Film: The Incredibles

The most enduring adage in Hollywood is that "no-one knows anything". No-one knows why Titanic was a huge success and Pearl Harbour was a huge failure. Both seemed as patently ridiculous on paper. No major director or producer has made more than a handful of films without a commercial dud. If a magic movie-making formula existed someone would have bottled it and made millions. However the track record of Pixar studios, which made Toy Story, Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo, is testing this assumption to breaking point.

Their latest film, The Incredibles, is set on an Earth where superheroes exist, but have to live normal lives due to a cascade of lawsuits that sprung up following a bungled attempt to foil a bank robbery. Mr Incredible, now an insurance claims clerk, becomes more and more frustrated with his normal life. However a mysterious invitation to use his superpowers changes life for him and his family.

This is the first Pixar film to focus on human characters. Sensibly instead of adopting a slavish attempt at photo realism, the animators create slick caricatures that complement the roles. Even more encouragingly the film does not have to descend into tired movie pastiches , like A Sharks Tale, to pad the story out.

It is hard to find fault with any element of this endlessly entertaining film. The jokes are consistently funny, the characters are all interesting and the mock 50's superhero designs are a joy to behold. If Pixar keep making films like this they are going to have set up an educational division, since the rest of Hollywood clearly has a lot to learn.