in-credible, dah-link

a bit delayed, but nonetheless, here it is: your Columbina review of Pixar's latest masterpiece The Incredibles. I saw it Friday night with about 15 screaming birthday parties of highly-excitable youngsters, who went half mad when a projection techinical glitch (broken light bulb) postponed viewing for 45 minutes. (The kids were practically swinging from the ceiling, folks. Most were simply literally swinging off hand-rails, practicing jumping from adult-torso height from a sitting position and their en pointe skills -- boys and girls alike.) As I'm sure most of the world has figured out by now, Pixar can do no wrong. It is a critical and box-office smash, and very few can find faults with it.

No difference here, folks. It rocked. So instead of the usual, good and bad, which would be terribly off-balance, how about some talking points? (Some small spoilers included.)

1. This is Pixar's fifth movie in a row to blow people's minds-- receiving acclaim from the movie going public and the critics. Competition Dreamworks managed to stage a coup with Shrek 2, but outside of that movie and its original, their animation projects have tanked. What gives?

Pixar has some very smart cookies in command. In every last one of their projects, they've stressed the story and the script with equal weight to the visual effects, casting voice talent and not big name stars. Seriously, was anyone desperate to see Renee Zellweger as a fish? No one was truly desperate to see Ellen Degeneres in a live-action movie-- but her voice and her wit can carry a film easy; her stand-up DVDs had done major business. Pixar's priorities are always in the right place. For proof, check out the behind-the-scenes documentaries on the Finding Nemo DVD; the animators are just as much the actors as the voice talent. The creation of characters is not taken lightly or from a one-point perspective; they are not caricatures of their voice-counterparts but stand on their own as beings that we as an audience can sympatheize with, see ourselves and our friends/family as, etc.

2. It's the first Pixar movie with humans in the main roles. 3D animation has been struggling with making people since day one. Recent release The Polar Express has been getting negative reviews for its synthetic and slightly scary looking humans, made through motion-capture technology. Does it work in The Incredibles and why?

First of all, the Pixar people know a hurdle when they see one. According to behind-the-scenes shorts, animators strove for a version of "hyper-real" people. Obviously people as thin as Mirage or as top-heavy as Mr. Incredible don't exist in the real world, but they work in an animated landscape. Also, major attention to lighting effects, especially on skin tones, and on hair. Teenage Violet and her face-obscuring 'do show how these wizards managed to manipulate hair as hair and not simply as a plastic object sitting on top of their heads. It frizzes at its ends and has texture-- thank you Monsters, Inc. fur software. Also, clothes and how they move/cling to bodies was investigated thoroughly. But what makes them more real than Tom Hanks' fifty-so identities in Polar Express? Animation of expression. Pixar has always been hard-core about facial animation and using real human expressions in their characters. Part of what makes Hanks a fantastic actor is the gleam in his eyes and his malleable mug-- that doesn't translate over in Express but Pixar made it work in his round-em-up Woody of Toy Story fame.

3. Omigod! There are major action sequences, featuring cars and trains and planes, and evil guys with guns... that shoot bullets! Wasn't this supposed to be a kid's movie-- and Disney, to boot?

Yes, I was shocked too. No E.T. flashlights, here. The Bad Guys are armed and dangerous. And as John pointed out in the Movie Blog's first ever audio edition, Mom even has a nice sit-down with the kids, "keepin' it real," explaining that they could be murdered on sight. And why not? This movie is not about the kids saving the world, ala Spy Kids, single-handedly and behind their parents' back; this is about a family like any other: Dad's unhappy in a dead-end job, Mom wants Dad to take more responsibility with the kids and suspects he's having an affair, shy teenager Violet melts away to nothingness when the boy she likes walks by, and hyperactive Dash cannot be controlled (or caught) and gets in trouble with teachers. And today's kids, grown up on video games and Cody Banks movies, can discern movie violence from real violence, and are quite acclimated to seeing violence on screen. (And isn't that a whole 'nother can of worms.) To Pixar's credit, no one gets shot-- rather like The A-Team, in point of fact; a lot of bullets start flying but most people are blown up or simply knocked unconscious.

4. So just how gorgeous is it, really?

Effects and eye-popping shots are the mainstay of Pixar. They do not disappoint; there's a fantastic wall of lava, hyper-fast sequences with Dash running, lush jungles as well as an Office Space environment. Though I must say, if you're looking for pretty, watch Finding Nemo again. This movie isn't about a luscious, gorgeous rainbow: there's heavy emphasis on bold strokes of color in a more muted environment, which is inkeeping, I think, with comic books and comic book movies. Visually it still knocks your socks off, but I'd rather eat Marlin's anemone.

5. Comic book movies? Fight sequences? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

You mean, of the Bond franchise? Of Mission:Impossible? Hell, yes! Our villain comes equipped with a Lair, complete with Rocket Based on Destruction and Assorted Henchmen, on a Secret Island with its own Transportation and Surveillance Systems, a Good Girl on the Side of Evil ("Bond Girl" Mirage), a Personal Beef with Our Hero intermingled with occasional Grudging Respect, and Destruction of City Buildings. All part and parcel of the formula, but so highly and dextrously manipulated that each time you caught a piece of it, it seemed like a huge surprise (the quasi Bond theme musical score, the hero's flirtations with a dangerous woman, the true identity of the villain, etc.)

6. Okay, time to dish. Who's your favorite character and why?

Oh, soooo many!! Of the hero family, I have to say it's a dead-heat between Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. Mr. Incredible does get major humor points for the Office Space scene with the little old lady and yet also major drama points when he threatens to kill Mirage after his family's apparent demise. Elastigirl similarly gets props for a killer performance by Holly Hunter, especially for the manic plane dialogue as well as for her wifely concern.

Outside of the Parr family, again, a tie: this time between super-hero Frozone, voiced by the ultra-cool Samuel L. Jackson, and Edna Mode, superhero fashion designer extraordinnaire. Frozone oozes cool but unfortunately doesn't get a whole lot of screen time. Edna, however, practically steals the whole movie. Her riff on the dangers of capes was totally wicked, the hoity-toity talk with the hopping walk, the high-security of her home and no-nonsense attitude... dear God, I just think she's the coolest character Pixar's created EVER. (Which of course, is the reason I've been walking around with a German-Japanese accent since Friday-- You repress, you depress, dah-link. To impress, you must express!)

Anyway, if you haven't seen this, GO. Go late at night if the kids bother you. Go now. It's a sure thing.