The film is quite good, and works on a variety of levels.
*It’s a great superhero movie. Violence is comic-booky, and not much worse than you’d see on various superhero cartoons on TV right now.
Probably the worst is the fact that a number of Syndrome’s stormtrooper-like henchmen get killed when they fly their vehicles into trees and rocks and stuff. We assume they’re dead; their vehicles sure blow up real good. No gore, no icky. Very similar to the way evil henchmen on the old Jonny Quest TV show used to buy it during chase scenes, frankly.
*It’s a hilarious comedy about midlife crises and married-couple relationships; Bob and Helen’s marriage and kid problems are a very funny burlesque of situations we’ve already seen in any number of “married couple” comedies, and Frozone gets a great scene where, in an emergency, he can’t find his super-suit because his wife “put it away.”
*It’s a very funny sendup of comic book superheroes, with a strong twist of James Bond in there as well.
*It is, in many ways, kind of a study of the sixties “superhero fad,” as well… throughout the movie, I kept noticing little touches that made me think of the old Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoons (notably The Impossibles, but there are others), old sixties spy movies, sixties television… the cars in the movie are kind of sixtiesish, as is Bob and Helen Parr’s house, in terms of decor and architecture. And listen to the film’s soundtrack and tell me it wasn’t influenced by the work of the guys who did the Batman and *Green Hornet * TV themes and every James Bond movie ever made… light bass, lots of trumpet work, very actiony, very… sixties.
Sole gripe:
Parts of the plot, particularly the ending, are extremely predictable… straight from the comics, you might say.
Still, it’s good stuff. Kids will like it, and adults will have lots of laughs. I’d say go check it out.