Movie 54: Big Hero 6

This is the review you’ve been waiting for.  #54- Big Hero 6 and boy did it not disappoint.  I will do my best to keep it spoiler free and won’t tell you any more than the trailer (maybe even less because it’s kind of a spoilery trailer).

I was really excited to see this movie and that usually means I’m a little disappointed unless you are Pixar but in this case John Lasseter has worked his pixie dust and made an extremely satisfying movie.  I would be stunned if you didn’t find something to like, even love about the movie.

It is based on an obscure marvel comic much like Guardians of the Galaxy this summer Big Hero 6 creates a super hero movie of unlikely members and gives the movie just enough laughs, excitement and tears (I actually cried a lot).

Big Hero 6 is written and directed by Disney vets  Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh)  and Chris Williams (Bolt and Mulan)  with Paul Briggs (Frozen), and Joseph Mateo (Tangled).

The setting for Big Hero 6 is unique.  It is a futuristic fusion of San Francisco and Tokyo called San Fransokyo which I thought was very clever.  It is futuristic but only slightly so.  There aren’t flying cars or anything too out there.  Again kind of the way Guardians of the Galaxy felt futuristic and nostalgic at the same time .  San Fransokyo was beautifully portrayed and if you can see it in 3D do because it was so immersive and gorgeous. One of Disney’s best cityscapes ever.

The story is about a boy named Hiro who is a genius orphan (of course. It’s Disney!) who lives with his brother and Aunt Cass.  Hiro is an instantly likable character.  Kind of like Ralph in Wreck it Ralph or Aladdin.  He’s smart and sweet and sassy.At the beginning he is just frittering away his talent at ‘bot fights’ which are illegal gambling operations kind of a like a cock fight. His brother Tadashi is also a genius but he is applying his talents at the local technical school (supposed to be Cal Poly I think) where he works with robotics.

This is stated pretty clearly in the trailer but tragedy strikes and Tadeshi is killed but he  leaves behind a robot he has invented that is kind of like a robot nurse.  His name is Baymax and he looks like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow man.

I don’t know when I’ve seen a character I’ve taken too so immediately as Baymax.  He is warmth and love and his soul purpose is to care for Hiro.  It is kind of like the ultimate mother.

Then we get our villain who was pretty clever.  I won’t go too much into things but it surprised me.  He has layers and is not clean cut like some bad guys.

To defeat the masked man Hiro reprograms Baymax to fight while still keeping his brothers code for caring.  Then the team at the school gather to support Hiro and become our rag-tag group of super heroes.  They were so much fun!

I loved there were different races and sexes and that Hiro is 13.  It’s so rare in a Disney movie that the protagonist is a child or young teenager.  Most are young adults.

The voice cast is excellent and mostly unknowns but all excellent.  Ryan Potter voices Hiro Hamada, Scott Adsit is Baymax and Daniel Henney is Tadashi and they are all great.  The only famous voices are TJ Miller as Fred (one of the college guys who becomes the team), Damon Wayans Jr as Wasabi (the black guy on the crew), Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass and James Cromwell as Professor Callaghan.

The score is wonderful by Henry Jackman and includes little snippets of pop music like Eye of a Tiger but it is brief and there is a good song you’ll hear in the trailers called Immortals by Fall Out Boy.

There is such heart in this movie.  It reminded me of Up in the way we bond with a character quickly and we see their importance to our protagonist and that love we feel for the deceased character lives as a palatable force throughout the movie.  Just like Ellie’s love for Carl painted every scene in Up with love so does Hiro’s interactions with Baymax remind us of the love of his brother Tadashi.

It’s hard to think of a movie about two brothers which is so well done.  How nice after Disney gave us the love of 2 sisters they give us equal heart with brothers.

But if that kind of heart isn’t your thing there is also a nifty plot and fun action adventure like any other Marvel film.  Like I said, the villains really surprised me and there’s a good twist.  If you like The Incredibles Big Hero 6 is right up there with it.  It’s got everything Incredibles has but it’s about a group of friends instead of a family . They are both wonderful so high praise!

Also the crew all have fun personalities and bring in a lot of humor.

I think there is something in Big Hero 6 for everyone.  It’ looks gorgeous, great performances, wonderful music, fun story, great heart.  What more could you want?

Once again I admire Disney on being so bold . I can’t think of an animated movie which has such real, modern feeling characters. At least not since Oliver and Company!

I really will be shocked if you guys don’t love it.  What an amazing year for animation 2014 has been and I hope they nominate 5 films because Lego, Big Hero 6, Book of Life, Boxtrolls and How to Train Your Dragon 2 all deserve recognition.  I honestly have no idea which I like most.  They are all so different and wonderful!

Anyway, I loved Big Hero 6.  It made me cry, laugh and carried me away with the adventure.  There is a brief section in the middle with fighting that dragged a little bit but other than that I’d say it was perfect.

Overall Grade- A+  This is officially now my new #6 in my rankings!

The short before it called Feast is ADORABLE!!

Here’s my video review