Grade: C

Verdict: Aren't.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

The most incredible thing about "The Incredibles" is that it comes from Pixar, the animation geniuses behind "Toy Story," "Monsters, Inc." and "Finding Nemo."

Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), a Superman knockoff with a Dudley Do-Right jaw, can stop a mugging, foil a bad superhero's (Bomb Voyage, an effete Frenchman) bank robbery and rescue a little old lady's cat ... all before dinner.

However, though the picture is apparently set in the late '50s-early '60s, times have changed for superheroes. A flurry of lawsuits and insurance claims from people who didn't want to be rescued or didn't like the manner in which they were rescued forces Mr. Incredible and his ilk into a superhero relocation program. Sorta like a witness protection program, whereby they agree only to operate as their alter egos.

Fifteen years and 50 pounds later, Mr. Incredible is a corporate drone, and his wife, Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), is a kind of soccer mom who looks after their, well, differently abled kids -- Dash, who's a zillion times faster than any ol' speeding bullet, and Violet (as in shrinking), who can make herself invisible.

Being a superguy in suburbia doesn't suit Mr. Incredible, so no wonder he jumps at the chance to work for the mysterious Mirage (Elizabeth Peña) and use his powers again. To get back in shape, he starts bench-pressing train cars.

Like the Jetsons or the Flintstones, much of the film's humor juxtaposes normal domesticity -- the Incredibles' ranch house is hilarious, with its avocado kitchen and "modern" art -- with something different. A his-boy-Elroy future for George Jetson, Stone Age gags for Fred Flintstone and, for Mr. Incredible -- he's a guy who can crunch giant robots, but can't manage chores at home or his office job.

But in a feature-length movie, the joke quickly goes stale. And the animated special effects, while worthy of "Spider-Man" and "Return of the Jedi" (both of which are invoked in certain scenes), don't have the same thrill as the fishy stuff in "Nemo" or the nightmare factory in "Monsters, Inc."

There are references to other movies throughout -- though, alas, not to director Brad Bird's own sweet-natured "The Iron Giant." A little bit of "Spy Kids," a dollop of "Austin Powers," a whisper of the old TV show "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Most frequent are allusions to James Bond movies, especially "Thunderball," "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice."

Bird and the Pixar whizzes do what they do excellently; you just wish they were doing something else. And if I want to see an old Bond movie, I'll rent one.