Look, up on the screen — it's "The Incredibles"

Mr. Incredible, better known to his suburban neighbors as Bob (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), has the kind of problems we don't usually see superheroes struggling with. A married father of three, he's facing middle age, and his gut isn't as trim as it once was. (In tights, he's not a pretty sight.) In his day job as an insurance man, the voluminous, barrel-chested Bob is painfully wedged into a cubicle (size extra-small, with a pillar in it); in his little squarish car, his blocky head is squished up against the ceiling. It's tough for a superhero to fit into the regular world.

Likewise, Bob's wife, Helen (aka Elastigirl, voiced by Holly Hunter), constantly reminds their children to keep their superpowers hidden. She has to remember not to use her infinite stretchiness to help the universe, and her children Dash and Violet are warned to keep their astonishing speed and invisibility, respectively, inside the family. (The baby, Jack Jack, shows no signs of superherodom ... so far.) They are, you see, part of a superhero relocation program, living as regular folks. Except that they're not regular, and they know it — and so does Syndrome, an old superhero nemesis waiting for his moment.

"The Incredibles" is action-adventure, family-style — and, because it's from the warmhearted geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (makers of the "Toy Story" movies, "Finding Nemo" and "Monsters, Inc."), it's got a dash of sweetness, too. Written and directed by Brad Bird — who also provides the film's funniest voice work as superhero costume designer Edna Mode ("No capes!") — it's a zippy journey in which goodness prevails, and the ultimate superpower is familial love.

As if anticipating that its target audience is growing up a bit, "The Incredibles" is aimed at a slightly older crowd than the previous Pixar movies — small children may be confused by the plot, fidgety by the two-hour length, or alarmed by the occasionally violent subject matter. (Though mild by Saturday-morning-cartoon standards, "The Incredibles" does show a bit of gunfire, and its child heroes must survive some peril.) But the happy 9-year-old with me pronounced it "the best movie I've ever seen" — and, being a movie critic's discerning nephew, he doesn't say that lightly.

It's filled with the kind of funny detail that has become a Pixar trademark. Early on, Mr. Incredible takes on a French cat burglar named Bomb Voyage. Bob's employer, the monolithic Insuricare, is run by a burbling little man (voiced by Wallace Shawn) who, furious that Bob is helping clients get payments, thunders, "The customers are penetrating the bureaucracy!" Poor Bob, while fighting an adversary, throws his back out.

But "The Incredibles" is at its best at its depiction of family life — and it turns out that superheroes are just like the rest of us. On a journey to fight the forces of evil, Dash and Violet whine, "Are we there yet?" Mom/Elastigirl interrupts her mission to check in with the baby-sitter. And though Mr. Incredible is the marquee name, Helen and the kids prove every bit as resourceful. Dumped into the sea from an exploded plane, Mom stretches herself into a boat, with young Dash's kicking as a motor. Watch her face in this scene: She's giving the kid a don't-mess-with-me-now look that any mom's sure to recognize.

As with any Pixar movie, the animation is vivid, funny and often breathtaking. (The team had fun with human shapes this time around: Note Bob's lantern jaw, Helen's baby weight and Violet's skinny teenage limbs.) This movie will make a fortune, and deserves it — in the movie world, Bird and the Pixar team are the best kind of superheroes.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com