Pixar Does It Again

It’s almost starting to get redundant to say, but Pixar has gone and done it again. From “Toy Story” to “A Bug’s Life” to “Monsters, Inc.” to “Finding Nemo,” those digital mavens of California have forever changed the face of children’s animated entertainment, each film after the next seemingly setting an even higher standard of excellence. Now comes their most adult fable, the stupefyingly brilliant superhero adventure “The Incredibles,” and to call it the year’s best family entertainment would be an insult. It’s better than that, much, much better.

This is the movie to see. “The Incredibles” explodes across the screen in a panoply of colors, sights and sounds. Visually, like all of the studio’s films before it, this picture is a marvel, a treat for the eyes like no other. But beyond that, “The Incredibles” is a movie with wit and heart, a complexly infatuating fable of family and responsibility that speaks to so many different people in so many different ways I can’t imagine any person of any age not finding something of which to relate.

Set in a world not-so different than our own, typical American family the Parrs appear to be just like any other. Patriarch Bob (Craig T. Nelson) works as a clock-punching insurance man spending his days fighting both bureaucracy and a bulging waistline, mom Helen (Holly Hunter) deals with the suburban nightmare of keeping house and watching over baby Jack Jack, while kids Dash (Spencer Fox) and Violet (Sarah Vowell) do their best playing pranks on unsuspecting teachers and/or invisibly trying to go unnoticed by their fellow students.

But beneath this sitcom-like façade lurks a family like no other: Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Dash and, um, Violet. They’re superheroes, ‘Supers’ for short, and the for the past fifteen years they’ve had to live a life of seclusion, hiding their powers from the world in order to avoid frivolous lawsuits and societal poo-pooing. And it sucks, especially for Bob. So used to saving the world, a life of pencil-pushing drudgery is driving him slowly mad. Worse, it’s making him worry that Helen isn’t as enamored of him as she once was almost two decades prior on their wedding day, and losing the love of his life would be one failure he just couldn’t bear.

But when a mysterious messenger named Mirage (Elizabeth Peña) offers him the chance to flex his hero muscles (and earn a little money for the family), Bob can’t help but be intrigued. And, even if he can’t tell Helen about these super exploits, it sure as heck beats sitting in the car listening to the police scanner with fellow ex-superhero Lucius (Samuel L. Jackson), a.k.a. Frozone. But what’s a Super to do? If the only way to still help save the world is to be whisked away to a volcanic island in the middle of nowhere owned by a maybe insane red-haired recluse named Syndrome (Jason Lee), that that’s exactly what Bob – excuse me, Mr. Incredible – is going to do.

I’m keeping this review short and sweet because, quite simply, I’m running out of accolades. After Pixar’s last three films I’ve wasted them all, so the best I can come up with is this: “The Incredibles” is 2004’s BEST film. That’s right, with almost two full months to go I’m making that proclamation and I’m almost 100% positive I’m going to stick with it. This is a complex, rousing adventure yarn full of deeply drawn (pardon the pun) characters and tightly wound emotions that resonate with those aged six to sixty and beyond. Disgruntled teenager out of touch with your parents? You’ll find something here that speaks to you. Thirty-something mom feeling your best day is behind you? Come see this. This is a movie all ages, sure to bring a smile to the face, a spring to the step and rouse even the most ineffectual to life.

Credit “The Iron Giant” creator and Pixar freshman Brad Bird. He’s upped the ante in a family entertainment for the studio, and everyone else for that matter, with his profoundly intricate screenplay. It’s one of the best 2004 has to offer, and he and the animators have brought it to the screen brilliantly. Taking computer animation to even greater heights – no surprise there – Bird goes even further by heightening the emotional involvement. It’s hard not to relate to the Parrs on some level, their super status not even important where it comes to the greater stakes involved in raising a family. Heck, Disney and Pixar should forget about winning an Oscar for Best Animated Film – this is light years ahead of Dreamworks' “Shrek 2” and Warner Bros.' “The Polar Express” – and focus exclusively on Best Picture. “The Incredibles” is that good.

And that’s really all I’m going to say. I mean, I could say how great all the actors are (especially Nelson and Hunter; wow are they good) and how astounding the musical and technical achievements here are (it’s worth the price of admission just to see the blissful joy on Dash’s face when he realizes he can run on water), but with Pixar acclamation like these are turning into a given. I’m at a loss. There just isn’t any more to say that hasn’t already been said.

Maybe just this: Go see it. Now. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But right now. Stop reading, go to the theater, buy a ticket, stand in line. Trust me. You won’t be disappointed.