Crowd Report: "The Incredibles"

I was sure happy when this movie was over, I?ll tell you that (that about wraps it up for me). Before this movie I had liked every Pixar flick (though didn?t love any of them), and though the trailer to Incredibles didn?t excite me, the teaser made me laugh, which I figured was enough to push me in ? that and Pixar?s track record has been impressive.

I seriously thought I had walked into some average Disney movie (note Disney, not Pixar). And for a good distance into the film, I really didn?t get it. It started off on a decent note but then drifted away to material that felt geared toward families more so than a wide demographic range that these movies are known for. For the first 20 or 30 minutes I was quite baffled, and was waiting for the wit of Finding Nemo and the ingenuity of the Toy Story?s ? it really didn?t feel like a Pixar picture. I kept waiting and waiting and what I wanted badly never arrived.

And when I say I didn?t really get it, I?m also referring to the audience?s reaction: the crowd loved it. People were giggling along, laughing fairly consistently, and it even got claps and cheers afterwards. And this audience wasn?t even family-oriented either. Most were in their mid-20?s to mid-30?s, the gender ratio was even, and (reaction wise) it played just as strongly with males as with females (I?ve noticed Pixar flicks seem to play really well with women specifically).

For some reason the sound of Samuel L. Jackson?s voice made me smirk at the intro, and that was the first and only time I broke a smile throughout the movie?s duration. I even questioned whether I was uptight (and should loosen up) and questioned many things considering my constant deadpan glare; and yet, even when I was trying hard to get into it, this movie just wasn?t funny to me. I really wanted the fun experience that most people were having, and instead I ended up being that jackass who barely broke a smile.

I saw The Incredibles at a multiplex that I?ve never seen an opening night flick at, but it?s generally heavily populated (even some of the low-grossing movies get attendance). It?s also a theater that rarely gets big reactions (from audiences) out of trailers unless the ad really is an event picture. I saw the X-Men sequel here on its second night out and The Matrix Reloaded ad got claps. I figured the same thing would happen with this new Star Wars trailer that many people had asked me if I had seen by Friday, as I was waiting till the theater to see it. But as crowded of a theater as this can get, we didn?t even get Star Wars.

The only box office comparison I was able to draw at this theater was Die Another Day ($16.8 million - $5,075 per-screen), which I knew had sold out the night on opening day. I?m not sure about the 6/7:00 hour for Incredibles, but the 9 and 10:00 shows were sold out on all three screens at this theater on Friday night. Around town, the movie was showing signs of The Bourne Supremacy business ($18.4 million - $5,825 per-screen) in terms of per-screen average, and even upwards of Shrek 2 ($28.3 million - $6,808 per-screen).

I had dropped by a multiplex in Santa Monica at 5:20 where I originally tried to see the movie (at 5:30), but apparently the show (in a 420-seat auditorium) had sold out a while before (which cancelled that plan). And as I was loitering around in the lobby, I couldn?t help but notice a woman and a child attempting to speak to the employees at the box office, inside the lobby. This woman ended up being no one other than Meg Ryan (I kid you not).

At first I only saw part of her face, to which I was like, ?Is that??? because you wouldn?t have guessed a celebrity was anywhere near (she just looked like a typical mother). But eventually she turned around to look at something, and once I saw her eyes there was no doubt about it. When you live in LA you tend to see your share of celebrities once and a while, some that are easy to notice, and others that you could walk by having no clue that you just walked by them. Meg Ryan wasn?t easy to notice given her hair and wardrobe, as I think I randomly recognized her. And given that there were no paparazzi to threaten her personal life at the moment or shower her with attention (I?ve seen this happen in person), it was extremely easy to be clueless to her presence.

Trailers:

Pooh?s Heffalump Movie
? Silence.

The Polar Express
? Silence.

Christmas with the Kranks
? Got a few chuckles.

Lemony Sicket
? Silence.

Cars
? There were a few chuckles at the beginning, but that was about it. In addition to my disappointed reaction to Incredibles, I have to say this one isn?t looking promising to me either (being the next Pixar flick). It was kind of semi-amusing at first, but as the ad kept playing it was hard to imagine that this was actually a movie. Perhaps I?m on a deserted island on this one (the crowd seemed amused), I don?t know.

This is the second straight week of disappointments. Last week I was in anticipation to see Ray, and to my surprise I didn?t even like it (I thought Jamie Foxx was the only reason to see it). And the even bigger surprise last week was that I dug Saw (B) more than Ray (C+), which I would?ve never expected (I also would?ve never guessed that I?d like Collateral more than Ray). I walked into Saw thinking it could either suck or be pretty good, and ended up liking it (which I was really hoping for during Ray). Ray felt like a watered down version of Charles? life, as if the material had been tamed in order to appeal to a broad demographic range (so it would be pretty light and easygoing). On the contrary, I thought Saw was creepy; and though it had faults, I was engaged the entire time (and didn?t figure out the twist, which is usually a plus).

With Ray, not every review was positive, which sort of made me feel more comfortable attacking it (attacking well-regarded movies can be dangerous). With The Incredibles, almost every review is positive, which makes me wonder what is wrong with me ? I guess I?ll continue to ask that.