johnlink ranks THE INCREDIBLES (2004)
Generations from now we will look back on these first several Pixar films the way we do the original Disney features. SNOW WHITE and PINOCCHIO and movies of that era have a timelessness and an untainted legacy which Disney has struggled to reproduce ever since. Usually, it was too much intervention which watered down the studio’s films. They had another golden era from LITTLE MERMAID to LION KING (and I don’t just say this because I grew up with those films, they really did have several in a row which were great) and have been in a lull ever since. Pixar is separate from Disney in that they had their own creative minds which the normal Disney animation studios had to keep their hands off of. In fact, when the Disney/Pixar contract ended, the folks who ran Pixar basically negotiated to come in and run Disney. If Disney weren’t such a brand name, you could basically say that Pixar now runs Disney.
Anyway, I watched THE INCREDIBLES (2004) for the fourth or fifth time on 3.7.09. It is the story of a family of super heroes trying to be normal after heroes are banned from doing their jobs.
NOTE: THIS RANKING UTILIZES THIS SITE’S ORIGINAL SYSTEMIC ARTICLE WRITING METHOD. THE METHOD BY WHICH THE RANKINGS WERE ARRIVED AT, HOWEVER, REMAINS THE SAME.
FILM
I gaze in awe at the animation of Pixar. They have such a fluid and fun style which uses its story to tweak the type of animation used. Look at the humans in TOY STORY versus the humans in THE INCREDIBLES to see what I mean. There are scenes in THE INCREDIBLES which would look so terribly fake if reproduced using special effects in a live action film. To me, the best animation is used to tell stories which traditional styles of acting cannot. THE INCREDIBLES is certainly a case of that. SCORE: 8
MOVIE
There is a little bit of a lull in the middle of this movie for me. I don’t remember feeling that way the previous times I’ve seen this. It might have been because I was tired. If I were to review this film again, this score might go up. But I have to go with how it hit me! SCORE: 7
ACTING
The characters are so vivid and real. Samuel L. Jackson has a great supporting role, and all the leads are so well voiced (as usual for Pixar). To me the real standout is young Spencer Fox as Dash. The voice goes so well with the writing and the animation. I think he’s my favorite. SCORE: 9
WRITING
My college film thesis was on curiosity in Pixar films, and THE INCREDIBLES was a major part of it. The writing in this movie plays with cliches in comic book movies (“You caught me monologuing!”) as well as with its usual self-referential fun (Mr. Incredible, in trying to figure out Buddy’s name calls him Brodie, which is Jason Lee’s character in MALLRATS). Beyond that stuff though, I’m not sure the script in this one is quite on par with my personal favorites, TOY STORY or MONSTERS INC. Not sure if its fair to compare. Certainly a bit of apples and oranges going on. But it is what it is. SCORE: 7
FINAL TALLY
FILM: 8; MOVIE: 7; ACTING: 9; WRITING: 7
8+7+9+7+0=31
FINAL SCORE: 7.75
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