I emerged from the theatre cheering after seeing The Incredibles for the first time. I loved it. It was the most openly fun I’d had during a Pixar film thus far and it remains one of my personal favorites. It’s always a joy to watch and when I think of Pixar, this is one of the first ones that springs to the forefront of my mind.
However, with this rewatch, I found it surprisingly difficult to articulate why I enjoy it so much. What is it, exactly, that makes The Incredibles so . . . well . . . incredible?
From the jump, story and tone strike just the right balance between quiet, wild, imaginative, witty, sweet, and speculative. I could break down elaborate, nitty-gritty examples of why this movie is so effective (Michael Giacchino‘s score, the style and art direction, homage v. originality, etc.) but, truthfully? This film demonstrates an unusually solid example of “movie magic”; when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (for me, at least). A lot of that comes down to the team behind it; if Pete Docter is my favorite Pixar director, then Brad Bird comes in at a very close second. I’ve been a fan of his style since I first saw The Iron Giant (oh, how I love that film, too). In Bird’s films, I most appreciate the dialogue, pace, and – like with Docter – the ambition. There are blurred moral lines here. We may not sympathize with the villains, but we understand them. While their decisions and reactions to their circumstances may be wrong, the points they make are very often sound.
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The film delivers on the promise of its trailer: a surplus of wholesome charm and quirky humor throughout but underneath the whimsy beats an unironic, introspective heart. The story is both simple and intricate: Marcel is an anthropomorphic shell living with his grandmother, Connie, in an Airbnb home, occupied by the film’s director, Dean Fleischer-Camp. The Shells rely heavily on one another given their recent separation from the rest of their community. Dean (the character) gets to know them through interviews and tracking their daily life … There are moments of real stakes for everyone involved and despite the predominantly twee nature of the film, there’s no guaranteed all-encompassing happy ending. It stays grounded and even delves into the philosophy of life, death, happiness, and questioning one’s purpose. At its core, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a coming-of-age story: face your fears, accept change, and find the beauty around you, both external and within.
Robin C. Farrell 