The penultimate release from Pixar comes in the form of The Incredibles. A light hearted, comic book style animated feature about the life of a family of super heroes and how they try to cope with life in suburbia after super powers are outlawed, and super heroes are relocated to the mundane lives that you and I live in.

I’ll put my hands up and say that I have fallen asleep watching every Pixar film. I don’t understand why people enjoyed them so much, perhaps I just don’t have that child in me to appreciate the simpler, less complex pieces of cinema. Toy Story bored me, Toy Story 2 bored me, A Bug’s Life was incredibly bland, I don’t remember if there were anymore. I certainly found Finding Nemo colourful, but ultimately crying for something to lift above monotony.

So, it’s with great surprise that I can say I absolutely loved The Incredibles and immediately ranks as one of my favourite films of 2004 animated or otherwise. From the opening parody of interviewing a super hero which is both brilliantly scripted and superbly directed (as is the rest of the film), to the final comic book end credits; everything about this film speaks fun, humour and enjoyment.

In terms of animation and CGI, it’s a mixed bag. The key characters and all sub characters are brilliant animated. They frown when mad, they slap their heads in annoyance, they grimace, smile, they look concerned; In short, they act and behave as you or I might with in body language and in expression. It’s a credit to the animation team for such attention to detail.

There are times, however, that the not so important characters look rather abstract by comparison. I understand the need to convince the audience of the quality of the main characters, but the non-interactive characters don’t seem to express the same level of detail. It’s a minor annoyance on my part, simply because it takes away from all the effort centered around the core characters. They just look rubbish.

I love the script from how it all begins to how it all ends. There are some truly absurd situations, but it comes across as a satire of American life. There’s a particular scene regarding the suing of a super hero, which I won’t explain, but that whole attitude and perception which is transmitted around the world (money hungry people ready to sue for anything) is both hilarious and poignant in its message. There probably isn’t a message, but it works well enough to suggest as much.

The stereotypes of working in insurance and that whole bureaucratic life; the head of insurance (displayed as a small dwarf like man, with a 9 ‘O Clock shadow, greased hair and a bullish attitude) are beautifully perfectly captured. I’ve worked for, as have my friends, for directors and bosses who are exactly like this (except the dwarf part, but that’s cutting it close), with the same self absorption that is displayed in the film.

I particularly love the character of Edna, the stereotypical fashion designer – people like this do exist (sadly I’ve met and known a few), with their pretentious garbage pouring out of every orifice and yet again a self absorption in what they say, rather than what is happening around them. Still, her character and her script is just brilliant and perfectly captures a fair representation of the stereotype. It’s perhaps more frightening that Brad Bird (the director) is the one who voices Edna with such aplomb! Wonder who’s been trying out his mothers clothes as a child?

Other favourite characters are actually extras, including the child on the trike who’s waiting for something amazing to happen, to the youngest member of the Incredibles family. All of which are funny, and brilliant characters (although the baby doesn’t get anything significant until the end, but what a temper!). Of course I enjoyed Helen Hunt, Samuel Jackson as well as Craig Nelson as the main cast. Jason Lee as the pain in the backside bad guy, Syndrome, was also brilliant. In fact you can’t fault the voice acting for anyone, and the script obviously adds to the excellence.

Brad Bird is a gifted writer, his first script being the adaptation of Ted Hughes (dark) children book, The Iron Giant. Although super-kiddified for the screens, it was nonetheless a brilliant blend which appealed to both adults and kids. As a person, he’s also rather animated, and I’d rather see that in a director than some restrained boring sod who prefers to wear a suit and tie and talk about how it moved him. This is also his first Pixar picture, and a brilliant addition to the crew. I really hope they give him more to do, as it’s rather ironic that his is the first Pixar film that I’ve actually liked.

The only criticism that can be levelled at The Incredibles is it’s humour. In terms of pace, voice acting and animation, it’s brilliant. However, the humour is far, far too sophisticated for children and will fly over their heads. My half-brother started to get bored until the action started, as he hardly understood what was going on.

For young children, it’s just too complex to comprehend what satire is, and therefore just seems overly aggressive, and lacks humour for them. I guess that’s the problem I have with the film; on the one hand it’s a beautifully animated feature which seems to be aimed at the families and in particular children; on the other hand it’s far too sophisticated in its script to really appeal to children, and I would argue that adult would find the script much more humourous than the children (if the children even understand anything). I like it the way it is, but I can see a lot of children being bored most of the time as the characters play out their repetitive and mundane lives until the action takes over.

Personally though, I loved pretty much everything about this film and ended up watching it twice. Once with, and once without the 8 year old. I enjoyed it both times, and probably enjoyed it more the second time than I did the first. It’s really a great piece of entertainment, which never takes itself too seriously, and is all about escapism. Yes, it’s incredibly predictable, but that’s not the point, as there is no pretense to be anything other than a family film where you know the good guys will win and the bad guys will lose.

I’m still shocked that Finding Nemo has become one of (or it the?) the most popular animated films of all time. For me it was an atrocious piece of garbage which neither engaged nor entertained. It all felt artificial and dull. By contrast, The Incredibles is the opposite in every respect and a far, far superior presentation than Finding Nemo. Aside from which, it’s also one of the better and definitely one of the best animated features I’ve seen in a very long time.

Verdict: Funny, fun, frantic animated feature. One of the best films of 2004 and a brilliant one at that