Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I can’t technically write about my reaction to Brad Bird’s new film yet, but I’ll say this much: it lives up to its title. I’ll be talking with Brad this week, and hopefully I’ll have all sorts of fun INCREDIBLES stuff for you in the next few. For now, check out these reactions:
Hey Harry.
I'll keep the review spoiler free and short! I saw "The Incredibles" on Friday night at a college screening at Loews Kips Bay in NYC.
The movie was even better than I had hoped for. Definitley one of the best movies I've seen all year and the best superhero movie since Spider-Man 2...(two great superhero hero movies in one year...thats a first). This film was made by a geek (Brad Bird) for a geek!
I got that great, joyful feeling I had when i watched Max Fleischer's "Superman" cartoons...uncynical, unabashed fun. Every family member gets their amazing little moments...and the villain's diabolical plot is absurd and ingenius! Only a Geek could have come up with a plot so outrageous! And for a Pixar film whose main characters are human protagonists (first ever for Pixar), there's a lot more depth, humanity and interest than most live action films today.
Every time Sam "The Man" Jackson spoke it brought the house down.
There was a Q & A with Brad Bird after the screening. About the 2-D/3-D debate, he said that nobody at Pixar believes that 2-d is dead, and he thinks it's just a really ignorant belief that only 3-d movies are successful and wants to "fast forward" to a time where 2-d and 3-d animated films can be successful. He points out that "The Incredibles," when he pitched it, was originally concieved as a 2-d film.
One major change was that the main villain in this movie was originally just a side villain that got killed off in the beginning of the film...he was a real threat, more menacing than the villain that he originally had so they decided to use him instead. The film also originally started with the entire family as superheroes but Lassiter thought it would be better to hold back.
Bird said he had the PIxar people on their knees in terms of the difficult stuff he asked for (hair underwater, realistic cloth, etc). "Directing a film is like controlling an octopus...you have to be tender and nice to it," he explained.
The moderator asked if there was going to be a "franchise" for "Incredibles" and immediatley Bird verbally pounced on him, saying, "leave it alone," and is just annoyed that because a movie makes a load of cash that there has to be a sequel. But he said if they can come up with a story [with the same creative team] that's just as good/better than the original, they'd do "Incredibles 2"...he likened it as "Toy Story 2" was to "Toy Story 1." (Nobody dared to bring up Eisner's plans for Toy Story 3 and 4) He says there are no current plans to make a sequel.
All in all, Brad Bird is a very funny, outspoken guy (his voice broke into the Comic Book Dude from the Simpsons from time to time) and unbiased in terms of what media to use for animation (2-d or 3-d).
I also saw a trailer for "Cars" before the movie...it starts out with the score from a "A Bug's Life," with a bumble bee buzzing around a flower and then a race car hits it. Then it cuts to a track with race cars (they talk, like the old Disney cartoons). Owen Wilson was the only recognizable voice. It looks like it could be interesting. It's Lassiter; it'll work out :)
If you use this call me "ElastiGeek"
And this one:
Harry,
I recently saw this movie at a screening. So here goes my review.
This movie has a lot of great qualities that will make it a number one in the box office. It will be a movie that people will talk about for a long time and will see over and over again. It is a movie that kids will beg their parents to see and afterward, beg their parents to buy the merchandise. There is at least one character in this movie that everyone can relate to and at least one character that will become a favorite. Mr. Incredible is the dad who has had his day and wishes he could have more. Caught in middle-class life, he dreams of his past. Elasti-girl is the once great heroine turned Mom and Wife who just wants the best for her family. Violet is the akward and shy teenager who just needs a little faith in herself to become what she is destined to be. Dash is the pesky, little brat brother who just wants the chance to show everyone how great he really is. The baby is cute and adorable throughout the movie, but finally emerges as something quite unexpected. And last but not least, every great superhero movie has to have an ultimate bad guy.
This movie is great for all ages. It has excitement, humor, plenty of action but it also has a lot of family values, including the love a family has for one another and the sacrifices that those family members are willing to make for one another. It was not necessarily violent in the terms of today's society. I would rather call it action packed than violent, but it did keep you on the edge of your seat at times with your hands over your eyes hoping the best for your superhero. And after you leave this movie, you have that great feeling that you get when you see a really good movie. Pixar is known for making great movies and trust me, this one is no exception.
Movie girl
November 5th cannot get here fast enough. Trust me on this one...
"Moriarty" out.
