Superhero movies can come from creative and imaginative minds from varying networks of the comic book industry in both television and books. It seemed that in the period of time in the early 2000s that comic book movies were slowly coming back to life when X-Men came out and that was a solid treat because not many crowds were craving for a superhero movie at the time because of the failure of the disastrous Batman and Robin. People and studios were done with these movies. At time, they were the epitome of video game movies today as the trend still cannot be favored due to the badly produced work.
This movie was well before the Marvel Cinematic Universe started and we had a couple of good solid movies but some forgettable ones too. However, luckily, Pixar was on a very good streak with their movies with the Toy Story films, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc and Finding Nemo. The very latter was a masterpiece by many people including myself so I liked that Pixar took the approach of not topping itself because sometimes a director can get carried away with greatness or perfectionism and be disappointed and also audiences get greedy for another great movie from Pixar. I believe The Incredibles is an underrated Pixar movie that not many talk about because if you think about it, this is basically the best Fantastic Four movie ever made by miles. It accomplishes by balancing the superhero genre with reality with a hint of a spy genre with such precision by also tackling some mature themes going on with the Incredible household while tackling the super villain.
The movie starts when Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) and Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter) fighting crime on the day they are also getting married. Elastigirl or Helen Parr says to Mr. Incredible, Bob Parr, says that to make this marriage work that he needs to be more than just a superhero. However, after Mr. Incredible saved a man from suicide, the man sues him in court persuading public opinion to turn against superheroes due to their collateral damage to both the person's health and damaging property. After several lawsuits, Mr. Incredible and other superheroes are forced into relocate into another property and become civilians.
Fifteen years later, Bob is miserable and bored with suburbia and at his job. He and Helen have three kids: Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack. Bob wants to relive the glory days as he and his friend, Lucius aka Fro-Zone (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) secretly become vigilantes at night. While they do their task, Bob is spotted by a woman named Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Peña). One day, Bob loses his temper and his job after he sees a robber get away with a mugging and almost killing his supervisor (voiced by Wallace Shawn in a brief comical performance). Returning home, Bob sees a message from Mirage who convinces him to be Mr. Incredible again and go away on a mission. Afterwards, Bob lies to Helen that he is going to a sales conference.
After getting higher pay and some luxuries, Bob gets some confidence and has rigorous training while awaiting his next mission from Mirage. Later, he visits superhero fashion designer, Edna Mode,(voiced by Brad Bird, the director) to repair his blue suit while she insist on making a new suit for him. Helen, aware that Mode repaired his old superhero costume, visits the designer and she asks Helen if she know where Bob is. While on the island, Bob makes a disturbing discovery that will put his, his family's and the world's lives in jeopardy.
SPOILER ALERT!
This movie handles the theme of villains in the cartoons vs. villains in real life quite effectively. In the scene where Helen, Violet and Dash go into the cave on the island after Syndrome (voiced by Jason Lee) attacks them and "kills" them without Bob knowing that they are alive, Helen warns that the bad guys will not be forgiving towards them because they are children and that it is not like something that they see on television while watching Saturday morning cartoons. Helen tells them to use all their power against the villains' deadly forces. But, it also connects to the theme of pride in a way that also connects both Bob and Syndrome.
Syndrome is a great villain but let's be clear, he is unintentionally a villain. It is when Mr. Incredible's pride and duty that took over him that shunned a young Buddy or Syndrome because he prevented Syndrome of not helping Mr. Incredible. Syndrome became his own nemesis because of Mr. Incredible's pride of working alone and having all of his powers and showing them off. It is what hurt Mr. Incredible's ego because he thought saving people was the right thing but it is the collateral damage what hurts him and the rest of the superhero community. But, let me ask a question: would it all change if Mr. Incredible did not mind a helping hand from Buddy? Would it be his sidekick? It would have changed the whole movie and we'd have no villain.
Again, pride is what hurt Mr. Incredible's ego but also pride is what increased Buddy's ego of becoming Syndrome, a weapons designer and inventor but by cheating, killing all of the other superheroes with his inventions and prototypes by adding more and more features. His plan is good as he secretly sends his perfected Omnidroid to the city of Metroville to wreak some havoc in the city by manipulating it and then he can become the hero without anybody left. However, pride is a sin and it bites Syndrome back as the Omnidroid attacks him and causing the Incredibles to go to Metroville and destroy it with the help of Frozone. Pride also kills Syndrome as he wants to start over by trying to get away to kidnap Jack-Jack to train him but Jack-Jack turns into something else with his powers and scare Syndrome and his cape gets sucked into a jet turbine. This scene below foreshadows it very well.
Also, lastly, identity is a big theme throughout the Incredible family as they deal with marital status, child neglect and their existence. It is a psychological exploration as Bob struggles with his personal life as a civilian and Helen gets angry at Bob for committing a lie so he can become Mr. Incredible again by saving somebody from a burning building. Also, Violet struggles with her personality as she has a crush on a boy as she wants to be somebody and Dash wants to be in athletic events even though Helen forbids it because she thinks he will show off with his speed. Like Violet said, Jack-Jack is the only normal person until near the end of the movie.
The Incredibles is a very good movie at the start but the movie gets better and better with each viewing and is acknowledged as probably one of the best superhero movies ever made with a James Bond twist. Director Brad Bird and composer Michael Giacchino conveys the animation genre with great flair of imagination, realism, stakes and action with such precision that there is not much wrong with this movie. You can enjoy this movie for its entertainment but also commentate on the personal and maybe political themes going on with the narrative. It is rather odd as to why we did not get a sequel sooner rather than later. We are getting one next year in 2018. Hopefully.
Ok, ok, one more scene and the most hilarious scene in the movie...
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