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A Review of "The Incredibles"
First off, this is Slashdot. You know, News for nerds, yadda yadda. So, let's start off with talking about the special effects, or more generally, Pixar showing off all that they have learned and accomplished.
The big hype in the animation sector has been the characters - real human people. Don't be fooled by the hype. Pixar has been doing humans as characters since "Toy Story". With the single exception of "A Bug's Life", human beings have featured as a major character in every Pixar film, and while the effect here is fantastic, it is evolutionary, not revolutionary. No, what stands out in terms of technical acheivement here is the movie's stunning use of light. Sure, "Finding Nemo" accomplished a lot here, but in that film, light was a tool to give depth to the water that surrounded the characters. Here in "The Incredibles" the light is a thing unto itself. Gorgeous shadows, warm red lava, sunlight against clouds, all of these things are breathtaking. The use of sunlight, especially in the jungle sequences, give objects a three dimensionality they have never possessed in a Pixar film before. It's clear that Pixar didn't have the chops prior to this film to do action sequences, because prior to this, the feeling of moving in a three dimensional space just wasn't there.
The movie itself is not just a breakthrough technically, it's a very different movie from previous Pixar productions. This is very intentional. All previous Pixar movies have been dreamed up primarily by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, Pixar veterans. So the story goes, these guys are looking back at Pixar history and while they see the series of wonderful made films that the rest of us have seen, apparently they also saw something else: an encroaching rut. There was a very real chance that Pixar could have become the next Disney in a very short time, making well produced and financially successful repeats of their earlier successes for years on end. They didn't want that to happen. And that takes fresh blood. Enter Brad Bird. Bird was an art student with Lasster, and had made one feature film five years ago - the sady underseen "Iron Giant". Brad Bird was challenged to make a different kind of movie, with complete creative control - he wrote and directed. This gamble paid off hugely.
This is not a kids movie. Seriously. Previous Pixar films have been consumate kids movies, movies so well made, and so funny that parents could enjoy them. And there are even a few adult gags the kids might not get. "The Incredibles" is a completely different tack. "The Incredibles" is an action movie, first and foremost, one of the best of the current crop of superhero films. Then it is a family film second, and a kids movie third, if at all.
To give you the basics: the world is full of superheros. The biggest are Mr. Incredible, super strong and invulnerable, Elastigirl, a Ms. Fantastic of sorts, and Frozone, a Silver Surfer/Iceman hybrid. Due to events that occur on Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl's wedding day, superheros wind up on the wrong end of - get this for deja vu - lawsuits. Lawsuits by the thousands. The government comes up with a relocation program, hiding the supers and pardoning them from actions performed in spandex, with the agreement that they hero no more.
Mr. Incredible becomes Bob Parr, an overweight insurance adjuster, with three kids. The symbolism is rampant. Once incredible, now he must suppress both his gifts and his insatiable need to help people, getting in trouble with his boss for actually helping their customers. From incredible, to just par. He's huge. He fills up the entirety of his cubical space, he fills up his entire car, he bends doorknobs, and cutting through his son's steak, he cuts through the table. He is too big for the small world that society wants to peg him in.
On the other hand, he's missing the one incredible part of his life - his family. His son Dash is tired of suppressing his lightning speed, and his teenage daughter Violet is tired of moving everytime the government needs to cover up her father's identity. When she can't hide behind her goth hair, she uses her powers to turn invisible. Managing the two of them and their third child, a normal baby named Jack Jack, Elastigirl is getting tired of being the only real parent.
Their marriage is strained, their kids are young and angry, his job is about to fall apart, and her patience is thin. It's a domestic situation primed to explode, and for the many of us out their who have seen couples divorce, we know exactly where it's going.
Except something happens.
And thereby hangs a tale. As you can see, this isn't some allegory about our lives from the point of view of a bug or a toy or a monster. It IS our lives. But with superpowers. Much like the also fabulous "Shaun of the Dead" the real story is a human one, but framed within spectacular events. The visuals are awesome, the special effects are fabulous, and the dialog not only funny but at times witty. I can bet that 90% of Slashdotters will see themselves on screen, most likely identifying with the daughter Violet or the villain Syndrome.
The performances are of course amazing. Pixar continues its talent of finding distinctive and expressive voices in the world of more traditional acting. Jason Lee as syndrome hints at his performance in "Dogma" and Craig T. Nelson shows us he can be so much more than just the coach from Coach. Holly Hunter shows her never ending flexibility (no pun intended), and newcomer Sarah Vowell as Violet (from National Public Radio's "This American Life") is quite delightful. And the only complaint about Samuell L. Jackson is that there isn't enough of him.
One sad difference between "The Incredibles" and Pixar's previous offerings is that it has a few minor niggles. Regardless of how you feel about Pixar's previous work, it was all carefully and consummately made. The movie's mixture of family interactions and superheros almost always works, but is slightly shakey with its villain Syndrome. He's got great lines, a good backstory, and a perfectly over the top performance from Jason Lee, but something just doesn't quite work, and that's the first time I've ever said that about a Pixar flick. But in the end it doesn't matter. So much works here, that the little stuff gets washed away.
"I AM NOT A TRACER!"
"This food is problematic."
Pixar really does seem to know what they're doing. My 2 favorite lines are somewhat spoiler-ish so I'll keep them to myself, but they definitely have the whole 'market to kids, but the parents will enjoy it' routine down. I saw it with my 22-year old SO and was laughing as much as the annoying kids behind us (quit kickin' my chair!)
I know nothing
"Mr. Incredible becomes Bob Parr, an overweight insurance adjuster, with two kids."
:p
I would commit ritual suicide if that happened...he really is incredible
There are so many details in the movie it's insane. The scenes where they run through the jungle are amazing. Every single tree and plant is highly detailed even though it rushes past you in the blink of an eye. The humans are just right -- not realistic-looking, but realistic enough. Their hair and clothes are excellently textured, while their skin and faces are comic book-like. The mechanical robot they fight looks like it is made of real metal, not drawn. The lighting effects, as mentioned in the review, are perfect. The whole movie is an animation masterpiece.
And absolutely LOVED it!
It's nice to see that Pixar is sticking to it's guns on having a great story/script BEFORE they start making a movie out of it. Too bad Eisner & Co. didn't get that clue and I think Pixar will be all the better for it now that they've told Disney to get lost.
As Steve Jobs would say, the movie is "insanely great"!
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I was amazed at the rendering of long, wet hair. I dug up this cool paper on the subject.
With every movie, computer graphics takes another step. Antz had water, Lion King had computer-generated herds... Although we're really close, we'll get to a point where the animation no longer constrains the story.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
...was that the scene in the teaser trailer, of Mr. I attempting to buckle his belt, is not in the film.
Other than that, a pretty good movie, though perhaps not in the same league as Toy Story and A Bug's Life.
Ironically, Disney's solo "Chicken Little" looks to be pretty good (previewed at The Incredibles also).
Letter To Iran
It's precisely because of that sort of thing that the movie works. Rather than "Copy", though, it's more frequently called "tribute" and "satire" (the latter gaining them protection from lawsuits).
There's touches of Fantastic Four, X-Men, Superman, Spiderman, James Bond, Rankin and Bass HeatMiser and more. Just look for them and enjoy the cultural richness
:-)
it wont air here (israel) for another 3 weeks though... :(
I guess it'll take even longer here in germany. Well, it'll be coming soon to a torrent tracker near you :-)
Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
I really enjoyed this movie, but it had a weird streak of Ayn Randism running through it. I actually rather liked that, but each time it caused to step back from the movie a little bit. There were a couple of lines thrown in like "And when everybody's super, then no one is," announced by the bad guy. Or when Dash is told by his parents that everyone is special, he retorts with "that's just a way of saying that nobody is."
This movie encouraged exceptionalism in a way that was striking for a kid's movie. It actively lobbied against the idea of everybody being unique in their own way, it argued in favor of there being Nietzchi-esque supermen among us who should be lifted up above the masses for the betterment of society.
Whether or not you like the message, it was kind of fun to see what I was expecting to be a kid's film making an arguement about philosophy. Fun stuff. Good movie.
--
RumorsDaily
While I enjoyed "The Incredibles" very much, I couldn't shake the impression that the movie storyline is just a bit too close to the storyline of the classic Alan Moore graphic novel. "Watchmen" also tell the story of superheroes whose activity was banned by law - thus ending the Golden Age - and they were given new identities by the government just like in the witness protection. Even the idea of portraying the Golden Age and the contemporary narrative in different graphic styles, reflecting differences in aestethics of contemporary graphic novel and 1930's comics is present here - in "Incredibles", we have contemporary CGI animations and hilarious spoofs of "retro" cartoons of the Golden Age.
I had the opportunity to ask Brad Bird directly about this similarity on "The Incredibles" junkt in Santa Monica. He said he has never read "Watchmen". I believe him, but... it's just too close.
The movie was able to jerk emotions out of me much more than expected. I come from a divorced family and there's lots of kids. I somehow had a weak spot for this and it shows when I watch it. Very Very VERY well made. Gotta love Pixar. Don't know what I think about Cars yet. Looks kinda goofy and stupid. But Incredibles' trailers didn't give anything away about the content of the movie either....
I got nothin'.
...and I have to agree with the comments so far. The movie is extraordinary, one of the best I've seen so far this year. It may be an even better superhero movie than Spiderman 2, and that's saying a lot.
The effects are there to help the story along, not to shine by themselves. At lots of times I completely forgot that it was CGI; it's not animation, not live acting, but something in which you can get utterly absorbed. A must-see for any self respecting film geek, Pixar fan, CGI fan, or all of the above.
No
It wasnt in the movie......Only the trailer... I love when they have exclusive shots for trailers so they dont ruin the movie.....
keanmarine.com
Ever since the early days, one thing that has annoyed me about Pixar is their strange love of over-saturated light. From their early TV commercials on they've had it. The one part of Toy Story I didn't like was that lighting (most often in sunset scenes, etc.), especially since I had just figured out that general problem in some 3D work I had been doing myself at that time and was very attuned to the look.
However... as the review pointed out, in this picture the lighting is just beautiful. The choices are great, and the look enhances without intruding. Basically it's moved up to being a strong supporting character
Better than Shrek 2, in my opinion.
The Incredibles has less of the movie spoof scenes, but makes up for it with a more compelling story.
The pop culture references are mainly about 50s/60s era super-heroes, but you won't miss it once the story gets going.
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
Which point is an interesting philosphical problem in itself: the ethical question of what do you do with the gifted in the first place?
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
One of my favorite parts of the movie (spoiler alert) is when Elastigirl is talking to her children while hiding from the bad guys in a cave and warning them:
"You know those Saturday morning cartoons you used to watch? Well the bad guys here are not like that. They will not exercize restraint just because you're children. They will kill you if they can."
Again, while I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, I have a sinking fear that Disney is going turn this into another franchise that they will milk for all its worth. Until it has none of the spark which makes this movie so enjoyable.
"I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up."
I think there is something silly about the critics (and wanna be critics) finding funny faults with something that isn't "so believable" about movies like this.
You can suspend disbelief about the super strength, the elasticity, the super speed, and invisibilty of cartoon characters but you have a hard time with they straw-man villain of the story?
Hello?
It's called "EN-TER-TAIN-MENT" --say it with me.
Save that kind of criticism for Start Wars: Revenge of the Sith
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
Undoubtedly the best Pixar movie yet. Sure, it has beautiful visuals and a great story, but there is something layered much deeper than hit right with me while I was watching it.
I think it's the message.
In public schools, kids who are incredibly intelligent and wish to progress forward in learning are discouraged to do so because it would be "unfair" and what have you. Because of that, they are sent down to the same classes as those who are, to put the bluntly, stupid(or just not as gifted).
It's the same thing in this movie, the unique(or "super") are sent down to live with those who they were once helping because they don't want it anymore.
Now MAYBE I'm just reading too much into something that isn't there, but it sounds like it is a metaphor for an ignorant populace that no longer wants to be helped by ones who can, which could be a metaphor for those who are creative and intelligent. Essentially, scientists and engineers(and the combinations of the two).
They all celebrate mediocrity and everyone being the same. It's a rather socialist point of view, and the Incredibles finally pull themselves out of their stuper and go back to helping mankind.
That's my view on it. Which is why I'm going to go see it again.
And again.
Many, many times over.
The phone number on the Mirage business card appeared to be a real 866 number - anyone get it?
Another hidden gem in this movie is Wallace Shawn (Vizzini from The Princess Bride) as "Bob Parr's" boss in the insurance company. Fortunately, his role includes the lightning quick monologues that he's famous for.
Blizzard does all of their animation in-house, and they are very well known for their high quality work. Their artists are obsessive with detail, and the standards for getting into one of their animation jobs are sky-high.
And represent the game they're trying to sell? That's a matter of opinion: they're trying to make the most exciting and visually pleasing movie possible using the source material, which they do, and do rather well. A video reflecting in-game gameplay would be best served by... recording in-game gameplay, maybe? It sure as hell wouldn't be as interesting to watch, that's for sure.
Except the Incredibles don't rule: they SERVE.
The intelligent guy who wants to manipulate the world, he's the one who wants to "rule."
I think the point is much more "it's important to be yourself even if you're not 'normal'" instead of "use your talents to control the world".
And just to be devil's advocate: the young girl's powers DO go together. The theme is "she's hiding from the world and pushes people away." Like a lot of teenage girls. Much like the boy's powers are along the "bundle of energy" theme, and Elastigal is "stretched thin" as a mother.
Actually, if you are the same Erik Harrison who does the reviews for the Houston Chronicle, I've been pretty impressed with your ability to analyze a movie and write coherently about it. Those reviews are usually entertaining and cover more ground than simple opinions. I have a certain dislike for people who take the title "movie critic" too seriously. I believe "movie reviewer" is a better description of what you do, and I appreciate reading reviews that are seldom one-sidedly negative (or positive), and contain knowledgeable comments on the actors and presentation.
I love movies. I seldom read reviews before seeing a movie (and I usually see about 4 per week), but I don't shy away from your reviews. I'm generally interested in your point of view.
Of course, if you're NOT that Erik Harrison, then you should know that the review you wrote here is VERY good. I wish I wrote half so well.
"The mind works quicker than you think!"
I really want to see Pixar do more stories of The Incredibles. But please, not so many that they become mediocre.
Steve doesn't even have time to fail lately. He is the head of a computer company that is in the midst of revolutionizing the music industry, making great computers(IMHO), with soaring stock values, and record profits. He is also the majority share holder of Pixar, the company most likely to unseat Disney as the the next media monolith. "The Incredibles" was about the smartest thing that Pixar could do to jump out of the path of the rut they were about to step into. It will be a success, so will their next film. Then they are done with Disney and on their own. Suddenly all the work will PAY OFF bigtime. Steve has managed to tie each of his personal investments together into one huge monster in sheep's clothing. He sold NeXT to Apple, became Apple's CEO, then used the NeXT OS to create Mac OS X, then sold lots of OS X Macs to Pixar to make movies for Disney. Then he sells the music from the movies on iTMS. Bill Gates better watch out.
Why doesn't anything interesting happen when I have mod points?
The movie is really clever in how it visually references other films. Particullary good was a portion of the film which is a shot-by-shot remake of the Rocket bike chase in Return of the Jedi. It also spoofs You Only Live Twice in some really humorous ways too. In short, good movie for film nerds.
Am I the only one who is getting tired of the whole "the fans are the real problem!" whining?
As amazing and fun as the animation and humour were, I was never able shake off the creepy elitism underneath it all as I was watching it.
I haven't seen the movie yet, although I plan to this week, but would one of you, any of you, PLEASE say something negative about this movie? Anything. Seeing dozens (nay, hundreds) of Slashdotters all agreeing with each other all at the same time is disconcerting at best, and frankly is scaring the hell out of me.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
a lesbian complained that Chasing Amy made it sound as those homosexuality were just a choice and that a lesbian just needed a "deep dicking" to be converted.
Kevin Smith pointed out that the Jason Lee character said that because his character is so WRONG about everything. Kevin Smith was making a point that such a line of reasoning is WRONG.
"Syndrome" said that because the idea is WRONG. If were were coming out of Mr Incredible's mouth then it might possibly be construed that Pixar was trying to convince people that were the way things are.
What made you think that the villian in the movie was the one to pay attention to for some kind of moral lesson? Pixar had Syndrome say those lines because he's the bad guy and HE'S WRONG. Dash says it because he's young and ignorant. And he later finds out he was WRONG. His entire family has special abilities that make them unique.
All the Incredibles are unique in their own special way. The heros are like that because that is the CORRECT moral lesson Pixar was putting out there.
Seriously. I can't think of any movie where every character good and bad speaks only moral truths that the audience is supposed to take as correct. This like every other movie ever made has characters which have incorrect world views which are then demonstrated to be wrong by events of the film.
Work Safe Porn
"It's clear that Pixar didn't have the chops prior to this film to do action sequences, because prior to this, the feeling of moving in a three dimensional space just wasn't there."
I don't see how you can make that argument. Video games, which have long been focused solely on action, and are far behind the quality seen in this film, have been doing action quite successfully for a long time now. If anything, action is MORE suited to poorer quality graphics, because everything whizzes by so fast you don't have time to notice any details. For the stylized cartoonish animation that Pixar does, the technological enhancements really aren't that noticeable anymore. I think Pixar is reaching a point of diminishing returns here... which isn't bad, it's just to say that things are just about as good as they are going to get doing this sort of cartoon animation.
"Previous Pixar films have been consummate kids movies, movies so well made, and so funny that parents could enjoy them. And there are even a few adult gags the kids might not get. "The Incredibles" is a completely different tack. "The Incredibles" is an action movie, first and foremost, one of the best of the current crop of superhero films. Then it is a family film second, and a kids movie third, if at all."
I mostly agree with this. While I think that this movie would be very entertaining to children, they weren't it's focus. The movie was told from the perspective of the parents, with the children being the supporting characters. A lot of the issues that the parents deal with will fly over the heads of the children, which is ironic in a sense, as you see the same thing happening to the child characters in the movie. Still, it should be made clear that this movie doesn't really go any further than that, and most likely couldn't and remain a kid's movie. Non of the adult characters are really faced with any complex situations or moral dilemmas. There's a firm line between good and evil. Things go down a rather predictable path. Things are spelled out mostly and little left to our intuition. So don't go to the movie expecting anything like that. The ADD kids will have their attention kept by the action, and the ADD adults will have their attention kept by their identification with the adult characters and jokes (ya and the action too =P).
The movie's mixture of family interactions and superheros almost always works, but is slightly shakey with its villain Syndrome. He's got great lines, a good backstory, and a perfectly over the top performance from Jason Lee, but something just doesn't quite work, and that's the first time I've ever said that about a Pixar flick. But in the end it doesn't matter. So much works here, that the little stuff gets washed away.
OK to discuss this I'm going to have to throw out a few spoilers here, so you should probably stop reading here. I think his character worked quite well... for a kids movie. He was a two dimensional villain, [SPOILER] which was somewhat disappointing given that they had taken the time to make him be a childhood fan of Mr. Incredible. It almost looked like they were leading up to a sympathetic villain, but then decided they wanted a very firm line between good and evil in this movie. If perhaps they had made Mr. Incredible more at fault for Syndrome's turn to evil, and have Syndrome struggle a bit more instead of being totally evil, he could have been made into a more interesting character. It would also have been nice to show a change in Mr. Incredible, from a young man who didn't really like children or understand them, to a father. They could have made Syndrome's attack on the city not be a totally evil move, but rather have his intention to be to put on a show and be a hero (with the attitude of collateral damage being just "breaking a few eggs"), and the machine goes out of control. Take out his serial killing of heroes, and he might be able to be a villain you could have s
You forgot Star Wars, notably "Return Of The Jedi". I'll let movie viewers draw their own parallels between the Jungle scene in "The Incredibles" and the Forest scene in "ROTJ".
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Ayn Rand is in the movie. Accent, silly cigarette holder, polemics, and all.
Okay, I've seen it twice already, and (damn!) have to go again with my wife tonight. I simply can not believe the talent and insight that Pixar brings to the medium.
GEEK ALERT
So, the thing that really stands out for me is the slight "involuntary" movement of the eyes when Mr. Incredible is listenting to his wife. It's about half-way through the film.
It's subtle. He's looking at her. Then, there's the smallest of movements of his eyes when she speaks...and he's looking at her. Seriously, he's watching her speak.
It's just so lifelike...a tiny, delicate detail... that it absolutely blows my mind. I got a cool chill when I noticed it, like the first time I saw 'Al' the toy collector, sleeping on the couch in Toy Story 2. So very "real", extremely cool.
And as for the preview for Cars, hey, I liked it! My son will probably enjoy it, he really digs that stuff!
I was not let down. I keep waiting for the first Pixar flop or let-down... and I'm still waiting. To be honest, the car movie doesn't look all that interesting to me, but I'm perfectly willing to give it a chance.
:-)
I enjoyed how they portrayed the mothers domestic use of her powers. Elastigirl makes the best use of her powers through the movie I think, in many various ways. A superfamily trying to be normal... perhaps not the most original premise, but very well executed and hilarious nonetheless.
You can tell when someone makes excellent characters... you want to see more of them. You wish there was a longer movie, or a sequal, or something. And at the end of this movie, I was very much wanting to see Incredibles 2.
But... I am glad to say that there's a good chance we'll never see that. Pixar is very good about creating a new world with every movie... Toy Story 2 was a mandate from Disney, not a Pixar choice. And there's no real need to revisit the Incredibles... their story is done. I just loved the story, the world, and the delivery... impeccable.
I'm a Pixar fanboy, I admit.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
I have to see it again, just for Edna. She's based on the famous Hollywood costume designer Edith Head (471 films credited on IMDB!). Most of her best lines are throwaways, like her annoyance at not being able to design for superheros anymore - just supermodels - "There's nothing super about them, darling!" There's also a little bit of Elsa Klench and Gloria Vanderbilt thrown in as well.
Re-reading what I just wrote, I feel compelled to note that I am, in fact, a hetrosexual male.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
If you were thinking about bringing an infant or toddler, please don't.
This isn't "Finding Nemo" - it has people getting killed. It shows parental fear & inability to protect children. Scarey stuff for a four or five year old.
I saw (and thoroughly enjoyed) the film yesterday, but it was partly spoiled by screaming babies. If you're the couple at the Colo Springs showing with four kids under five, that allowed the one baby to cry continuously - please don't do that to a theater again. Next time someone might say something awkward to you. Like "hey man, go be a dad".
And next time, don't assume that because something's animated it's great for kids.
Speaking of powers, "Frozone" is not a "Silver Surfer/Iceman hybrid." He's exactly like Iceman, except that he moves by skiing instead of just standing there and letting the ice propel him.
The fact that all the characters are totally cliched lets you think about all the times you read the old comics and never thought about things they might have to deal with, as well as ways of using their powers together that comic book writers don't think about. (And for that matter, how did Iceman get the ice to propel him along anyway?)
They're not the Fantastic Four, though - not exactly.
Fantastic Four and Incredibles analogs:
The Invisible Woman - Violet
Mr. Fantastic - Elastigirl
Thing - Mr. Incredible
The Torch - arguably nobody
nobody - Dash
So there's one character that doesn't match up. Does Marvel even have a super-fast-and-nothing-else character? They did have a character that looked exactly like Cyclops, with exactly the same power, but he was a very, very minor character. He didn't even have speaking lines.
One thing that I'd like to add is that while all the characters were very well made, they were also slightly stylized, and there weren't a lot of colors or shading effects in any individual character.
Someone could easily make this into a rather inexpensive to make cartoon.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
Marvel does indeed have a fairly prominent super-speed character: Quicksilver - son of Magneto, former member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Avengers and X-Factor.
They also have "The Whizzer" but I won't try to describe him any further since there are too many versions of him in alternate realities.
If you'll excuse me, I need to crawl back under my rock.
DT
Is this thing on? Hello?
This is exactly the attitude i am talking about.
Anyone with wealth automatically exploited society to get it. Its not possible that someone actually earned their money. Not only that, but in order to keep everyone equal we must keep people from becoming rich. This is why socialism is dangerous and this is why the Soviet Union failed so spectacularly. This line of thinking actually does lead to equality, but it leads to everyone being equally poor. Those with skill and drive and talent are forced into mediocrity or at the very least are left without an incentive to perform. The author of the parent post implies that inequality is a bad thing. He fails to recognize that people really are not equal. He cannot see that some people work harder or are more talented and that is why they are successful.
The goal should be to raise everyone's standard of living, not to destroy those who are successful. Of the vast increase in the well being of hundreds of millions of people that has occurred in the 200 year course of the industrial revolution to date, virtually none of it can be attributed to the direct redistribution of resources from rich to poor. The potential for improving the lives of poor people through redistribution is nothing compared to the apparently limitless potential of increasing production. Anyone interested in learning more about this line of thinking should read The Industrial Revolution - Past and Future, a paper by Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Lucas.
It's like the "pop-up" commercials in the middle of TV shows these days - they'll do it until people stop watching. The dots are put on there by burning each print with a laser, and each individual print has a different pattern. The idea is that they can track which print was used to make a copy. Of course this is moronic, as the dots are large enough to be noticable even in a crappy, VCD resolution, copy made with a camcorder in the theater. So any pirate group worth their salt will take a few minutes to clone-paint out the dots with a pirate copy of a tool like Combustion.
Silly, silly Hollywood movie studio executives!
Note: I see at least 100 films a year in the theater, so I'm a good example of the sort of person that the studios really ought not piss off.
"How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
I was actually really excited by the Cars teaser. I think the animation really fit the subject (the animated cars looked great, in my opinion), and based on Pixar's prior teasers, I don't expect this teaser actually gives more than the merest glimpse of what to expect - it certainly didn't reveal any story.
Indeed, MacNN on Friday (apparently crediting USA Today for the info) gave a very brief synopsis that indicates that Cars will not really revolve around racing (though it seems pretty obvious there will be some racing).
MILD SPOILER ALERT - here is the synopsis they gave:
"The movie centers on speed-obsessed race car Lightning McQueen, who gets lost on his way to the track. He lands in Radiator Springs, a downtrodden town off fabled Route 66 that has been bypassed by the interstate. There, he learns about what really matters from the cars of the 1950s and '60s."
-andrew
What bothered me was the implication that being exceptional is effortless. The super-powered people in the movie are all born "super." In reality, if you want to be a concert violinist, sure, having the optimal genome for a violinist is great, but you're also going to need to practice a heck of a lot. I don't want to make a spoiler, but the scene with the baby near the end clearly seems to show that the writer considers hard work and practice to be irrelevant.
I'm not that familiar with Nietzsche, but from a brief perusal of the Wikipedia article, it seems like he thought that the superman was in some sense above questions of right and wrong, and that certainly wasn't the message of the movie at all. Mr. Incredible feels a crushingly strong sense of moral obligation stemming from his powers.
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Dude, if you're going to give away vital information about the movie, you should put a spoiler warning somewhere. Gets the red costume halfway through the movie, indeed.
The Incredibles is the first superhero movie that I have seen where the super powers were 'just right'. Usually powers are given that are so great that the either the hero 'forgets' to use them at a critical moment (which annoys me to no end... "you know, if he remembered that he could see through walls he would have caught the bad guy an hour ago") or arbitrary reasons have to be invented to prevent them from being used ("oh, the pseudoultramicroneutroniatron field is stopping your super powers again? guess we have to do things the hard way"). In this movie each individual power was not enough to overcome every obstacle, and every power was used to its fullest to overcome each obstacle, singly or via teamwork. As I walked out of the movie I remarked to a friend that I did not notice a single time in the movie where a power was stupidly forgotten or otherwise kept out of the action.
One thing I think Pixar has yet to perfect is speech. If you watch closely when the characters are talking, some of their lip movements seem stiff, or too simplified for what they're pronouncing. I think part of it might be under use of the tongue, or lack of depth on the lips... it's really hard to say. I know its a really difficult thing to pull off flawlessly, but I did notice it a couple times (like when Violet calls her brother a "little insect", it sounds like it was said through clenched teeth, but the character onscreen opens her jaw wide for the E). I wonder if Pixar ever records video of the actors pronouncing their lines at the recording studio... it might be handy in better matching the characters lips to the actors accents. Anyone know?
Either way though, its just a little nitpicking. Overall the movie was fabulous. I enjoyed it a lot!
I agree with you, to a certain degree. The wheelchair story, though, is a bit extreme.
One of the things I think you don't see about kids is that they will always try to push the boundaries. You probably did, I did, and the kids I deal with today do as well. In other words, kids will always try to be unsafe.
As an example, when I was a kid back in the mid-70s, skateboards were popular. I had a skateboard like many of the other kids. It was about 18" long and about five inches wide. I'll tell you, standing up on this skateboard was an accomplishment. But I got pretty good--I could ride around the playground and not fall down too often. Some other kids weren't so talented and there were plenty of sprained arms as well as skinned-elbows and such.
But as the hospital visits for broken arms and such increased, the skateboard companies made bigger and wider skateboards. These were much easier to stand on and ride around on without falling off. I remember the first time I saw one, I thought "My God! You could hold a dance one one of those things!" But it was a "safer" skateboard. This is a good thing, right?
Nope. Kids started trying to jump them. Kids started trying to ride them down staircase bannisters. They started doing all of these tricks on them. And they got hurt--but they got hurt worse than they ever would have gotten hurt by the skateboards of my day. We never would have considered the stunts that kids do today on our skateboards. Heck, just being able to stay upright on them was challenge enough! Yes, I sprained both my wrists learning to skateboard. Of course, a friend of my nephew managed to lose a bunch of teeth and did a real number on his nose when he fell off his skateboard while going down a railing. And yes--he was wearing a helmet.
So if you go all out to create this safe environment for kids where they won't get hurt, they will work to find ways around this safe environment. Some of these may lead to a greater risk of injury than the original environment would have been.
So you don't want to create an environment where kids will not get hurt. What you want to create, instead, is an environment where kids will get hurt, but not so severely that they will end up in a wheelchair.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I see that nowadays. The threat of litigation--if my kid breaks his arm, it must be the school's fault--forces schools try to create environments where you can't get hurt. What they can't make safe, they will rule out (ie, no skateboards).
The wife & I took my three-going-on-thirty year old to see it opening night. Mind you, my daughter is very well-behaved in movies and has recently sat quietly through (and enjoyed) Finding Nemo, Shrek 2, Shark Tale, and every IMAX science/nature film at our local theater. Additionally, much to my constant concern, she tends to have "no fear" in almost every aspect of her life - heights, noises, surprises, acrobatics, insects, nothing seems to faze her. She also typically understands and deals with the occasional dark scene in a film. The first scene of Finding Nemo, where Nemo's mother and siblings are devoured by the barracuda, the fight scenes in Shrek/Shrek 2, the darker adult-oriented content of Shark Tale were all no issue.
That said, she was very upset by The Incredibles. She did not like some of the content early on, simply averting her eyes. By the climactic battle scene in the end, she was almost in tears - she quickly begged my wife to take her home. We left the theater and she told us, "That was a bad movie. I didn't like it, it was too scary." She futher elaborated on the specific scenes and characters she disliked (and why), but enumerating those in this post would make it a spoiler!
If Ebert & Roper claimed it was not a kids movie, I would tend to agree with them. The grim material such as on-screen deaths, rotting corpses, and torture are far too dark for young children. Additionally, due to the advances in special effects, the fight scenes have been much more intense than previous animated features. Finally, there are far too many "jump-out-from-behind-you-in-a-dark-corridor" type scenes; regular movie-going adults expect that sort of thing, but to children it can be a very novel, very real, and very startling concept.
I don't wish to cast about generalizations and dispersions, but this film is probably best targeted at teens and adults. Children under 10 (IMHO) will most likely be frightened by parts, but, of course, use your best judgement as a parent.
Now, all that negativity aside, my wife and I loved the film - and intend to purchase the DVD when released. Perhaps our daughter will watch it with us again in several more years -- and maybe even enjoy it!
"Adventure? Excitement? A Jedi craves not these things."
And if they refuse to go check the reels for code name to find out which theater is showing the new Star Wars trailer: well, then you are just a huge friggin dork for asking them to check in the first place.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Proof that everyone is special:
1. Make a list of everyone that is clearly special, and everyone else who isn't special.
2. The first person on the "not special" list is clearly special by being the "First Non-Special". He'll get interviews, appearances, etc as the "First Normal". This makes him special. Move him to the special list.
3. Repeat step two until the normal list is empty.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat