The Incredibles

Far less funny and considerably more violent than audiences have come to expect from Pixar movies, The Incredibles is the animation studio's first feature to lack the winsome pizzazz that makes for mandatory repeat viewing. Created by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant), the story revolves around a family of far too sincerely glum superheroes trying hard to live normal suburban lives at a time when frivolous lawsuits have made saving the world cost-prohibitive. But out of their spandex, they're just a bunch of sitcom clichés, like the Irresponsible Dad (secretly super-strong do-gooder Mr. Incredible, voiced with idealistic comic-book resonance by Craig T. Nelson), who tries to keep secrets and stupid mistakes from his (literally) stretched-in-every direction wife (a.k.a. Elastigirl, voiced with adoring irony by Holly Hunter). Of course, they do get their chance to return to action, thanks to a mysterious villain with a secret volcano-island lair. Terribly clever in many small ways but terribly overreaching in others (action scenes are conspicuously designed with the tie-in video game in mind), The Incredibles is a mixed bag, but entertaining overall. Recommended. [Note: Available in either a widescreen or full screen version, DVD extras on this two-disc set include audio commentaries (one by writer/director Brad Bird and producer John Walker; the other by nine animators, including Dave Mullins and Angus MacLaine), brief disc intros by Bird, a 27-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, a 10-part “More Making-of” production documentary (41 min.), seven deleted scenes with intros by Bird and story supervisor Mark Andrews (34 min.), extensive “Top Secret Files” character segments including an NSA section with 21 segments of “National Supers Agency” files and team affiliation hierarchy, the nine-minute featurette “Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell,” the four-minute animated featurette “Mr. Incredible & Pals” with optional commentary by “Mr. Incredible” and “Frozone,” the four-minute animated short “Jack-Jack Attack,” the five-minute Oscar-nominated animated short “Boundin'” with optional commentary by filmmaker Bud Luckey, the four-minute featurette “Who is Bud Luckey?”, an art gallery (with sections on story design, character design, set design, and more), two minutes of “Incredi-Blunders” bloopers/outtakes, 13 minutes of “Publicity” (including seven minutes of character interviews), trailers, and a promo for The Incredibles video game. Bottom line: an incredible extras package for this Oscar-winning animated blockbuster.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Apr. 12, 2011—Walt Disney, 4 discs, 115 min., PG, $45.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's The Incredibles boasts a great transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first by director Brad Bird and producer John Walker; the second featuring several animators), deleted scenes (34 min.), “The Incredibles Revisited” roundtable discussion with crew members (22 min.), Easter eggs (16 min.), interviews with the animated characters (7 min.), a “Paths to Pixar: Story Artists” segment (6 min.), the 2003 Pixar short “Boundin'” with optional commentary by director Bud Lucky (5 min.), Bird's 2005 short “Jack-Jack Attack”—with optional “Jack-Jack Attack Exploded” visual commentary (5 min.), “The New Nomanisan: A Top Secret Redevelopment Plan” interactive island tour (4 min.), a “Studio Stories: Gary's Birthday” segment (2 min.), and “Ending with a Bang: Making the End Credits” (2 min.). A “Classic Content” section with previous DVD special features includes a “making-of” featurette (28 min.), featurettes on “Story” (7 min.), “Character Design” (6 min.), “Building Humans” (6 min.), “Music” (5 min.), “E Volution” (3 min.), “Sound” (3 min.), “Lighting” (3 min.), “Tools” (3 min.), “Building Extras” (2 min.), and “Set Design” (2 min.), the “Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell” featurette with the voice actress (10 min.), a section with 21 segments of “National Supers Agency” files (7 min.), a “Who is Bud Luckey?” segment on the animator (4 min.), a “Mr. Incredible & Pals” 2005 short—with optional commentary by the characters (4 min.), an art gallery, trailers, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: an excellent Blu-ray debut for a beloved Pixar film.]