The Incredibles

Originally conceived as a hand-drawn project, this spectacular comic-book-style adventure is another triumph for Pixar's brand of computer-animated magic. Focusing solely on human characters for a change, this centres on Mr Incredible (voiced by Craig T Nelson), once one of the world's foremost superheroes, now an insurance agent living incognito in the suburbs (thanks to a super-litigious society having turned doing good deeds into an invitation for a lawsuit). But duty eventually calls and he's soon squeezing himself back into his old costume and fighting crime on the sly. With the Incredible family's talents incorporating everything from super-stretchability and amazing speed to Herculean strength and invisibility, the animators are given plenty of scope to dazzle, and they really go to town. As in his debut feature, The Iron Giant, writer/director Brad Bird instils his characters with genuine personalities, emotions and values. The film's slightly overlong, but its sophistication, wit and skill more than compensate.