Tuesday, November 9, 2004

If you take a gander at this page, gentle reader, you will behold something damn close to consensus. Certainly their barometer is questionable from time to time, and it seems that even middling reviews are often stamped with a crimson “fresh tomato” icon.

For a moment, though, forget this disclaimer and look at the percentage: 97%. There must be some credence to such an astronomical number, right? Many mothers, I am told, warn their brood that the majority isn’t always correct, and they paint horrific pictures of people hurling themselves off bridges to illustrate this point. Thing is, we’re not talking about mass suicides via bridges or any other steel infrastructure, we’re talking about a product, kinda like cherry pie or invisible Pepsi. It just so happens that 97% of the professional testers allegedly enjoyed the cherry pie, some more than others.

Now, I’ve never been one to succumb to traditional branding, Boar’s Head meat notwithstanding, but I’ll watch almost anything released by Pixar. That’s my bias laid bare for you to see. Pixar could film a mound of dog shit on Super-8 and I’d plop myself down front-row center, Sour Patch Kids in hand, eyes and nostrils stretched wide, such is my trust.

From the looks of their Cars trailer, there will likely be limits to my innocent trust. As far as the present is concerned, however, The Incredibles was well worth the money spent. Was it a perfect movie? Of course not, but the dialogue was tight, the visuals were outstanding, and the overall product felt like a labor of love.

This movie was a refreshing bit of ear and eye candy. Heck, during several moments I wanted to lick the screen with my eyeballs, which I refrained from doing out of respect for my fellow moviegoers.