The Incredibles (2004)

There's a version of The Incredibles that I think exists in a lot of people's memories, one that's sharper, more emotionally devastating, and more daring than the film that's actually on screen. I understand why. Brad Bird's superhero satire is so confidently assembled, so stylish and funny and alive with ideas, that it feels like a stone-cold classic while you're watching it. It's only when the credits roll that you start to notice what's missing.

The premise is genuinely inspired. A world where costumed heroes have been legislated out of existence, forced into suburban anonymity by a litigious, mediocrity-obsessed society, and we drop in on one of them mid-crisis: a man who used to save cities, now pushing paper in an insurance office and barely fitting into his own living room. That's a rich comic premise and a sharp bit of cultural satire, and the film wrings real wit from it. The bureaucratic absurdity, the enforced ordinariness, the creeping resentment of a man who was built for more, it's all done with intelligence and style.

And the style! The animation holds up remarkably well. The angular retro-futurist design work is gorgeous, all clean lines and bold geometry, and the action sequences genuinely hum with energy. But the single strongest element, the thing I'd point anyone to first, is Michael Giacchino's score. That jazzy, spy-inflected music does enormous work, lending the whole thing a breezy confidence that paper over a few cracks. It's the kind of score that makes good scenes feel great and keeps lesser ones moving.

The family dynamics are where I found myself wanting more, though. The restless son who can't contain his powers. The teenage daughter who wants to disappear. The baby who turns out to be hiding the wildest abilities of all. These are charming beats, played with real warmth, but they don't evolve much beyond the archetypes they start as. You can see each character's arc from miles off, and the film more or less delivers exactly what you expect, no more, no less. Compared to something like Ratatouille, which genuinely surprised me with how emotionally complicated it was willing to get, The Incredibles keeps its feelings at a comfortable arm's length.

The villain is another area where the film falls slightly short of its own ambitions. The core idea is clever, someone whose grievance is rooted in being told he wasn't special enough, which ties neatly into what the film is saying about exceptionalism and the fear of mediocrity. But the execution feels undercooked. There's not quite enough time spent making that wound feel real, so when the scheme unfolds, it reads more like a plot mechanism than a character study.

And then the final act arrives, and the film leans hard into spectacle. The city battle is well-animated, kinetic, visually busy in all the ways a big-budget action climax should be. But I never felt real tension. The stakes don't bite. It's a sequence that looks like it matters more than it feels like it matters, which is the opposite of what Pixar's best moments do.

None of this makes The Incredibles a bad film. It's not. It's funny, inventive, and more than watchable. It's just comfortable in ways that the very best Pixar isn't. Films like the one I mentioned above take genuine risks with tone and story. The Incredibles plays its hand cleverly but safely. It's a film that has ideas and flair and heart in places, but not quite enough of the latter to make it truly linger. Good, yes. But not quite great.

If you enjoyed it and fancy seeing what Incredibles 2 does with the same pieces, I'd warn you: I found it a step down even from this. Three stars.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2004  | Watched: 2025-07-24

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Sky Store
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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