The producers of the wonderful new Pixar feature “The Incredibles” know something that Mel Gibson, Rupert Murdoch and Karl Rove know: in America today, conservatism sells. While the film brings in loads of cash this holiday season (not to mention DVD sales this spring), it will do so as a work decidedly different in tone from the previous offerings from Pixar; especially the last two which both had a slight leftist tinge to them. While “Monsters, Inc.” had its energy concerns and “Finding Nemo” had its environmental bent, “The Incredibles” could be considered a red state movie. Pixar, along with writer-director Brad Bird, have made a film with both pre-Vietnam ’60s décor and ideals.
The narrative centers around the family of Bob and Helen Parr (Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter), who were at one time the gallant Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, but are now forced to assimilate to suburban banality after having lost their final battle not to an arch-nemesis, but to an onslaught of misguidedly righteous lawsuits and an accompanying media maelstrom. Ordinariness proves to be just as frustrating for their three children as their eldest daughter Violet is literally invisible to her junior high crush and their hyperactive son imbued with super speed, Chip, cannot play sports for fear the he will be too successful (the youngest son Jack has not yet shown super ability).
“They keep finding ways to celebrate mediocrity,” the aptly named Mr. Parr gripes at one point referring to Chip’s fourth grade graduation ceremony. Even when the super-villain Syndrome (Jason Lee) rocket-boosts his way onto the scene and the film springs into action, his evil plan is awash in the mirth of utopian wishy-washyism: he attempts to make everyone in the world super so that no one will stand out.
The enemy in this film is a ham-fisted sense of intellectual philanthropy in a world governed by trial lawyers, bureaucrats and members of the mass media; the answer is clarity and strength (super-strength). This right-leaning social ideology, however, fits as comfortably into this terrific new film as Mr. Incredible fits uncomfortably into his new, cramped cubicle. Mr. Bird, a veteran of “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill,” injects “The Incredibles” with a welcome bit of social consciousness, a little cynicism that may turn some viewers off but ultimately works to make the film the strongest and most nuanced of anything Pixar has released.
“The Incredibles” refuses to employ the typical method through which PG films (this is Pixar’s first PG) try to appeal to adults — including a few pop culture references and some subtle sexual innuendo. Instead, Mr. Bird has the seemingly novel idea of appealing to the parents of the average viewer by examining the issues and frustrations that come with modern parenthood (things that their children are no doubt privy to), as well as meditating on the tenuous relationship between ability and responsibility in the delicate current condition of world affairs, an issue that dominates our culture.
This satirizing and seriousness will no doubt polarize its audience more than “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters, Inc.” or “Toy Story” ever did, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and also, considering the sanguine and innocuous tone of these previous films, that isn’t saying much.
As Mr. Bird departs from Pixar’s ilk in tone and theme, he also manifests a singular style for “The Incredibles.” Gone is the lush, saturated look of “Finding Nemo” or the bubbly brightness of “Monster’s Inc.” They have been replaced by a more 2-D, almost minimalist approach to computer animation; the dull and mediocre suburban existence that the Parr family has to adjust to is captured through dreary grays and sharp, cold lines. Not until the family travels to the tropical island home of Syndrome is the viewer introduced to colors anywhere close to the “Finding Nemo” palette.
This film continues the Pixar practice of ignoring the temptation to make computer animation look as life-like as possible and instead employs it with a great deal of artistic precision and restraint. “The Incredibles,” though, takes this one step further towards a higher degree of stylization; it is made by a man who previously crafted the pensive and quiet “The Iron Giant” and one who has definitely watched both a great deal of Japanese anime and classic Disney.
Even when the film ambles through the cloudy skies and pale yellow telephones of suburban mediocrity, however, it maintains a sparkling buoyancy with the aid of wonderful voice work by Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Their characters, who the animators have made cruelly realistic with a sagging gut and widening hips respectively, brim with life as they try to control their super children while dealing with a bit of marital unrest. Every scene, however, that these two share with the hero suit cum fashion designer, Edna Mode, is stolen from them by this yawningly flamboyant maven voiced by the writer-director himself.
At its most fundamental, “The Incredibles” is an action flick. It’s a bit disconcerting that in Pixar’s first feature to center around humans, one of the first humans shown is firing a gun; arguably more disconcerting though is the fact that the first film with humans by the company had to be an action film. There are more than a couple of genre conventions employed here, but they are mixed with enough self-deprecating wit (a montage sequence devoted to the cape) and freshly stimulating visuals (Elastigirl gets her stretched body caught in a series of electronic doors) that the viewer ultimately won’t mind (or even notice). The filmmakers know enough about the genre to know what to include and what to poke fun at.
In the end, as the Incredible family sports their super suits a la mode and are reunited in villain-fighting with Bob Parr’s best friend, Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), the viewer is completely lost in an onslaught of whimsical animation fancy. Still lingering are the bold, conservative social consciousness and the boldly conservative sense of artistic stylization, but ultimately “The Incredibles” does what every Pixar film does — it provides enthralling, smile-inducing entertainment. Pixar’s next feature “Cars,” due out in 2005, seems to follow “The Incredibles” in targeting what this year’s election proved to be a conservative majority, specifically focusing on the trendy voter bloc of NASCAR dads. Who knows how long this market-driven, right-leaning trend will last, but as long as it fuels the production of smartly crafted, witty and relatively edgy films such as “The Incredibles,” no one should be too upset.
