Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I... can’t... stand... it. I must see this movie now. I can’t stand knowing that it’s playing... out there in the ether somewhere... and I haven’t laid eyes on it yet. I am rabid about this film. I went into the Disney Store on Hollywood Blvd. the other night with my wife, and we were amazed at how much INCREDIBLES stuff they already have out. This is a totally different set of circumstances than Bird was facing when IRON GIANT got totally boned by Warner Bros. upon release, and he must be feeling like a million bucks.
Check out these reactions:
Hey Harry. You published my reviews of Hellboy and Intolerable Cruelty, so I thought you might like this, given the Incredibles hoopla on the site.
Just caught an advance screening of it in Evanston, IL (Northwestern University), with Brad Bird in attendance. The audience loved it and gave it applause at the end lasting all through the main credits, and a standing ovation for Brad Bird when he showed up.
The sole trailer was for a lame-looking Pixar film called "Cars", about, presumably, cars. There was then a short film called "Boundin'", which was well-recieved, though I thought it was a bit cutesy.
"The Incredibles"... well. Very funny opening stuff with a near-Golden-Age-DC feel. The young Elastigirl is gorgeous and captivating, and the lawsuit humor (you'll see) had me laughing out loud.
The main story, yeah, you're familiar. Loved the whiny boss in the insurance office. But the best character by far is Edna Mode. Hilarity encapsulated (and voiced by Brad Bird, no less). i also loved the teenage daughter Violet, just gorgeous. (Yeah, I like CG womenfolk. Sue me.)
If I could only pick one truly great element of this flick, though, it would be the robot. Quite possibly the most awesome robot villain ever, putting Sky Captain to shame, and even dwarfing the one in the first RoboCop movie. (Talkbackers, feel free to call blasphemy... or just type "See you at the party, Richter")
I didn't like some of the slapstick humor, nor the younger brother Dash. To be perfectly honest I think I was enjoying the film less than most people in the crowd, there were a lot of gags that fell flat for me.
Finally, the end titles. I'm a titles geek, and these were gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I'd have sat through to watch every name even if there hadn't been a special event afterwards.
Brad Bird's Q+A was short and sweet, and then he signed autographs. He signed a poster for me and it was clear he enjoyed talking to his public -- he had a little conversation with everyone, not just a "your name? okay, here" sort of affair.
I was not one of the many AICNers excited for this film. I did not find the trailer amusing. I had never seen a Brad Bird movie before this.
Yet overall I enjoyed myself, so I'd say the people who were really jazzed up are in for a treat when this hits theaters.
-- Shepard
Yep. Like I was saying... can’t wait...
Hi Harry,
Long time reader, first time contributor. So there I was at six o’clock packing up to leave my graduate seminar when my professor mentioned that “oh by the way, I’m introducing Brad Bird before a screening of The Incredibles tonight at 7 and there are some passes.” Throwing reading and revising to the wind, I dropped off my gear and headed to the theater.
The lines weren’t too bad and security was civil. The film started on time and we were off. Talk about a wild ride! Brad admonished us in the Q&A to please not give out any spoilers and I am happy to honor his request. The movie is fantastic. While a comics fan, Brad mentioned that the film was influenced by the superheroes he saw on TV. The movie has familiar scenes from movies that we’re all familiar with woven into a strong underlying story of family life that speaks to children and adults. This is Pixar’s first PG flick and I’m glad they chose to trust Brad. The film has excellent pacing and a nice mix of humor tempered with emotional moments. Brad mentioned in the Q&A that there are a lot of CG movies in the pipe and some of them are bound to be losers. Take heart that this is definitely not one of them. Disney is going to be crying over their busted partnership for a long time as long as Pixar keeps on producing films of this quality.
Call me Richelieu
ACK! WHERE’SMYSUPERSUITWOMAN?!?!
"Moriarty" out.
