Big Hero 6:
Hiro is a child prodigy/robotics expert living with his older brother Tadachi and aunt in San Fransokyo (guess which two cities this is a mash-up of). Hiro is inspired to join his brother's science institute team after meeting his idol and his brother's mentor Professor Callaghan. After a freak fire, Callaghan goes missing and Hiro's new nanotechnology project is stolen by a masked villain who is used them for a mysterious purpose. Using his brother's medical assistance bot Baymax, Hiro attempts to take down the villain and avenge his idol.
While not as good as Wreck-It-Ralph (but far superior to Frozen), Big Hero 6 manages to be entertaining and emotionally effective, despite slipping into the over-sentimental zone a little too often for my tastes.
Ryan Potter is alright as the lead Hiro, who I found to be the least interesting character in the film. Scott Adsit shines as Baymax, who manages to be convincing as a emotionless robot, but also make you laugh and care about him. He's definitely the best part of the movie. The supporting cast, made up of Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller (who is not as good as he was in Silicon Valley, but is still okay comedic relief), Jamie Chung, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph, and Genesis Rodriguez, are effective and suit their roles well. The masked villain character is actually pretty threatening for a children's film, and I was surprised considering how weak the villains were in Frozen, having virtually non-existent motives and personalities.
The animation is colorful and energetic, and always feels fluid and never too show-offy. The character designs were pretty great, even if some costumes they wear during the film are a bit stupid-looking. The look of the city is really cool, too, able to present a version of San Francisco with a very Japanese vibe that was really unique.
The writing for the film is stronger in certain areas, and a number of the plot twists felt forced, and I was disappointed a bit by the direction the movie takes half-way through. When the villain's motive and identity are finally revealed, it's been so heavily foreshadowed in the previous ten minutes that you'd have to be brain-dead not to see it coming. Also (and this is a Spoiler, so turn away now and skip to the next paragraph if you aren't interested), why is it that in newer Disney films the villain can't ever get killed. With the exception of Wreck-It-Ralph, every film I've seen come out of this studio recently never has the balls to kill off villains, which I feel just shows that studios nowadays feel the need to pander to audiences because they fear what some whiny and overly sensitive parents might say if their children are exposed to any sort of violence in movies. And it's not like people don't die in the film, they are a few deaths in the movie, so I don't see a reason for the villain not to die. I know this is a very strange complaint, but it's a trend I've noticed that just sort of feels gutless, in my opinion. (End of Spoilers)
Also, a song by Fall Out Boy is featured twice, so if you're not a fan of them, just prepare yourself for that. Other than that, the soundtrack for the film is fine.
Big Hero 6 is funny, touching in some places, and fast-paced, if a little bit cheesy and sickeningly sentimental in some places. Don't be too late to it, either. There's a nice little short called Feast preceding the film that I would recommend catching, and there's also an amusing end credits scene I would say to wait around for. 3.5/5 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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