The Incredibles.(Movie review)

Brad Bird (w, d), US, 115 Minutes, 2004, GENRE: Social Darwinism/Eugenics, Rated PG. STARRING: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Elizabeth Pena, Brad Bird, Wallace Shawn, Jean Sincere, John Ratzenberger. DO FEATURES INCLUDE: 'Jack-Jack Attack', 'Boundin' and 'Mr. Incredible & Pals' short films, two 'Making of The Incredibles' features, audio commentaries.

GEORGE Bernard Shaw observed in an appendix to Man and Superman that cultural 'revolutions have never lessened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder'. Indeed, the birth of tragedy has its origins in the 'sham Supermen' and the 'trumpery of ideals', where we can all imagine ourselves as heroes endowed with special powers. Spare a thought, then, for our tragic hero Mr Incredible (Nelson), whose naturally broad shoulders have had to carry the burden of the tyranny of democracy. He finds himself swimming in a sea of mediocrity--the ordinary person cannot even manage to keep the free world just and orderly for ten minutes. Even worse, a disordered society has devolved to the point where it finds itself in jeopardy at the mere prospect that some people are just better than others. The sham of egalitarianism had to go and muddy the waters by altering the power dynamic between 'human' and ,superhuman', and the 'greater' and the 'good'. Suddenly everyone needed to feel special or heroic, and the real 'supers' found themselves sacrificed in the name of a lesser good. The upholding of law and order was undermined by lawyers with claimants seeking compensation and retribution, sending superheroes into hiding. Although the cultural revolution attempted to compensate for its insecurity through the trumpery of false ideals (and idols), there remained one problem. The superior race still lived and hid amongst lesser mortals, and could return at any time. Enter Syndrome (Lee) and his attempt to deal with the possibility of the return of the repressed: ethnic cleansing. But you can't keep a better man down and out, especially now that he's married a superwoman (Hunter) and reproduced.

Pixar's sixth film has been generally received as a coming of age for the studio. The grownup subject matter--mid-life crisis, potential infidelity, violence and death, etc.--certainly has its appeal to adult audiences. The existential crises of the Toy Story movies, however, were hardly child's play, and The Incredibles merely transfers 'mature' themes into a more recognizable adult world. Whatever its status or place within the Pixar canon, there is no denying one thing: The Incredibles is amongst the most intriguing cultural artefacts in recent memory. The fact that it provides the catharsis and exhilaration of the superhero genre is testament to the film's power. Outstanding vocal characterizations--Hunter, Lee, Bird and Jackson are particularly great--certainly meet their match in impressive set pieces. Bird's multi-layered and reflexive script simultaneously pays homage to the trials and tribulations of family life and the superhero crime-fighting genre. The Incredibles effortlessly rises to the occasion of incredible entertainment, somehow making the characters both down-to-earth and gravity-defying. One extended sequence--involving the family on an island--is a classic of its kind, and little visual touches (such as Frozone's sprinkling of ice across the screen) warm the cockles of the heart. The question, though, is how we should interpret the red crusader's pleasures and consolations. Should the fact that it's just a ,cartoon' prevent us from taking its politics or moral urgency seriously? Does red stand for incredible or danger? Indeed, beneath the dazzling surface lurks an incredibly dangerous film. Part of us is tempted to raise the Green Lantern--but if The Lord of the Rings has taught us anything, it ...