The Incredibles (2004)
★★★ — The Incredibles (2004)
Released in November 2004, The Incredibles arrived at a particular moment in the culture, when superhero films were beginning their long march toward box-office dominance but had not yet settled into the formula-heavy, franchise-first approach that would define the following two decades. Pixar, for its part, was at the height of its powers and its critical reputation, and handing the project to Brad Bird, who had previously directed the warmly received The Iron Giant (1999) at Warner Bros., signalled an intention to do something a little different with the animated family film. Bird's central conceit, a family of retired superheroes squeezed into suburban anonymity, neatly doubled as a commentary on conformity, mediocrity and the quiet desperation of middle age, territory that animated films rarely touched at the time. The film runs to 115 minutes, longer than most of its genre peers, and carries a genuine screenplay ambition to match its visual one.
On the production side, this was a Pixar film made entirely in-house, building on the studio's then-cutting-edge computer animation work and pushing further into the territory of stylised human characters, something the studio had previously sidestepped. Bird's aesthetic here is angular, retro-futurist and influenced by mid-century design, giving the whole film a look that feels distinct from the softer, rounder house styles of the era. The score, composed by Michael Giacchino, draws heavily on 1960s spy-film brass and jazz idioms, and has since become one of the more fondly remembered pieces of music attached to a Pixar production. It is the kind of film that clearly had a strong directorial vision behind it from the very beginning, which also makes Bird's later Pixar work, including Ratatouille, an interesting companion piece for anyone tracking his preoccupations as a filmmaker, and Incredibles 2 a natural point of comparison for how that vision aged and evolved.
The voice cast is led by Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr, the former superhero Mr Incredible, and Holly Hunter as his wife Helen, known in her costumed life as Elastigirl. Both bring a lived-in quality to the domesticity of the film's opening stretch, grounding what could easily have been a broad cartoon premise in something that feels recognisably human. Sarah Vowell and Spencer Fox voice their teenage daughter and son respectively, while Jason Lee provides the film's central antagonist. It is a polished but unremarkable ensemble in the conventional sense, with no single performance overwhelming the material, which suits a film that is, at its core, more interested in ideas and movement than in character study.
It’s hard to fault The Incredibles for ambition or style. Brad Bird’s sleek, angular vision of a world where superheroes have been driven underground is packed with wit, from the mid-life crisis of a suburban dad who used to save cities, to the sharp satire of bureaucracy and mediocrity. The animation holds up remarkably well, the action sequences hum with energy, and Michael Giacchino’s jazzy, spy-inflected score is probably the strongest single element. It’s stylish, smartly written, and undeniably entertaining. Yet for all its strengths, it never quite reaches the emotional depth or narrative boldness of Pixar’s very best. The family dynamics are engaging but familiar (the restless son, the invisible girl, the baby with hidden talents) and while they’re played with charm, they don’t evolve much beyond archetypes. The villain’s motivation, though tied neatly to a theme of validation, feels slightly undercooked, and the final act leans heavily on spectacle over substance, with a city battle that, while well-animated, lacks real tension. It’s a solid, above-average Pixar outing (inventive, funny, and more than watchable) but it sits comfortably in the middle tier rather than the upper echelon. It’s got ideas, flair, and heart in places, but not quite enough of the latter to elevate it beyond a well-crafted, slightly impersonal blockbuster. A good film, yes, but not quite a great one.
I keep coming back to that score, because I think it does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting that the screenplay occasionally leaves undone. There is a version of this film, perhaps, where the family dynamics get another ten minutes to breathe and the villain is given a bit more room to become genuinely threatening rather than conceptually interesting. What Bird gets right, he gets very right, and the mid-section of the film in particular has a real confidence and momentum to it. But "almost great" is its own distinct category, and this one lives there comfortably. Worth your time, certainly. Worth the pedestal it tends to get placed on, not quite.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2004 | Watched: 2025-07-24
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for The Incredibles (2004) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Sky Store
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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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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Brad Bird: Incredibles 2 (2018) · Ratatouille (2007)
More with Craig T. Nelson: Incredibles 2 (2018)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
