The Incredibles

(2004, Dir.: Brad Bird, with Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter (voices))

In the land of animation geekdom, it would be difficult to top the anticipation created by the arrival of a Pixar film directed by the man behind The Iron Giant. And because of the long lead time required for animation, there’s been plenty of time to build noise—the first trailer I recall seeing came out about a year ago. The risk, of course, is that disappointment is directly proportional to expectation (Red Sox fans understand this ... or they used to. Hee). So could The Incredibles measure up to the high standards of nerds like myspelf? For the most part, yes.

In a sense, The Incredibles is the flip side of the classic Watchmen, playing with the conventions of the superhero genre, but with greater affection and considerably less cynicism (although one of the best sequences of the film is one that documents that attendant risks to wearing a costume with a cape, somewhat reminiscent of the Rorschach elevator story).

After a season of gallantry, superheroes are driven from the scene by the ultimate villain: lawyers. Forced into lives of ordinary anonymity, they hold down tedious jobs, put on weight around the middle (Mr. Incredible) and hips (Elastigirl, in a welcome touch of realism—she also has normal-sized breasts, almost unheard of for a female superhero), and try not to show too much that they’re “special.”

Mr. Incredible in particular, perhaps suffering from a midlife crisis, has trouble putting his super past behind him. So when an opportunity comes along to slip on the tights once more, he jumps in head first (into the opportunity, not the tights). As you may imagine, there are dire consequences from this for the world and, more pointedly, for his marriage.

As we’ve come to expect from Pixar, the animation is rich in detail and scope; often so good it’s easy to forget that it’s not real; there are breathtaking scenes underwater, in a lush jungle and inside a volcano, and the impression of motion is staggering.

Plots from Pixar tend not to be wildly new and inventive, and The Incredibles is no different in this regard, but characterization and dialogue win the day like Mr. Incredible dropping a bank robber in his tracks. The movie really picks up with the introduction of Edna Mode (voiced by Bird himself), an Anna Wintour-like character whose superpowers appear to be design and tartness.

The film is not without flaws. Aside from a general predictability, the plot could be tighter, and a couple of scenes are extended more than necessary (an Endor-like chase scene is one of those). The only disappointment among the characters is the villain of the piece, who is perhaps a little too obviously set up and played out. But hey, these are things a loyal nerd can overlook.