Rate "The Incredibles"

[WizarDru]

Which is why The Hulk was so successfull!

...oh wait.

Of course, the Hulk was only a failure in that it wasn't a blockbuster. It made $132 million, on a budge of $120. Not a runaway success, but it succeeded. Compare that to Sinbad (budget $60 million, box office $23) or Treasure Planet (budget: $140 million, box office: $38!).

I've never seen the Hulk though, so I couldn't comment on it's quality...but I do know that it's a slow movie, and it's a not a character study of the Hulk, but of an abused Bruce Banner. The Hulk isn't given much to do other than be angry, as I understand it...so it's not really about the person with the powers there, strictly speaking.

 

[driver8]

Sadly, I don't have high hopes for an 'Incredibles 2'. Disney owns the rights to the characters. Once Pixar's contract is done, they won't be doing any more Incredibles movies. Disney may try to churn out sequels without Pixar (in fact, I'd be surprised if they didn't), but we've all seen what Disney's direct-to-video sequels look like, and it ain't pretty...

All the more reason why I NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE! NEED! It's the only one we're gonna GET! I just hope I get a chance while it's still on the big screen.

Plus, the corporate outlook at Pixar seems to be anti sequel for sequels sake. Ive read in Wired that they dont refer to movies as the "franchise" or "product".

It seems that Disney would be committing suicide if they truly let Pixar go (or dont get them back). Disney traditional animation stuff isnt going anywhere in features and whoever gets Pixar gets a license to print money.

 

[Krieg]

Of course, the Hulk was only a failure in that it wasn't a blockbuster. It made $132 million, on a budge of $120. Not a runaway success, but it succeeded. Compare that to Sinbad (budget $60 million, box office $23) or Treasure Planet (budget: $140 million, box office: $38!).

I've never seen the Hulk though, so I couldn't comment on it's quality...but I do know that it's a slow movie, and it's a not a character study of the Hulk, but of an abused Bruce Banner. The Hulk isn't given much to do other than be angry, as I understand it...so it's not really about the person with the powers there, strictly speaking.

Geez, just take all the fun out of my smart alec comment why doncha?

 

[The_lurkeR]

Plus, the corporate outlook at Pixar seems to be anti sequel for sequels sake. Ive read in Wired that they dont refer to movies as the "franchise" or "product".

It seems that Disney would be committing suicide if they truly let Pixar go (or dont get them back). Disney traditional animation stuff isnt going anywhere in features and whoever gets Pixar gets a license to print money.

Not to derail this thread entirely, but I thought a amicable deal was reached between Pixar and Disney after their little fight?

 

[Dimwhit]

Not to derail this thread entirely, but I thought a amicable deal was reached between Pixar and Disney after their little fight?

No, I believe the split is a done deal (last I heard). There were even rumors for a brief while of a Pixar/Dreamworks mergers, but nothing came of it. And I think it would be bad for everyone involved.

I think Pixar should just go into the Distribution business. But I'm sure there is more to it than that.

 

[barsoomcore]

It's uncanny, the way Pixar manages to get one spectacular commercial success after another -- and they're all GREAT films, to boot.

I can't think of a single other studio that can do EITHER with any sort of regularity -- commercial success or quality movie -- but to be able to do BOTH, without a single misstep, six times in a row -- it's uncanny, is what it is.

I don't think it's any coincidence that Pixar seems like just about the coolest place to work in the whole world. Happy people = productive, hard-working, shining examples of talent and persistence people.

 

[barsoomcore]

Oh, and it's pretty certain that Steve Jobs (who runs Pixar) is in the running to take over as CEO of Disney. Yanking the Disney/Pixar deal from current CEO Michael Eisner was a significant contributor to Eisner's current disfavour with Disney shareholders, and he's announced his retirement next year, leaving the CEOship vacant for SOMEBODY to fill.

Even the Economist thinks Jobs is one of the top candidates. At which point, one may assume, a Disney/Pixar deal becomes possible to manage.

And Jobs has let his distaste for Disney's current "turn out as many cheap sequels as the market can possibly bear" strategy be known publicly on many occasions.

Sometimes I remember that Eisner killed Disney's feature animation department and the desire to commit red-handed murder rises in my brain...

 

[WizarDru]

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Pixar's deal is up...but they haven't agressively sought out other partners. Disney made a very nice deal earlier this year, and claims it won't come to the table with so sweet a deal again (and the WSJ seemed to agree)...but it sounds like Jobs is mostly interested in helping Eisner out the door, more than getting a super lucrative deal. If Jobs is actively jonsesing to get in Disney, that would certainly be a factor...but the WSJ doesn't think that terribly likely, unless Eisner falls and falls hard....even with his announced retirement (and replacment).

 

[takyris]

(pardon the cut-and-paste from my buddies' messageboard)

Hey guys,

I play Mutants & Masterminds, a superhero RPG based around the system that runs D&D, and I frequent the M&M boards. While I'm there, I hear a lot about folks who want to play "A guy who takes away other people's powers" or a grim, gritty, bloody ghost who eats people up from the inside, and he's the hero. While those are legitimate styles, of course, and far be it from me to judge... I feel like they've lost the essence of what made them fall in love with superheroes in the first place. They're so busy working out their revenge fantasies and being grim and brooding that they forget the joy.

The Incredibles does not forget the joy.

Damn, I love this movie. I want this movie to be nominated for Best Picture. It tells a great superhero story, a great midlife crisis story, and a great family coming together story, and it does all three, and never drops the ball. I take Pixar's visual effects for granted, but man, their storytelling ability always surprises me. With League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I felt like somebody loved the source material but didn't have the resources or ability to do it justice -- and the result was this sometimes cute, often embarrassing, occasionally massively mockable result. With The Incredibles, they had the ability and the resources to do it justice, and they smacked it out of the park.

Without going into spoilers, take a look at the last big weapon Mr. Incredible uses to beat the bad guy in the climax. How perfect is that? The kids will never notice that anything deep is going on, but every adult in the audience is going to get that. Damn, that was awesome. It's been awhile since I heard applause at the end of a movie.

Oh, side note -- one SFGate critique said that Elastigirl was the let-down, because she was initially trying to keep the family dull and non-superheroic, while dad was off superheroing on the side. I was ready for that, but I didn't see it -- and neither did my wife. I think the reviewer profoundly missed the point -- that a woman with three kids and house payments and a husband at work all day is going to have to do what she does, and that to have had her be perfect while Mr. Incredible goes through his mistakes would have done her a disservice. She gets to grow just as much as Mr. Incredible does -- and when she kicks it into high gear, she is awesome to watch. She's not the stereotype of the always-right mom -- she's an actual character, on equal footing with Mr. Incredible. I think the reviewer missed that.

I could blab about the kids, but suffice it to say: also well done. Lots of little touches that showed that while many hands were working on it, everyone was on-board with the message. I don't know if they did a retreat. I don't know how they kept that kind of focus. But damn, they did it, and they did it big. I'm getting the DVD.

Go see it.

 

[Dimwhit]

Oh, and it's pretty certain that Steve Jobs (who runs Pixar) is in the running to take over as CEO of Disney. Yanking the Disney/Pixar deal from current CEO Michael Eisner was a significant contributor to Eisner's current disfavour with Disney shareholders, and he's announced his retirement next year, leaving the CEOship vacant for SOMEBODY to fill.

Even the Economist thinks Jobs is one of the top candidates. At which point, one may assume, a Disney/Pixar deal becomes possible to manage.

And Jobs has let his distaste for Disney's current "turn out as many cheap sequels as the market can possibly bear" strategy be known publicly on many occasions.

Sometimes I remember that Eisner killed Disney's feature animation department and the desire to commit red-handed murder rises in my brain...

I dunno. I haven't heard this, but I can't imagine it would happen. That would put Jobs as CEO over Disney, Pixar, and Apple Computers. I suppose he could leave Apple for Disney (larger company), but I'd have to see it to believe it.

However, Jobs would be incredible at the helm of Disney. Just look at how quickly he brought Apple back from the brink of disaster. He could do great things at Disney, and tick off plenty of people at the same time.