The Incredibles (Score)

Pixar Studios continues its string of computer animation successes with this satirical tale of a family of superheroes (picture a flabby, suburbanized Fantastic Four) forced out of retirement by -- what else? -- an evil genius and his plot for world domination. Director Brad Bird, whose Iron Giant was one of the 90's most sublime, if underappreciated animated triumphs, decided he wanted his Incredibles score to be a throwback to the spy-action genre of the mid-60's. Enter Michael Giacchino, the young composer who'd previously conjured a marvelously eclectic range of musical styles in service of TV's Alias. In his feature film debut, Giacchino (with a key assist from veteran arranger Jack Hayes) ups the ante of Bird's back-to-the-future spy-score gambit with an orchestral jazz soundtrack powered by the brash rhythms of television's MannixMan From U.N.C.L.E. beneath a veneer of melodic intrigue and detached elegance that recalls the prime of John Barry's BJames Bond oeuvre. More importantly, the young composer serves it all up with a sense of assured retro-cool and a distinct lack of irony that makes it all the more inviting. --Jerry McCulley