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Indelible 'Incredibles'
TownHall.com ^ | 11/14/04 | Brent Bozell

Posted on 11/14/2004 10:33:17 AM PST by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

For decades, kids have enjoyed following the out-of-this-world exploits of comic-book heroes, learning along the way about courage and heroism, and the need for the forces of good to triumph over the nefarious plots of those possessed by evil. Every generation needs to learn their own duty to sacrifice and fight for the good.

But lately, ever since the first "Spiderman" live-action movie roared at the box office, fans of the long-lasting Marvel Comics stable of superheroes have been inundated with big, noisy, expensive blockbusters bringing these two-dimensional pen-and-ink heroes to life. Unfortunately, in attempting to dramatize Marvel honcho Stan Lee's formula -- paper heroes deepened on the page by troubled private lives in their worlds of secret identity -- these films have all suffered in varying degrees, growing ever more dark and gloomy, almost hopeless.

While the "Spiderman" films have retained a fraction of whimsy, movies like "Daredevil" and "The Incredible Hulk" have left many fans hoping they'd seen more righteous heroism and less sulky realism. In the final analysis, superhero comics work best when the reader is inspired, not left seeking Dr. Phil. Complex superheroes can make for a nice, dramatic storyline, but when they're so tortured by personal demons, they can't be very super, can they?

For those who do like their heroes a little less super-serious than the superhuman characters of old, there is a surprisingly mature option: Pixar's new cartoon "The Incredibles." This film unfolds like a comic book, with lots of action, but in between its animated lines, it offers real lessons about heroism, the use of talents and commitment to family. It's not often that a cartoon carries a line where a child worries, "Mom and Dad's life could be in jeopardy ... or even worse ... their marriage!"

Believe the critics on this one: It is a terrific film for the whole family. As with all the other Pixar movies, this film is not only brilliantly animated, but rich in character and plot. And yet the surprising thing about the new picture is how adult it seems. Instead of the parents struggling to find fragments of adult enjoyment -- often found in snarky asides -- it's more likely the grade-school children will fidget in spots that become so real you have to remember you're watching a cartoon.

The plot of "The Incredibles" starts with some surprising social criticism. After saving a man trying to commit suicide, the film's lead superhero, Mr. Incredible, is sued by the man, who didn't want to be saved. That suit is followed by a tangle of torts that causes the entire cavalcade of caped crime-fighters to enter a secret federal Superhero Relocation Program.

Demoted to the prototypical unspectacular job of insurance agent, Mr. Incredible (now known as "Bob Parr") gripes that "They keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity." He's hiding away with his wife Helen (formerly the stretchy heroine Elastigirl). His son Dash, blessed with super speed, is banned from competing in school sports, lest he betray the family secret. "Dad says our powers make us special," he protests. "Everyone is special, Dash," his mother replies. "Which is another way of saying no one is," Dash complains.

If that sounds like some Ayn Rand capitalist fable of the mediocre punishing the talented, there is always the offsetting fun the filmmakers have with Bob's insurance work. While Bob's oily supervisor wants every insurance claim rejected for the health of the company bottom line, heroic Bob can't help but whisper to his customers every tactic to circumvent company bureaucracy to ease their pain and suffering. This ends badly, with Bob losing his temper and tossing the boss through several walls, something even superheroes succumb to when their patience is taxed.

Bob loses his job, of course, and to make up for the lost income, he is recruited into secret superhero work with a slinky mystery woman named Mirage. (That's where the worries about the Parr marriage creep in.) What happens next draws the entire Incredible family -- father, mother, the son Dash, and the invisibility-powered teenage daughter Violet -- into a titanic superhero struggle with a super-villain, replete with a morality play of good versus evil.

Too often, we know what to expect from Hollywood, and we get it, in all its sensation-seeking, nihilistic glory. But it's a nice departure when someone in the entertainment world can dazzle us with a movie that everyone in the family can savor and enjoy. In fact, it's incredible.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: brentbozell; incredibles; moviereview; superheroes; theincredibles
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To: Stringfellow Hawke

I agree with your take of spiderman 2 and I hope for once it breaks the ridgid formal rule that a hero can't have a girl-friend.

By the way, I thought XMen 2 was also superior in droves to X 1, especially at the end when the telepath sacrifices her-self to save her friends....the glowing birdlike image in the lake in the closing scenes was a forshadowing I'm told for the rise of the PHoenix!


41 posted on 11/14/2004 3:42:17 PM PST by mdmathis6
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To: Guenevere

My brother and sil have talked to friends who said the same thing.


42 posted on 11/14/2004 4:24:05 PM PST by Peach (The Clintons pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed)
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To: Peach
#42...Thank-you!
...I felt like the odd man out! :)
43 posted on 11/14/2004 4:30:13 PM PST by Guenevere
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To: Guenevere

I think parents who let their kids watch a lot of television have become desensitized. My brother's kids probably don't want more than 2 hours of television a week. Without prejudice :-) I can tell you that my two nieces are the most fun, sweet and smart kids I've ever met. Being involved in other activities besides television is the big difference, as far as I can tell.


44 posted on 11/14/2004 4:33:25 PM PST by Peach (The Clintons pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

i didn't like how they all died in the end...

teeman


and anthony perkins is his own mother


45 posted on 11/14/2004 4:37:59 PM PST by teeman8r
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To: Stringfellow Hawke
Sorry pal, but the best comic book pictures that have been made are still the first Superman and the first Robocop movies. They both surpass Spiderman 2 without question. Spiderman 2 was in some ways inferior the the original.
46 posted on 11/14/2004 4:43:05 PM PST by Cyropaedia ("Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principal of evil...".)
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To: SilentServiceCPOWife
My 13-year old daughter has seen it twice so far and she loves it. She wants to see it again.

I saw it yesterday with my son, and I want to see it again. When they ran with the theme of superheroes hobbled by lawsuits and mediocrity, I couldn't believe I was watching a Hollywood movie. A movie Ronald Reagan would have loved.

47 posted on 11/14/2004 4:44:59 PM PST by Right Wing Professor
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

I saw it with my two girls yesterday. It's on the buy-as-soon-as-it's-released DVD list. Great movie.


48 posted on 11/14/2004 4:47:29 PM PST by jaime1959
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To: AmishDude
I'd say the target was probably greater than 8 years old.

From the MPAA itself concerning the PG rating:

PG:"Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children."

This is a film which clearly needs to be examined or inquired into by parents before they let their children attend. The label PG plainly states that parents may consider some material unsuitable for their children, but the parent must make the decision.

Parents are warned against sending their children, unseen and without inquiry, to PG-rated movies.

The theme of a PG-rated film may itself call for parental guidance. There may be some profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. But these elements are not deemed so intense as to require that parents be strongly cautioned beyond the suggestion of parental guidance. There is no drug use content in a PG-rated film.

The PG rating, suggesting parental guidance, is thus an alert for examination of a film by parents before deciding on its viewing by their children.

Obviously such a line is difficult to draw. In our pluralistic society it is not easy to make judgments without incurring some disagreement. So long as parents know they must exercise parental responsibility, the rating serves as a meaningful guide and as a warning.


49 posted on 11/14/2004 4:51:05 PM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: AF_Blue
The only complaint I have is the short about the sheep that was played prior to the movie. STUPID !!!

THANK YOU!

When I saw it yesterday the whole audience was in stitches with that stupid short. I kept looking around, wondering if I was missing something.

I'll agree that it was cute... but it was also painful to watch.

The movie itself was, though, well, "Incredible"
50 posted on 11/14/2004 4:51:15 PM PST by birbear (Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.)
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To: Peach
#44..I agree!

We were very careful what our kids watched when they were young.

I noticed that my young son reacted negatively to Scooby-Doo...a kid's cartoon....

..he would hide his eyes, and leave the room, and sometimes have nightmares...

..so, no Scooby-Doo for him.

That might sound silly....but the show frightened him.

51 posted on 11/14/2004 4:56:22 PM PST by Guenevere
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To: Bear_in_RoseBear
It is refreshing to see the last two Diznee offerings with stronger dads. Finding Nemo was a gem; even if the dad was a fish, he was going to go to ANY lengths to get his son back. And Mr. Incredible was great, especially when he realizes that being a superhero is second to his relationship with his wife and kids. The part where he tells Dash to go long, and the kid understood because they had *spent quality time together* said a lot. The reviewer here gave it a B, but then I don't think he has kids, or boys, anyway. Great boy movie: action, explosions, and the right amount a kissing to dive under the seats to... I hope there will be a sequel to this.
52 posted on 11/14/2004 5:03:00 PM PST by Othniel (Democrats are like roaches: Shine the Light on them, and they scatter for the darkness.)
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To: Cyropaedia
Believe me, I'm a big fan of Superman, I was a little kid when I looked up in the theater screen and saw Superman come to life and really fly!

The movie is very wonderful, but the reason I say Spider-man 2 is better is because Spider-man 2 broke a lot of the usual stuff you see in comic-book hero movies, like the hero can't have his love interest, nobody ever knows the mild-mannered man is really the hero everyone looks up to, and so on.

I still feel lots of admiration for Christopher Reeve, he became Superman to me, regardless of his political leanings. Still, when I saw Spider-man 2, I saw for the first time a comic-book hero movie that broke all the rules and hopefully doesn't try to put the pieces back together in the third movie.

Sorry for hijacking the thread. Since The Incredibles is getting such rave reviews, I might watch it.
53 posted on 11/14/2004 5:54:22 PM PST by Stringfellow Hawke (#6: I am not a number. I am a free man!)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
I took my three daughters (15, 10, and 6) to see it. They all loved it. Dad loved it too.

It's something modern-day Disney could not have done: it was funny, wholesome, and promoted the values of family and conservatism. There were no "hopefully-over-the-kids-heads" remarks to "keep the adults interest" that keep getting stuck into these movies. At least none that I spotted. The wife loved and admired her husband, and he loved her, showing no interest in the slinky lady, etc, etc

54 posted on 11/14/2004 6:06:02 PM PST by SauronOfMordor (We are going to fight until hell freezes over and then we are going to fight on the ice)
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To: Guenevere
At one point, the mom warns her 2 kids to be careful (while she runs to find dad).....as there are people out there who will kill you.

For a post September 11 action-adventure cartoon, I thought this was *highly* appropriate. There were no network or studio censors clipping out scenes of falling buildings and people that day. Kids know that what this character says in this movie is absolutely *true.*

55 posted on 11/14/2004 6:39:19 PM PST by valkyrieanne (card-carrying South Park Republican)
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To: Guenevere
..so, no Scooby-Doo for him. That might sound silly....but the show frightened him.

Scooby Doo frightens me.

56 posted on 11/14/2004 6:42:07 PM PST by valkyrieanne (card-carrying South Park Republican)
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To: Othniel
It is refreshing to see the last two Diznee offerings with stronger dads.

Note that these are not Disney films, they are Pixar films. Disney does the marketing, promotion, distribution, etc. but they are not involved in the writing, directing or creation. I think the agreement between the companies either ends with this film or the next one.

[Note: I'm going to be the Doubting Thomas again. The short for the next movie about CARS looks silly. I said the same thing about Finding Nemo and had to eat my words. Here's hoping I'm wrong again!]

57 posted on 11/15/2004 7:35:29 AM PST by WileyC
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

Does the baby arrive at the end?


58 posted on 11/15/2004 7:44:24 AM PST by GraniteStateConservative (...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
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To: SilentServiceCPOWife
She told me about the attempted suicide scene...

How will this register for my 6 and 9 year olds? I'm looking forward to taking them to see the movie.

59 posted on 11/15/2004 7:46:35 AM PST by Aquinasfan (Isaiah 22:22, Rev 3:7, Mat 16:19)
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To: Guenevere
...maybe I'm a bit sensitive, but I think it too intense and extreme for say....6 and under, or even 7, 8, depending on the maturity of your child.

Well, yeah. It's not G rated. It's PG. You'd be irresponsible to bring a small child to this movie.

60 posted on 11/15/2004 7:46:57 AM PST by GraniteStateConservative (...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
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