Let's set up the scenario.
It's early November. I'm in St. John's, Newfoundland (Not home). I'm a huge Pixar fan. Own all of the movies on DVD. Meet up with high school friend. Cram into a two-door car and in the back seat with three other people. I haven't got much sleep all weekend. I have to be up at 3:30 the next morning to catch a 5:20 flight. We head to a 9:30 showing of the Incredibles.
Now, this is no ideal movie going experience, so I more or less walked out of the film completely and totally unaware of how I felt about it. I mean, I walked out of Finding Nemo feeling like I had seen a really heartwarming, charming film. I walked out of Toy Story thinking "Whoa". I walked out of "A Bug's Life" thinking "I'm 11, so I thought that was as good as Toy Story because I am too young to correctly evaluate cinema, since it was clearly inferior, although not as bad as some say. I walked out of Monsters Inc. thinking "Best. Action. Sequence. Ever." (Followed quickly by "Dude, you need to get out more if that's your best action sequence ever"). But, my only real thought coming out of the Incredibles was "I have to be awake in less than four hours, and have three midterms this week".
I didn't come out thinking it was amazing. I, in all honesty, felt some parts were rather slow, and that the middle section of the film seems like too much setup, even for the final action sequence.
And then came the DVD, and it all seems like such silliness. There is no question now that this film, bar none, is the best "film" that Pixar has produced. I use quotes because I honestly found more giddy childhood enjoyment out of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo. Being more or less a kid at heart, and more of a stuffed toy child in my days, rather than a explosion expert, this isn't too surprising. However, on the whole, The Incredibles is the one Pixar film where there is an absolutely constant emotion of "Holy Shit!" that permeates throughout. I mean, it is by far the most impressive computer animated film to date, technologically, and will likely remain so for some time considering the art design behind Cars and Dreamworks' upcoming features.
Where the film really comes together, I think, is in terms of story. I mean, it may be because I've looked back through special features at the way it all came together, but it is a fantastic job by the Story department on this film. There ARE slow points in this film, but when I'm not dead tired I realize their effect. I just finished watching this early tonight, and I never saw the slow parts as dead weight; it seemed like necessary story, entirely. The story of a family of superhereos is so effective due to the story built up around them. It is a real family, with real problems, in real danger. Although you wish that there was more room in the story for Edna Mode and Frozone, they are really just sidekicks to the family.
This is the one Computer Animated film that really pushes the medium into a completely new dimension, because Brad Bird has written a story that could have been shot in Live Action. It would have required a shitload of special effects, but it could be done. This basically makes the film all the more effective, and all the more different from Pixar's previous films. The thought of domestic quarrels being in a Pixar film is absurd, but they exist in this movie because that is the story being told.
The film is not for everyone, though. There will be those who will dislike the fact that it isn't all fast-paced like the finale, or that it isn't exactly like the other Pixar films. There will also be those who just don't like animation; this film, still being animated, will do nothing to change that, because they'll never give it a chance. At the same time, it is NOT overrated. There is no way to, really, overrate this film. There is also no way to claim it is shoddy animatiion, or shoddy storytelling. It is a well-constructed, well-animated film, whether you like the results or not. Overhyped, it definitely can be. And, it likely is. I do not think it is the second coming of some sort of holy guy...you know the one, with the smock! It is instead simply a really good action film with the power of Brad Bird's fantastic story at its core. It is not like any of Pixar's films, or even The Iron Giant...it is its own film, and on that account it is incredible.
