You wouldn’t think it at first glance, but The Incredibles, the new animated feature from Pixar, is a dense little film that’s not just the next chop off the block. The Incredibles, with its lightning wit, knowing human comedy and sweet family lessons, is infused with truly exciting visuals and a level of comic inspiration at least on par with this year’s Shrek 2, which it will likely go head to head with for the Best Animated Film Oscar come February.

The film opens with tongue in cheek newsreel outtake footage of Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), the world’s greatest superhero, doing an old TV interview. He’s engaged to Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), a cleverly designed super heroine with a rubber band body. No sooner are they married when all superheroes are forced to live underground due to a public outcry against their many inadvertent liabilities.

They set up suburban life as Bob and Helen Parr, an ordinary couple with three kids—son Dash (Spencer Fox), a precocious kid who can run like the wind; daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell) and a baby with a few tricks up his sleeve. Bob toils away as an insurance adjuster for creep boss Gilbert Huph (Wallace Shawn). Also in the mix is best friend and fellow secret superhero Lucius Best (Samuel L. Jackson), code name Frozone, with the ability to make and freeze ice and water. Bob longs for the old days, listening to a police scanner with Lucius and secretly showing up to perform covert superhero rescues when the need arises.

Things get complicated when a sadistic new super villain named Syndrome (Jason Lee) summons Bob to a remote island. Turns out he’s having each living superhero executed, and Bob’s next in line. Helen steps in to the rescue, kids in tow. With the help of a marvelously funny costume designer named Edna Mode (looking like Linda Hunt and voiced by director Bird), whose specialty is designing stylish yet durable superhero costumes, they’re off to save the day. Things get funnier and faster from here on.

The movie is a rare gem that appeals as much, if not more, to adults than to kids. The action set-ups in the film’s final third are breathtakingly staged and continually top each other. There’s a real kick to be gotten out of this oddly traditional family using their individual strengths for the greater good of their home and society.

Holly Hunter is the standout here. With her trademark twang, she brings additional domestic layers to wife Helen, never playing "down" to an animated character, imbuing the character with an absolutely entertaining sense of irony, playing a beleaguered mother whose superpowers mean little at the end of a tough day raising three difficult kids. She also fully captures the supportive wife who genuinely loves her husband, even when she feels she’s been betrayed.

The message here is clear—when a family works together and embraces what’s special about each individual, powerful things can be achieved.