Guardian - 19 January 2018, 08:00 (+ 2294 days 15 hours and 7 minutes) Movies & TV
It’s the studio that rewrote the rules of animation, and it hasn’t let up since. So which is the best – and worst – of Pixar’s 19 movies? We find out in Ranked, our new weekly seriesThe jewel in the Pixar crown, the masterpiece of the noughties golden age of digital animation and a great family movie that actually asks what a “family” should be. Just before the Marvel franchise boom and the Nolan Batman phenomenon, Brad Bird gave us this glorious superhero movie, with a wonderfully sophisticated, funny and literate script and compelling characters. And in 2004, we were still all capable of being gobsmacked by the delirious technological achievements in perspective, light and colour. Holly Hunter had a genuine career highlight voicing Elastigirl, the “super” who with her super-children Dash, Violet and Jack-Jack in tow, has to rescue her husband Mr Incredible from his island imprisonment at the hands of supervillain Syndrome, Mr Incredible’s former teen fan whose spurned adoration has curdled into rage. The downing of Elastigirl’s jet is an authentically exciting action sequence, and their battle with Syndrome is gripping on every level – as is the family’s internal debate about whether their super-fast son Dash should compete in track events or submit to the mediocrity of the age. The comedy insights into superheroism are superb: the dangers of capes and everyone’s propensity to monologuing. And the superhero costume designer Edna Mode is a joy with her wonderful and appropriate maxim: “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.” The now is what The Incredibles gave us. Continue reading...