Guest Post -James M's review of The Incredibles

Hey there folks, CrazyGamerHistorian1999 here and today we're taking a look at a superhero movie. But it's not just any superhero film, it's the epic Pixar Disney Superhero action movie that's almost everybody's all-time favorites, THE INCREDIBLES!



"Showtime!"
-Mr. Incredible

Released in 2004, this film was basically a love letter to the superhero genre, serving as a combo-parody of both the Marvel and DC superhero multiverse but with its own original take. Directed by Brad Bird, starring the likes of actors such as the wonderful Samuel L Jackson, Holly Hunter, Craig T Nelson, the late Bud Luckey, Wallace Shawn of Toy Story fame, and Jason Lee as well as John Ratzenberger and with a 1 hour and 50 minute run time. This movie delivers.
So what's the plot of this movie?

Summary/Plot:

The movie kicks off with Mr. Incredible, Elastagirl, and Frozone (voiced by Craig, Sam, and Holly) being interviewed and talking about themselves. Frozone acts cool and talks about relationships between supergirls and supermen while Mr. Incredible talks about his desire to settle down and sums up the life of a super pretty well, "No matter how many times you save the world it somehow always manages to get back in jeopardy again. I'm just like the maid -can we keep this clean for like TEN MINUTES!?" As for Elastagirl, she scoffs off the idea of leaving the world-saving to male superheroes, "I'm at the top of my game up there with the big dogs. Leave the world-saving to the men, I don't think so."

After that and the title sequence, the movie really gets going when (in the late 1950s) we see an action-car chase sequence with some bad guys trying to get away from the police. On the other side of town, Bob Parr (actually Mr. Incredible's real name) is in his car, dressed in a tuxedo and on his way to his own wedding, when he learns of the police chase and is like, "Yeah I got time." After suiting up and his car turns in to the Incredible Mobile, he rockets off to the car chase only to be pulled over by an old woman who needs help getting her cat out of a tree.

As Mr. Incredible works to get the cat out of the tree, the car chase with the criminals and the police enters the area and soon as our hero gets the cat out of the tree, he uses the tree as a roadblock that stops the bad guys' car, allowing the police to catch them. As he accepts thanks and many commendations from the old woman and the cops, Mr. Incredible learns of a robbery and gets into his car. But just as he's starting up the engine...



"Cool ready for take-off."

Meet Mr. Incredible's number one fan Buddy Pine (the film's main villain), or as he likes to call himself Incrediboy. Incrediboy, aka Buddy, wants to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick and have a car ride with him, hence why he's in Bob's car. But Mr. Incredible, being who he is, straight up ejects him from the vehicle and drives off, much to the dismay of Buddy...



"I'm Incrediboy."

Fine, whatever!
Anyway, after ditching Incrediboy, Mr. Incredible confronts a robber on the rooftops of a building. The robber just robbed a bus and was sorting through the purse he just happened to steal when our hero caught him. Just as the two are about to fight, the robber gets a punch to the face from one beautiful female version of Mr. Fantastic known as Elastagirl, aka Helen Truex. Mr. Incredible and Elastagirl talk and flirt for a bit before Elastagirl heads off as she has a "previous engagement." To give something away a bit early, Helen/Elastagirl is Mr. Incredible's bride to be.

After chaining up the incapacitated robber and talking with Frozone, who asks the strong super guy if he should be getting ready for the ceremony, Mr. Incredible heads on into the Municibles Bank (while saving a guy who was falling off the roof) and comes face to face with Bomb Voyage, a mime-looking French villain who's in the midst of pulling off a robbery. Just as the two are about to fight, Incrediboy shows up again and packing rocket boots he invented. Mr. Incredible tells his young fan to go home, but Incrediboy insists that he's his ward and asks Mr. Incredible if he can fly, prompting this response from Bob.



"Fly home, Buddy. I work alone."
"Et ta tenue est ridicule," Bomb Voyage adds.

Buddy, insisting that he can help, runs toward the broken window so he can fly off and get the cops only for things to go south when Bomb Voyage plants a bomb on his cape. "STOP!" Mr. Incredible yells, pursuing Incrediboy, "There's a bomb!" Just as Incrediboy takes to the sky, Mr. Incredible jumps onto him, trying to get the bomb off the young would-be superhero. In the end, our hero does so, but the bomb ends up landing on a railway bridge that Mr. Incredible lands on. When the bomb detonates, the bridge is destroyed, just as a train comes around the bend. Thinking fast, Mr. Incredible jumps in the path of the train and manages to stop it in the nick of time, saving a ton of lives.

After the cops arrive on the scene, Mr. Incredible instructs them to take Incrediboy home while shoving him into a nearby police vehicle, much to the annoyance of the young boy. Bob tells the police officers about Bomb Voyage and that he got away before his watch goes off, notifying the superhero he's basically late. As he gets into his rocket car, the cops ask, "What about Bomb Voyage?" Mr. Incredible simply replies, "Any other night I'd go after him myself. But we'll get him! Eventually!" Arriving at the chapel, Bob changes back into his tuxedo and heads inside where Elastagirl is waiting at the alter, and she chastises him for being late even as the priest officiates.

Helen asks Bob if he understands that he's got to be more than Mr. Incredible if their relationship going forward will work. Bob's response just as the priest finishes his sentence, "I do." The deal is sealed, and we have a married superhero couple to the happiness of the guests, which include Frozone and an important character named Edna. After they kiss, Elastagirl says, "As long as we're together, no matter what happens."
  "Hey, come on." Bob replies, "We're superheroes, what could possibly happen?"

Well, things soon go south. Remember the people on the train whose lives were saved by Mr. Incredible when he stopped the train from derailing after the tracks got destroyed? Well, they got injured, and they sued Mr. Incredible for the injuries they received. The guy who fell off the building Bomb Voyage was robbing? He also got injured and sued Mr. Incredible. Everything really falls apart when the Mr. Incredible Lawsuit opens the floodgates for MORE superhero lawsuits, and it gets so bad, the government is forced to ban all Superheroes and the supers have to go into hiding.

15 years later, Mr. Incredible and Helen have long retired along with all the superheroes and have had kids. Bob, who misses the old days, has become a bit overweight and now works at an insurance company while Helen maintains the family, looking after their kids. Their son Dash who is eight or ten is at school, Violet, their teenage daughter, is in high school. As for Jack-Jack, the baby, he's not yet been educated. Given that Bob misses the old days, he goes out with his friend Frozone aka Lucias to do superhero stuff of Wednesday night under the cover of going bowling. One night, while debating on what to do, Mr. Incredible and Frozone catch wind of a fire and decide 'ah what the heck.'

However, things do go a bit awry while saving many lives from the burning building. The two break into a jewelry store, setting off alarms, and narrowly escape from the police all while a gal (who's obviously a secret agent) watches them. When Bob arrives home, he has a discussion with Helen, who quickly learns that her husband is reliving the "Glory Days" and chastises him for blowing cover and not even paying attention to his family. Their little argument gets the attention of their kids and they decide that its bedtime.



The next morning at work, Bob meets with his boss Mr. Hump, who is greatly infuriated that his own employee has been helping customers get through legal loopholes, and they're now "penetrating the bureaucracy." During their chat, Bob notices a guy in the street getting mugged and attempts to go and help only for Mr. Humph to yell at him, "STOP OR YOUR FIRED!" The guy is a strict, selfish, and greedy little jerk. Completely losing his cool with his aggravating boss, Bob picks Humph up and throws him through several office walls, injuring him. Well buddy, you're screwed.
Later meeting with Agent Rick Dicker, Bob learns that he is fired. "Somebody's always in trouble." Dicker says, "And that means a month of trouble for me. We have to pay to keep the company quiet, erase memories, relocate your family. It gets harder every time. Money, money money. We can't keep doing this, Bob. We appreciate what you did in the old days, but those days are long over. Now, you're on your own."

Is Rick a jerk? Maybe, but he's a nice guy.
That night, after coming home from work, Bob goes to his office and is sorting out papers when he finds a technological communicator screen which activates, and Bob gets a recorded message from the gal we saw twice in the movie. Her name? Mirage!

"Hullo, Mr. Incredible. We know who you are." She says, "We're part of a secret government organization. One of our machines went rogue and is on a rampage and we need help stopping it. The supers aren't gone, you can still do amazing things." Remembering his old life as a super and reflecting on the old days, Bob accepts, and after lying to his wife that he's going on a business trip, he heads off to Nomasian Island to confront the Omnidroid robot. After being briefed by Mirage, Mr. Incredible is sent down to the island, and as he looks for the robot, he comes under attack from the Omnidroid. The fight takes them to a volcanic lava-filled crater. Thankfully the volcano's not gonna blow anytime soon.

Mr. Incredible seemingly gets the upper hand and tosses the robot into the lava... only for his back to give out and the robot to return unharmed. Bob attempts to keep fighting only to end up on the ropes, and as the robot tries to tear Mr. Incredible apart... it ends up fixing his back, allowing Mr. Incredible to actually defeat the robot. Watching the battle, Mirage invites him to dinner (under the advice of her employer). Now spoilers: Mirage's employer is Mr. Incredible's old fanboy Buddy Pine who has now taken up the alias of Syndrome, and the whole ordeal with the Omnidroid was set up by Buddy.

Arriving home, Bob spends time with his family and, while he waits for his next assignment, he works out to lose some weight and visits an old friend Edna Mode to get his super suit repaired. Edna decides against repairing the suit and gives him a new suit. Finally, after a few days, Bob gets a phone call from Mirage about his next assignment and tells Helen goodbye again before heading back to the island. However, not long after his arrival, things go south for Bob when a new Omnidroid attacks, and he finally comes face to face with Buddy/Syndrome, who's changed a bit since their last meeting.

Mr. Incredible narrowly escapes from Syndrome and soon infiltrates his hideout in the night. Getting access to Syndrome's computer, he learns the scope of the nutcase's plans about Operation Kronos and is horrified to learn that most of the superheroes have been picked off over the years. Mr. Incredible is soon caught and captured by Syndrome's enforcers while he attempts to get out of the lair. Meanwhile, back home, Helen finds a piece of hair on Bob's old suit and meets with Edna, who has been making suits for her and the kids. At that point, Helen phones insuracare about Bob's whereabouts and soon learns the truth that he was fired and has been out doing superhero stuff.

Helen packs her bags, gets her new supersuit, and borrows an airplane from an old friend, before heading out to the island and tries to leave the kids home alone. But Dash and Violet tag along and Jack-Jack gets a babysitter in the form of Kari, who's actually very nice. Back on the island, Syndrome confronts the held-hostage Bob about his activities and the fact that a plane has requested to land. It is at this point Syndrome launches a missile attack on the plane, which Helen, Dash, and Violet narrowly survive. They manage to reach the island and the kids camp out for the night while Elastagirl goes to look for Bob.

The next morning, Syndrome has launched a rocket that contains an omnidroid and is heading for Metroville. As for the kids, they're soon discovered by Syndrome's forces and an action-chase sequence ensues. Meanwhile, Mirage has become fed up with her employer and frees Mr. Incredible just as Helen arrives and nearly accuses Bob of not being faithful to her but Bob makes sure that he has not betrayed her as the couple share a kiss before Mirage informs them that their kids are in danger as Syndrome's forces have been deployed into the jungle. Bob and Helen rush off to go find Dash and Violet, who are busy dealing with Syndrome's troops.
The kids are reunited with their parents, and the super family joins forces to fight off Syndrome's troops in an amazing action scene that doesn't feel out of place in a superhero movie or a video game. However, Syndrome arrives and takes them hostage. At his lair, he reveals his plan: To have his robot attack the city, and when it looks all hope is lost, he swoops in and defeats the robot, becoming a superhero to many. Then after that, when he gets old, Syndrome sells his inventions so people can be superheroes only to not really be superheroes. Yikes!

In the city back home, the robot comes online and starts attacking with the military, unable to stop it. As for The Incredibles, they manage to escape, thanks to Violet's invisibility skills. They manage to find a rocket and plan on getting back home in time to stop Syndrome. Meanwhile, the robot's attack continues and the chaos is happening right by Frozone's place; he tries to get his suit... only to see it missing, leading to a very hilarious scene.

Frozone: HONEY!
Honey: What?

Frozone: Where's my supersuit?
Honey: What?

Frozone WHERE. IS. MY SUPER-SUIT?
Honey: I put it away.

Frozone: Where?
Honey: Why do you need to know?

Frozone: I NEED IT!
Honey: Nuh-uh, don't you dare go what do dares do. We've been planning this for two months.

Frozone: THE PUBLIC'S IN TROUBLE!
Honey: MY EVENING'S IN DANGER!

Frozone: YOU LISTEN HERE, WOMAN! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE GREATER GOOD!
Honey: The greater good? I am your wife! I'M THE GREATER GOOD YOU'RE EVER GONNA GET!

Syndrome arrives and tries to fight the Omnidroid much to the amazement of the public, only for his plan to go south when his own machine finally rebels against him, and he gets knocked aside just before the Incredibles arrive. Bob, Helen, and the kids engage the machine, leading to an awesome final battle sequence. Frozone arrives and its five on one. But even if they stand a chance, the machine is a bit too strong. However, there is one advantage: Syndrome's remote. Mr. Incredible tears off the omnidroid's arm and uses the remote control to actually shoot the arm into the machine, finally ending its reign of terror. The citizens commend the supers.

Arriving home, the family encounters Syndrome one last time as he tries to kidnap Jack Jack. However, Bob and Helen save the baby while Syndrome gets sucked into a plane turbine and is defeated, courtesy of his cape. Yeah, there was a scene earlier in the film where Helen said that capes got superheroes in big trouble big time. In fact, this was foreshadowed at the start of the movie when Bomb Voyage put a bomb on Buddy's cape. Anyway, the plane explodes, and the Parr family's home is destroyed, much to the amazement of a young kid on a bike.

Months later, the family is happy and everything's OK. As they head home after Dash takes part in a relay race, things go south when a huge drilling machine emerges from the ground and a new villain makes his presence known; The Underminer himself. "BEHOLD! THE UNDERMINER!" He shouts, "I AM ALWAYS BENEATH YOU! BUT NOTHING IS BENEATH ME! I DECLARE WAR ON PEACE AND HAPPINESS. SOON ALL WILL BOW BEFORE ME! HA HA HA HA!" The family knows this guy must be stopped and the movie ends with Mr. Incredible, his wife, and the kids getting into their superhero attire as the credits roll, setting up the 2018 sequel as well as the video game Rise of the Underminer...

Final thoughts:
The Incredibles is an amazing film with superb special effects, voice acting, and soundtrack. When it came out, it was a hit among critics and a box office success. This movie is a love letter to the superhero craze that is going on to this day thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other superhero movie works that are popping up and it is totally worth your time. I saw this film when I was about six years old and it blew me away, it still does today when I often watch it again and again. Is this film pretty intense? A little bit! Is the film worth your kids' time? Yes.
Go ahead and watch it, either on cable or DVD.
As for the score of the movie? I shall give it a ten. Yes, a big ten out of ten. With that, I will see you people next time when I eventually review The Incredibles 2 (2018).
Bye for now!

-James M