Saturday, January 30, 2010

#37 The Incredibles: I'm still geeking out about it

2004. dir. Brad Bird, starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson.

Seen it before? Yes.

Pixar movie #2, and in my opinion, the best superhero movie ever made. Yeah, that's right. Here's why:
  1. Rated PG, and people of all ages can enjoy it. Hey idiots making rated-R comic book movies, what are you thinking?
  2. The superheroes have clearly defined, actually useful powers. The movie sticks with them, too: doesn't cheat and pull out ridiculous stuff in the third act, like in Dark Knight with the cell phone thing, or every damn Superman movie ever made.
  3. The superheroes have actual personalities. It's a family of superheroes that acts like a real family, like all the scenes with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible arguing about stupid crap, and the sibling rivalry with Dash and Violet. This was the problem with Hulk, Daredevil, and so many others.
  4. The villain has a plan that actually makes sense. This was in my opinion the most annoying thing about Dark Knight, that the Joker just does whatever for no reason.
  5. They kept it simple. You don't need an overly complex plot to make a fantasy/sci-fi/superhero movie work, and usually it's detrimental. Why? Plot holes. If the characters have magical or super abilities, or miraculous new technology, it's too easy to make logic mistakes. The writers really need to think carefully, but most of them don't, and try to confuse you instead.
  6. Great action scenes. The characters use their superpowers in clever and unexpected ways.
  7. Depth. Explores the purpose and meaning of superhero stories, but not in a way that they beat you over the head with it... like the last 15 minutes of a certain other superhero movie I could name.
  8. The animation is awesome; every scene is colorful and kinetic. Loved the scenes in the volcano.
  9. Edna Mode!
Position on the list: 177
The second best superhero movie: Batman. The 1989 version with Jack Nicholson.

3 comments:

  1. wow, finally something you actually liked, did Dash Daniel Bell ejoy this movie with you?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, he watched it with his friend Jack.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm in shock. But Pixar does cover all the bases when it comes to all their movies without insulting their audience.

    Sincerely,

    JayBee Anama
    bdj610

    ReplyDelete