, and comedy. The voice acting was exelent, and I would especially want to point out the terriffic job done by Jason Lee.



The sound of the film, including the effects as well as the musical score just made it that much easier for me to fall in to what was happening.



If I follow my own theory which is that there is no such thing as a perfect picture...I'll give this 4.5/5.

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

I loved it.



This has the lightest story and least humor of all five PIXAR movies, but I won't hold that against it.



Because it's by far the most exciting and best paced of all their films, however. The action makes it the first film I've ever seen to match a comic book in terms of sheer scope. And like every PIXAR movie, I fell in love with the characters within twenty minutes. All of them. I really cared for their plight.



Brad Bird does a wonderful job. I sense his style more than John Lassiter's. There's a lot of Iron Giant in here from the tone to the charcater designs. It walks a very fine line between satire and homage before finally falling completely into homage. It's a wonderful wonderful movie.



Even the short was great. It's ten years later and PIXAR can still do no wrong.

 

[JonZ]

1/2 out of 4

s



LOVED IT!!

 

[Peter Kline]

Dont worry, Shrek 2 will not win teh Oscar. It's a sequel and they usually don't. The Incredibles is as much a shoo-in as possible, but time will tell.

 

[dpippel]

Saw The Incredibles last night with my wife and kids (8 and 11) and we all LOVED it. It was funny, witty, touching, exciting, and wonderfully executed. The audience actually cheered and applauded as the credits rolled up. I can't remember the last time I witnessed that. One of the best films I've seen this year. Pixar has done it again.

/