Remember how fans were going nuts when word was going around that the Fantastic Four movie was going to treat the FF like a humorous family comedy.
Well, based on the evidence of Pixar’s “The Incredibles,” it might well have worked, because that’s essentially what “TI” is. The powers of the Thing, Invisible Girl, and Mr. Fantastic are all there (albeit switched around somewhat) as is the Fantasticar. Not to mention Iceman and Quicksilver.
Nevertheless, Ti remains wholly original and wholly fun. The first Pixar film that actually could have worked as live action, the sophistication of its script might actually some of the very youngest in the audience who are expecting “Finding Nemo II.” And, frankly, they could have trimmed the script and picked up the pace (for instance, a scene involving young Dash getting in trouble at school could have been trimmed to a ten second flashback and incorporated into the dinner scene, since all the information we learn from that scene is present in the dinner sequence). So know your kid before bringing him or her.
Particularly hysterical is the voice work of writer/director Brad Bird on costumer designer Edna, who looks like the love child of Linda Hunt and Yoda, and gives a hilarious dissertation on something fans have discussed for ages: Why capes simply aren’t practical. The identity of our heroes’ nemesis is telegraphed early, but fortunately it’s then revealed about halfway into the film, so it’s not some climactic Scooby-Doo reveal saved for the end that we all saw coming.
Plus the film makes fun of everything from superhero cliches, such as a villain “monologuing,” to educational cliches, such as mom Elastigirl tells her educationally-challenged son, “Every child is special,” to which Dash sardonically but correctly replies, “If everyone is special, then NO ONE is special.” A savvy comment on the blanderizing of America in which mediocrity can reap great rewards while quality withers on the vine.
Overall a far more “human” movie than a lot of movies with genuine human casts.
As for the FF film, I can tell you with authority (but without going into detail) that it is not at all the goofball comedy as first reported, but instead faithful in tone and style to the Lee/Kirby comics. There’s some major changes in terms of the origin, but less than what they did in “Ultimate FF,” and besides, c’mon–four people trying to get to the moon before the Russians? Just a TAD dated. How do I know this? Because I’ve been hired by Pocket Books to do the novelization of the film. So this’ll be my fourth novelization of a Marvel comics movie.
PAD
• 
Too much to do this weekend so I’m taking my three girls to see it next weekend. Question, though whether there were any scenes after the credits, like they do with some animation films. Just want to see if I should stick around at the end.
Saw the film last week and was hugely impressed. I was expecting a ‘comedy’ and what I got was an affectionate tribute, handled with the deftness of touch and cleverness of, say, Galaxy Quest – where the film is laughing with the audience, not AT them.
Spotted most of the obvious FF references and without spoilage, the final scene blatantly owes something to that comic title and it’s clear Brad Bird (who, after all, already brought us Iron Giant and The Simpsons) is on sure footing here. I can already see the possibility of a slightly inferior series being spawned from this.
Hilarious, touching, fun, dramatic… I hope this is in the running for Animated Oscars next year. I can only imagine the way they’ll play that handover segment.
John
PS) Reliably informed by two fellow journos who stayed ALL the way through the credits, that there AREN’T any after-jokes.
PPS) Peter….thoughts on last week’s Lost, West Wing etc yet? (Personally Lost as good as ever, WW better than last few weeks).
John
“Edna…gives a hilarious dissertation on something fans have discussed for ages: Why capes simply aren’t practical.”
They screened that scene at the San Diego Con this year. I found it to be exceedingly smug and cutesy. Capes on superheroes aren’t SUPPOSED to be “practical”; they’re supposed to be VISUAL.
Anyone who mocks superhero capes because they’re not “practical” — including, apparently, Mr. Bird — just Doesn’t Get It.
– Frank
I get it.
But I still enjoy mocking superhero capes if its doen as well as this.
Then again, I also laugh in the face of danger and then run away and hide.
John
Congrats on the FF novelization, Peter. Looking forward to reading it.
Bobby
That’s cool. Have you ever wanted to write the Fantastic Four comic?
“Anyone who mocks superhero capes because they’re not “practical” — including, apparently, Mr. Bird — just Doesn’t Get It.”
Frank, I say this without meaning at all to sound condescending: You’re the one who doesn’t get it. I can’t say more without blowing some major stuff, but if/when you go see the film, THEN you will get it. Trust me.
PAD
Peter David writes:,/b>
I’ve been hired by Pocket Books to do the novelization of the film. So this’ll be my fourth novelization of a Marvel comics movie.
Grr. I apologize. This is absolutely not a slam on you, PAD, and I of course don’t begradge you picking up a contract that you’re eminently qualified for.
But as a consumer I hate that the publishing industry always ends up with one “Go-To Guy” for these things.
In the 1970s, Genre novelizations were almost always by Michael Jahn. He was excellent at it, frequently doing massive re-writes on the original source material to make it work as a novel. He’d also throw in little in-jokes like tying the short-lived David McCallum series “The Invisible Man” in with “The Six Million Dollar Man.” His stuff was a lot of fun. But you could hardly ever find a genre novelization that wasn’t his work.
Then he was supplanted by Alan Dean Foster, who also did a great job, but also did _every_ job.
Now it looks like that’s you. I like you. I like your writing. But I’d like to see some of these gigs go to Tony Isabella or Bob Ingersoll or John L. Byrne or Steve Gerber or Steven Grant or…
Well, you get the idea.
So, PAD, I offer you my heartfelt congratulations. I really do. But I wish for a more diverse marketplace for genre novelizations.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from previews I assumed that the “Edna” character was based on Oscar winning costume designer Edith Head.
Steve Leavell
Peter:
I am another one of your fans who is not excited over the news that you are doing the FF novelization. While I am happy that you are being able to earn another paycheck, I rather you were writing more novels(including STNF). It is not that you are bad at novelization. You are quite good. Your RETURN OF THE SWAMP THING was vastly superior to the movie. I just rather see new books rather than souvenoirs.
No, there are no extra scenes after the credits but Pixar has a tendency to add more things after their movies have been out for a month or so.
My mom was cracking up at the fact that Edna looked like one of her sisters. 🙂
Steve Chung
I saw TI yesterday, and I’m still trying to untangle what I think of it.
In a nutshell, I’d summarize it as “The best James Bond film since For Your Eyes Only, plus with superpowers.” It’s really a Retired Spy film, not a Retired Superhero film.
The film completely drops the ball on its premise (superheroes retire en masse – what happens next?). After all, do all the supervillains retire at the same time? Why? If not, how does society handle them? If well, then wouldn’t heroes feel genuinely unneeded? If poorly, then wouldn’t society want the heroes back? The film also uses one of its best concepts – that the heroes go underground and form a secret society (heh) – as a blind for the real story, which is unfortunate.
So it ended up being two things: An action film and spy adventure, which it does well; and a film about family, which would have been more compelling had it had something profound to say.
So I guess in summary it falls into the category of “poor ideas executed well”, which seems like the lot of many superhero films in my lifetime (the first Superman film and Tim Burton’s Batman films definitely fall into this category).
(Well, I’ll see if I can untangle this further when I write my own journal entry reviewing the film.)
By the way, did anyone see the preview of Pixar’s next film, Cars? I presume the preview was a package deal with TI. My reaction to the preview was, “Gee, I have about as much interest in seeing that as I did in seeing White Chicks.” It looked that bad. Ugh.
J. Alexander: Your RETURN OF THE SWAMP THING was vastly superior to the movie. I just rather see new books rather than souvenoirs.
I don’t think I’ve bought a novelization of any film since high school (back in the days of my Star Trek fandom, probably). As an adult, I’ve lost an understanding of why people buy them, especially since people can just buy the DVD of the movies instead. But obviously they’re just not being marketed at me, and that’s fine.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie and admire the two level thing that Pixar has mastered – one level that kids can enjoy and the other that adults can savor. But there is one thing that bothered me and this is a small spoiler….
The kids kill people in this movie.
Oh, to be sure, that bad guys are trying to do them in. And they are defending themselves using their powers. And yes, there is the possibility that the bad guys walked away from the explosions with a few scrapes and bruises.
But those were awfully big ka-booms and they didn’t shy away from the topic of death in the movie. Is it a little weird to have two kids killing people in a family movie?
It’s the only thing distracting me from the movie. I loved it, think it’s one of Pixar’s best and will likely be better than the FF movie. Still, that one point is lingering with me…
Craig, if you want to get techinal about it, the kids DON’T kill people. They don’t walk up to the guys and blow their brains out with a gun, or stab them with a knife or anything like that. It’s the kids outsmarting the people trying to kill them that results in the big explosions. And besides, you’re complaining about what happens as the result of the kids actions, but not the adults? Lest you forget, the actions of the adults had the EXACT same consequences as the actions of the kids. But what, becuase they adults did it, it’s okay? Sorry, doesn’t work that way. Either it’s okay or it’s not.
Actually, I was wondering PAD, what makes novelizations appealing to you? As one of those who will eagerly read the next Apropos novel (whenever it’s scheduled to come out) why isn’t it more appealing to do work on which you have complete creative control?
Are there any Venture Brothers fans here? Did you catch that the Incredibles widely pre-publicized lower-case “i” chest emblems were parodied a month before the movie came out by the Impossible Quartet on Venture Bros.?
Is it time for a moratorium on super-hero costumes with the Image logo on the chest?
Oooh! I’m going to se the incredibles tonight. As an FF fan, I’m excited to see a similar story. I know there is some fear FF will come out and be labled a “copycat” but I think there is a general sense among the public who the FF is and that they’ve been around a LONG time. Especially characters like The Thing or the Human Torch.
I’m actually pretty excited about the movie. And it’ll probably be the first novelization I pick up, because I’m an FF nut.
With the announcement that Waid/Weiringo are leaving FF… would it be too much to hope that you would want to throw your hat in the ring for that title. Maybe the replacements are already in place. But that would be… amazing!
As regards the “practicality” thing –
Recently caught a back issue of one of the Superman titles, where Supes is fighting somebody called Gog – whose costume includes a silly-looking horned helmet. As he’s grabbing a horn, Supes comments, “A tip: when fighting someone who’s super-strong, it’s not a good idea to wear handles on your head.”
PAD is writing the novelization?
Well then, there’s a guaranteed sale to me.
There is one unexpected bit in the credits, which I don’t count as a spoiler; it seems “Omnidroid” is owned by Lucasfilm. Surprisingly, there was no notification that I saw that “Elastigirl” is owned by DC.
Other than that, nothing, but the first 3 or so minutes of the credits are very nicely done animation in a good 60s movie credits style, and I recommend staying around at least while those are going; it’ll be obvious from the start of those what I mean.
I just finished posting my review of the film as well on my blog. Looks like we both liked it.
Now, if only I had a Pocket Books announcement to make.
I just saw the movie this afternoon with my two daughters. We loved it. If this had been a live action film, I could see John Goodman playing Mr. Incredible.
I also am a guaranteed sale for PAD’s novelization of the FF. Actually, I’m a guaranteed sale for all of PAD’s stuff.
Dennis
Tom Galloway:it seems “Omnidroid” is owned by Lucasfilm
I think it’s the term “droid” that they have a copyright or trademark or something on. Back in 1984, the game company FASA was forced to change the name of its giant robot combat game from BattleDroids to BattleTech by Lucasfilm.
But as a consumer I hate that the publishing industry always ends up with one “Go-To Guy” for these things.
First of all, the notion that there’s only one person doing genre novelizations is silly. This year, we’ve had Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow by Kevin J. Anderson, Spider-Man 2 by our topic host, Resident Evil: Apocalypse by myself, Van Helsing by Kevin Ryan, The Chronicles of Riddick by Alan Dean Foster, Hellboy by Yvonne Navarro, The Punisher by D.A. Stern, and The Day After Tomorrow by Whitley Streiber.
Secondly, writing a novelization is not exactly a walk in the park. You have to be able to take a two-hour screenplay, which is maybe enough story for a novella, and turn it into a novel-length story in a way that will satisfy the movie company, who aren’t always easy to please. You also generally only have a month or two (if you’re lucky) to do it — for Darkness Falls in early 2003, I had three weeks. So if you do see the same names coming up, it’s because editors are going for authors who have proven themselves able to do a novelization, which is a pressure cooker situation.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I thought the movie was great. I’m not sure I agree about the pacing– I liked the scene at the school– but I can see how the movie might be a bit long for a young child. The only problem I had was Jason Lee’s casting, possibly because his character looks so little like the actor. I love him as an actor, but every time his character spoke, somewhere in the back of my head I thought, “Banky?”
In some ways this is the best superhero movie I remember seeing, partly because it displays a range of powers I’ve never seen before in film. Elastigirl is formidable. I remember seeing someone– I think it was PAD, in fact– suggest that super-speed could be absolutely devastating if used/written properly, and you see that with Dash.
“So, PAD, I offer you my heartfelt congratulations. I really do. But I wish for a more diverse marketplace for genre novelizations.”
Well, Keith pointed out a bunch I didn’t do, to which I should add that I didn’t do the books of either “X-Men” or “X2,” “Daredevil,” “The Punisher,” “Catwoman” (phew).
Why do I write them? Because they can be challenging, they can be fun, they pay decently, they get my name out into markets that I’m not visible in (Wal-Mart alone took a gargantuan draw on the Spidey novels), and they occasionally have interesting perks.
Or, let me put it another way:
As a direct result of the Spidey and Hulk novelizations, I’ve had nice face-to-face chats with Kirsten Dunst and Jennifer Connelly.
Any questions?
PAD
I successfully fought off the tempation to see the movie the first night so I didn’t have to wait in long lines. Making it through the first night without seeing a movie you really want to see is the hardest part. Now I just have to wait another week or so for the crowds to die down, lol.
Congradulations on your new work Peter.
For the record, Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch did X-Men, Chris Claremont did X2, Greg Cox did Daredevil, the aforementioned D.A. Stern did The Punisher, and Elizabeth Hand did Catwoman.
Two repeat performers, though: Von Navarro is also doing Elektra, and Kevin Anderson also did League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
—KRAD
I caught THE INCREDIBLES Friday morning, and I thought it was good but not great. The CGI was great, the voicework was fantastic — gotta give it up to Jason Lee as the fanboy from hëll! — but the story was pretty predictable (Will the quiet daughter find confidence? Will the son get to go full tilt? Will the dad go back to the life he loves?)
Regarding the capes issue, in a relatively recent issue of JLA had Batman commenting that he wears a cape because when someone fires into a cape they don’t know what they’ll be hitting. Of course, THE INCREDIBLES showed very clearly how dangerous a cape can be.
I agree with Craig Welsh about the violence in the movie. No, the good guys don’t shoot people or crush them to jelly. But none of them show any worry or remorse when the villains happen to get blown up — it happens a lot — and Mom and Dad don’t even try explaining about casualties here. (Incidentally, this movie has the highest body count of any Pixar movie (unless you count the fish eggs at the start of Finding Nemo) between the minions crashing and burning, and the history of what happened to most of the other superheroes.) More than a bit creepy, especially the skeletonized Cyclops-type dude.
Knowing how Pixar likes to put characters from its penultimate films in its current one, I bet Nemo, Dory, and/or Marlin turn up when one of the Incredibles wind up underwater. So if anyone finds Nemo (heh) in THE INCREDIBLES, please post where you saw it.
So, did anyone else think Elastigirl was hot?
Great, great movie. Nobody’s mentioned the 3D graphics which beat the heck out of anything previous. I’m a little disappointed the teaser trailer (with Mr. I’s attempts to get into his supersuit) wasn’t part of the plot, but I laughed more here than I have in many a film.
For a Disney-distributed flick, I was surprised that the crashes of the hover disks didn’t include any saturday-morning-ish parachutes to safety. It *is* after all, PG rated.
There was a look of dismay on Dash’s face when he took the mask off one of the goons and saw a real person there, but it could have been him seeing the cliff face approaching.
If this movie reminded me of anything besides Bond, it was Brian Michael Bendis’ recent issues of Powers: super powers are illegal, heroes are in hiding, but at least there the villains are running rampant.
I did see some touches that were reminiscent of Iron Giant: the robots and machines had some of that retro-future look. Plus the retro look of the cars and home decor, and some of the facial expressions reminded me a *lot* of IG.
Questions: If Elastigirl can change her shape, why does she worry about the size of her hips in her reflection?
Why does the invisible girl (not capitalized to differentiate from Sue Storm) have force fields?
Frank Stone said:
Capes on superheroes aren’t SUPPOSED to be “practical”; they’re supposed to be VISUAL.
Anyone who mocks superhero capes because they’re not “practical” — including, apparently, Mr. Bird — just Doesn’t Get It.
Oh, i’d say he does “get it” — probably (not to be nasty, but adopting your own tone) better than you do.
Years ago, when Captain America created the new identity of Nomad for himself, there was a wonderful sequence with Viper wondering aloud why more heroes didn’t trip on their own capes.
Any aspect of a cliche under attack can be a legitimate target of satire.
As to the film’s plot — there is also a strong echo of the first Matt Helm novel, Death of a Citizen.
Does anyone else feel as if Edna is portrayed as “a character who knows more than she’s telling”, as if she is actively trying to get supers back in action? (Or, in other words, does she come across as a “Mac” or an “M” type charcter?)
The design of the cars is fascinating — Mr Incredible’s new car is mostly a ’63 or so split-window Sting Ray with gull-wing doors, and his old one is a 50’s Nash crossed with something.
Anyone who accuses Brad Bird of not fully understanding 60s comics and other pop culture of the era probably doesn’t understand it himself; for further evidence of that, see Iron Giant if you already haven’t.
In fact, even if you do see how well Bird understands the source material, if you haven’t seen Iron Giant, see it anyway, just because it’s great.
“Tom Galloway: it seems “Omnidroid” is owned by Lucasfilm.”
“Patrick Wynne: I think it’s the term “droid” that they have a copyright or trademark or something on.”
‘Omnidroid’ is probably a non-linear editing software package developed by Lucas’ people. Lucas created the first digital non-linear film editing system, called ‘EditDroid’ (an obvious nod to the Star Wars universe). ‘EditDroid’ allowed editors to load film into a computer to cut and paste a movie together, rather than cutting and splicing film negatives. They followed that up with ‘AudioDroid’ (a non-linear audio editor) and a few other ‘-Droid’ software packages. I’d guess Lucas either put out a program named ‘OmniDroid,’ or reserved the copyright over the name with the intent to put out a program named ‘OmniDroid.’
It also bears mentioning that Lucas created Pixar, but the group was soon sold off, though I believe Lassiter and most of the original staff have been there since the beginning. Lucas and Pixar still have a good relationship, and there’s apparently a bit of cross-pollenization between the staffs of Pixar and Skywalker Ranch, which is why the trailers for Ep II and Ep III premiered with the wide release of Pixar movies (Ep II with ‘Monsters Inc.’, and now Ep III with ‘The Incredibles’). Perhaps the use of the ‘OmniDroid’ here is an in-joke reference?
As for the cape/no-cape issue, well, how could Batman be Batman without a cape? Batman’s the example I always point to when people bring up the cape thing… yeah, capes look goofy on some heroes, but with Bats its just such an essential element to his whole mythos. Besides, Batman being the driven, hyper-intense guy he is, he makes the cape’s negatives into advantages (the sometimes-used glide function, the above example of shots fired lost in the mass of shadowy cape, etc). How can a cape NOT be cool on a guy like that?
I wouldn’t want to put words in the Pixar guys’ mouths or anything, but could it be that they were just having a little fun with the cape gag? You know, that this particular cigar is just a cigar? Anyone?
-that OTHER John Byrne
The first Pixar film that actually could have worked as live action, the sophistication of its script might actually some of the very youngest in the audience who are expecting “Finding Nemo II.”
I think that sentence is missing a word.
Dear Mr. David,
I am a writer and I am very good. I specialise in writing about angst-ridden girls, a description which I think quite appropriate to a misbegotten girl who finds herself invisible. I think that you should pay me to write about her, instead of doing it yourself. You write an awful lot of books, and I think you need a rest. I love writing very much, and would love to get paid for it, even if it is only just a bit. You could just stick my name on the cover underneath yours, in much smaller letters, if you like, and give me a couple of quid.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon. I think we will make a good team.
Kind Regards,
Fiona Condron-McLoughlin
Frank Stone posted: “Anyone who mocks superhero capes because they’re not “practical” — including, apparently, Mr. Bird — just Doesn’t Get It.”
Yeah, like that Alan Moore guy who mocked capes in that crappy WATCHMEN comic. He obviously Doesn’t Get It. What the heck is wrong with that guy?
Yes, folks, that’s sarcasm. 🙂
Oh, and for those that have asked: the short list of the 11 films that have qualified for consideration for the Animated Oscar nominations this year is out, and THE INCREDIBLES is indeed among them. There will be three nominees this year, and I think it’s a shoo-in for one of the slots. I imagine its main competition for the actual award will be THE POLAR EXPRESS, which opens Wednesday, and a little movie called SHREK II that you probably heard about.
The other eligible films are: THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE, SKY BLUE, CLIFFORD’S REALLY BIG MOVIE, HOME ON THE RANGE, TEACHER’S PET, SHARK TALE, GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE and THE LEGEND OF BUDDHA.
Me, I’m hoping Pixar repeats last year’s win for FINDING NEMO. I loved TI and I’m already ready to see it again!
GWB– Go AWAY already! Christ! A few more missives from you and I’LL be sorry Bush got re-elected!
Ahem.
here’s my problem with the FF film. I’m glad they changed the “let’s beat the commies to the moon” bit. Obviously, that had to go. Just as, should the Iron Man project ever get off the ground, they will almost certainly have to ditch the idea that Tony Stark made his suit from whatever he could scrounge up at a Viet Cong prisoner of war camp (Yeah THAT would be one great looking suit. What would he have to work with? Bamboo? John Kerry’s medals?)
I like what I’ve seen so far. The Thing looks good, not as bulky as the comics version but this one has to actually move (I saw a guy at a Halloween party once with a spot-on perfect Thing costume. Poor sod couldn’t move worth a lick. He eventually passed out from the heat and fluid loss and pitched face down forward onto the floor in a scene that was later described by all who saw it as “tragic yet oddly hilarious”.)
But Doom…oy. An evil businessman? Boy, THAT’S a new one. You know, when it’s a 4 on 1 fight you had better make dámņ sure that the 1 is awesome or it looks like an unfair contest. Changing Doom from the evil genius leader of a country to just Donald Trump with a very troubling skin condition sems like a major step in the wrong direction…but who knows? Maybe they will surprise me.
PAD has shown before an ability to make entertaining books out of average material so I know the book will be fun. But the movie…we’ll see.
Edna’s my favorite character in the movie. I used to use the “If everyone is special, no one is special” line a lot during my brief sojourn into sf fandom, so I don’t really consider it a “savvy comment on the blanderizing of America” so much as the kind of logical observation any smart kid can make when confronted with the “everyone is special” line. Oh, and yes, we loved the movie.
I hadn’t planned on taking in THE INCREDIBLES, but your comments have made me think again. Thanks. 😎
As for someone’s comment that you do too many novelizationsm I reply “phooey!” As I’ve written to you off-list, I wish the people who gave us SHAUN OF THE DEAD would opt for a novelization of that film and give you the job of writing it. I’d be first in line to get it.
My 4.5-year-old found it a little scary at times, but sitting on Mommy’s Lap helped tremendously, and the movie kept her attention the whole way. As a fan of both the Justice League cartoons and my Jonny Quest DVD collection, she didn’t see anything dark or violent that she hadn’t seen before (indeed, the violence level was pretty close to that of JQ, and, coincidentally, there was at least one visual homage to that series in the movie).
My biggest concern over the FF movie now is how they’ll manage to make the powers CG look as seamless as they did on TI.
“Why does the invisible girl (not capitalized to differentiate from Sue Storm) have force fields?”
Because it’s part of the metaphor. Not only is she a teenage girl who wants to be invisible sometimes, she also has a tendency of being defensive and putting up barriers.
“The kids kill people in this movie.”
Well, not quite. The kids are trying to save themselves and are fighting off the bad guys. When things go in the direction of the hover discs blowing up, the kids save themselves. They don’t have time to save the people piloting those things. The kids are pretty new to the business and though they obviously have talent, they don’t have too much aquired skill yet. Maybe with practice, they’d be able to get the pilots off unscathed. Remember, not even Superman can save everyone.
The fact that Mr. Incredible nearly kills someone is a different matter. He threatens Mirage’s life once and proves unable to do it because of his morals, but later he grabs her by the throat and looks very much like he’s going to break her neck. It shows how far he feels he’s fallen and also how much his family really means to him. But still, it is pretty darn scary.
I think this movie was pretty darn good. It’s a good movie about family and about letting people be what they are. The family’s primary problem is that they’re not normal but society tells them they have to pretend they are. That’s where the stuff about “If everyone’s special then no one’s special” or Mr. Incredible’s comment about “celebrating mediocrity” come in.
The scenes with the kids on the island were my favorites. It never even occured to me that they were doing anything but defending themselves. Then again, I might have been too caught up in finally seeing a “Flash” fight sequence in motion when I’ve been reading them flat on a page for decades.
Re: supervillains running rampant
The movie does hint a couple of times at stuff that makes this less of a problem (not gonna spoiler, though).
Re: Elastigirl’s butt
Sure, she can change shape, but her relaxed form still has been packing on the posterior padding.
Oh, and on the subject of weight, I liked that even after trying to get back in trim, Mr. Incredible was still a bit paunchy.
Anyway, let me close with: BEST CHASE SCENE EVER.
“Frank, I say this without meaning at all to sound condescending: You’re the one who doesn’t get it. I can’t say more without blowing some major stuff, but if/when you go see the film, THEN you will get it. Trust me.”
If capes are good enough for Superman and Batman (both of whom get plenty of use from them)…
“If capes are good enough for Superman and Batman (both of whom get plenty of use from them)…”
I’m not disputing that. I’m saying that Frank seems to be under the impression that the whole “no capes” sequence highlighting the disastrous consequences capes can entail was there purely to trash a superhero trope…and I’m saying, No, that’s not the case, and if/when he sees the film, he’ll understand that.
PAD
“As a direct result of the Spidey and Hulk novelizations, I’ve had nice face-to-face chats with Kirsten Dunst and Jennifer Connelly.”
Peter…that reason works for me.
Just another enthusiastic thumbs up for The Incredibles.
For parents concerned about violence, my four-year-old son loved it, though he got fidgety during the “boring” scenes with adults talking. 😉 The violence is about the same as with the original Star Wars movie — if your child can watch the animated Batman series, or enjoyed the Pirates of the Carribean ride, they’ll be fine.
JamesLynch: “Knowing how Pixar likes to put characters from its penultimate films in its current one, I bet Nemo, Dory, and/or Marlin turn up when one of the Incredibles wind up underwater. So if anyone finds Nemo (heh) in THE INCREDIBLES, please post where you saw it.”
I hear they were in the fish tank in Edna’s office, but I couldn’t see ’em.
JamesLynch: “So, did anyone else think Elastigirl was hot?”
Hoo yeah, though Mirage was scorchin’! 😀
Michael Rawdon: “By the way, did anyone see the preview of Pixar’s next film, Cars? I presume the preview was a package deal with TI. My reaction to the preview was, “Gee, I have about as much interest in seeing that as I did in seeing White Chicks.” It looked that bad. Ugh.”
Hey, it’s Pixar; have faith in the talent. How many people dismissed Finding Nemo and The Incredibles because they thought the first teaser was boring?
mike weber: “Does anyone else feel as if Edna is portrayed as “a character who knows more than she’s telling”, as if she is actively trying to get supers back in action?”
She’s just tired of working with anorexic models. 😉
–R.J.
mike weber: “Does anyone else feel as if Edna is portrayed as “a character who knows more than she’s telling”, as if she is actively trying to get supers back in action?”
She’s just tired of working with anorexic models. 😉
Makes you wonder how she’d get along with Mirage…
Be funny if they started out hating each other, then becoming best friends….