For some time now, there has been a wave of animated films designed to appeal to children, early teens and adults — fun for all the family. Well, children, are you sitting comfortably? Because Mr Nice Film Critic has news for you: you’re finished! Kaput! History! Toast! Yesterday’s demographic! So, why don’t you go back to Pooh Corner and let mummy, daddy and your teenage brothers and sisters enjoy The Incredibles in peace?

Please, stop whining. There’s really nothing in the latest film from Pixar for your age group. No cute little fish in peril, no cuddly critters. You won’t get a chance to go “Ahh” during a sentimental moment or clap along to a sugary ditty by Tim Rice/Elton John.

The Incredibles is stunning to look at — and has the most authentic-looking fake hair I’ve seen since Frank Sinatra’s toupee — but the breakthrough comes more from the director Brad Bird’s original and unconventional screenplay than from anything conjured up by some new computer technology. This is the first time Pixar has created a story starring humans, if that’s what animated superheroes can be called. More important, it’s the first animated feature that tries to be a fully realised action-adventure film. In other words, it’s in competition not with Mickey Mouse, but with James Bond.

The Incredibles is the story of how the egalitarian drive in modern America killed off the superhero. It’s a passionate and politically incorrect plea for truth, justice and the Nietzschean way. Bob Parr (voiced by Craig T Nelson) used to be a regular superhero called Mr Incredible, who spent his time fighting the bad guys. In the opening sequence, we see him rescue an old lady’s cat, stop a criminal the police are chasing, save a man who has jumped off a skyscraper, apprehend a French bank robber and rescue a train from disaster — and all this on the way to the church to marry his superhero sweetheart, Helen/Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter). But are the citizens of America grateful? No way. First the would-be suicide sues him for criminal damages, then a dozen more follow. Here is America’s compensation culture gone crazy. Mr Incredible and all the other superheroes in the country are forced to hang up their tights and become ordinary citizens.

Cut to 15 years later. Bob and his family have been given new identities and are living under a Superhero Relocation Programme. Mr Incredible and Elastigirl are now plain Bob and Helen, living in the suburbs with their children, the sensitive Violet (voiced by Sarah Vowell), the mischievous Dash (Spencer Fox) and baby Jack Jack. Helen is a housewife and Bob works in the claims department of an insurance company. Their days of glory are over, and their powers are never allowed out in public.

And that’s the way Helen likes it. She wants them to be a nice, average family. The children are forbidden to use their super-powers. But it isn’t easy for her husband to be just another suburban boob. Then Bob, who has punched his bullying boss and lost his job, is asked to undertake a mysterious assignment involving a robot that is out of control on a remote island. He is overjoyed to be back in action, but it leads his family first into peril and then into saving mankind.

One of the most striking things about The Incredibles is its critique of the hypocrisy underlying the American belief in and celebration of difference. When Helen says to Dash that “Everyone is special,” her son replies: “Which is another way of saying nobody is special.” Most animated films conform to the liberal, multicultural consensus that says we are all equally wonderful. This film embodies the conservative critique that claims some people are more wonderful than others and we shouldn’t be embarrassed by it.

There is also a good cast of supporting characters. The Incredibles’ chief enemy, Syndrome (Jason Lee), who was once a demented teenage fan of Mr Incredible, is one of the great cinematic baddies. Half brat, half monster, he has a great vitality. Then there’s the hilarious Edna E Mode, an Anna Wintour-like fashion designer who is always on about “Dahling this” and “Dahling that”.

Though it has comic moments, this isn’t a rich gag feast like Toy Story. Once the action moves from the life of the suburbs, this becomes a James Bond-inspired picture, and the sets, with their retrofuturistic architecture, are better than anything we’ve seen in Bond for years. But The Incredibles wants to be a serious action film. Helen and the kids, now in full superhero costumes, come to the rescue of Bob, who is a prisoner on Syndrome’s island. Here it becomes a supercharged, bang-boom chase, with inventive sequences that would look good in the best video games. The Incredibles may not be incredible, but it’s a joy to watch.

The Incredibles, U, 120 mins, four stars