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09 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1! Yes, there's a brand new Fantasy Formula One game! Check the rules or Enter your team by Friday night to qualify for the first race in Bahrain!

08 / 03 / 2010
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17 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The points awarded for a win have changed in the real WRC, so we've reflected the changes in our scoring too. Check the rules to see the details. Next rally is Mexico on 5th March, teams will be frozen at midnight on the night of Thursday 4th March.

16 / 02 / 2010
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31 / 01 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The new rally season is upon us - 2010 Fantasy Rally is now open! Check the rules or pick a team ready for the start on 12th Feb.

25 / 10 / 2009
Fantasy Rally: All previous years' Fantasy Rally results are online - Check the 2009 season.

02 / 08 / 2009
Reviews: Sorry, there won't be any more movie reviews for the foreseeable future. Events have overtaken me. Catch up on reviews you may have missed.

18 / 08 / 2005
Sudoku! Have a go at the online Sudoku game.

The Incredibles

Cast: Holly Hunter, Samuel L Jackson, Craig T Nelson, Jason Lee. Directed by Brad Bird.

Story: A retired family of superheroes unretire.

Running Time: 2hrs.

Certificate U.

The Incredibles is the latest Pixar animated offering, following in the footsteps of their past highly-acclaimed movies such as Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. That's all you need to know, you can go and watch some TV now!

Oh alright then. The Incredibles are a family of superheroes forced out of superheroing by an increasingly litigious society. They are forced to relocate and adopt new ordinary lives, hiding their extraordinary superpowers. The children of the family, Violet and Jack Jack, have always been taught to hide their powers, but as events pick up, they are allowed to learn and develop their talents. As usual, the whole film is computer-generated, but this is the first time that Pixar have made a movie in which the cast is human. It's remarkably difficult to make animations of humans look real and so the designers and animators have gone with a cartoony look rather than a realistic one, which is probably the sensible way to go. In fact, when looking back at The Incredibles, I remember some scenes as a 2D cartoon rather than a 3D animation, such is its cartooniness. They weren't 2D, of course, but the style, the movement and the characteristics are so similar to past 2D cartoons that my memory has stored them that way. That's not a bad thing, it's just different.

The Incredibles, as with most animations, deals with common issues at a high level. The feeling of family togetherness and coming of age smacks a little of Thunderbirds, which isn't a good thing, but fortunately it is dealt with with much more humour and panache - and much less cheese. The actors voice the parts as well as you would expect (it would have been hard to do it badly), with the unknown (to me, at least - he has a long CV though) Craig T Nelson playing Mr Incredible, and the predictable story plods along amicably and pleasingly. There are plenty of funny moments, the most memorable of which features Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) caught in three sliding doors at the same time (she's very bendy). I can't help thinking, though, that there is something missing. Maybe it's because these kind of movies are becoming more commonplace so they need to try harder. Perhaps in an attempt to address this, there is a "bonus" movie at the start called "Boundin'", which lasts around 10 minutes and features a cute bouncy sheep and lots of fluffy toothy creatures. It's a touch weird but it's ... well, nice.

This is The Incredibles kryptonite. It's nice. Everything is done well, but you get the impression that it's just another movie churned out by the Pixar factory. I liked it, I laughed and I'd recommend it to anyone, but it doesn't quite have the edge that make Finding Nemo and Shrek 2 such a joy. Pixar has plateaued.

I enjoyed this film: 4/5

I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 5/5

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 0/5

To enjoy this film you should: like cartoons.

To see the trailer for the upcoming Pixar movie "Cars", click this link:
Pixar - Cars trailer