Reloading: Big Hero 6 Review

A little late to the party, but better late than never, it’s the review for Big Hero 6, Marvel’s first movie that is part of the Disney animated line of films following films like Frozen and Wreck it Ralph. Does it hold up or does it fall flat? 

Big Hero 6 is based on a lesser known comic-series in the Marvel Pantheon that was designed as a response to the big manga/anime boom. The cast of characters is supposed to be racially diverse and focus on their intelligence for the abilities more than anything else and the movie pulls off these traits quite well. Their origin stories are a little different, but with it being a lesser-known series, I don’t think you’ll find too many people finding fault with this change.

As for the plot, it’s fairly standard as far as super hero movies are concerned. You have a genius kid, Hiro, who is arrogant and doesn’t realize his true potential. An accident befalls someone close to him and he decides to avenge them Spiderman/Batman style by becoming a hero. This hero-avenging story is a little different in that the kid can’t do it alone and needs to bring in his friends and his robotic companion Baymax into the mix (more on him in a moment). The villain is kind of predictable, but has a nice twist to it that makes them a little more enjoyable. As you would expect, it climaxes with a fight where the team finally starts to function as a team and a big noble sacrifice is made for the betterment of the world (for the most part).

And while it does nothing all too surprising, it takes the standard cliché-wrappings of super hero genre films and provides a colorful new spin or adds a larger emotional weight to the characters that is refreshing and shows how to do it right (take notes Amazing Spiderman 3). For those wanting a fun Disney movie, this will be more than serviceable. For those wanting spectacular super hero movie… eh… why not just go watch Guardians of the Galaxy again? Not that Big Hero 6 is bad, but, like I said, it’s predictable and also criminally short. And I suppose the shortness is good so it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and get old, but there’s more I would have liked to have seen that we just don’t get from the support characters, and another 15-20 minutes could have easily improved that.

The characters? Hiro is your main protagonist going through the emotional pain of losing someone close to him which is where his partner, Baymax, enters the story. Baymax was built by said person to help people dealing with physical pain (and upgrades itself to deal with emotional pain as well). The two have a nice dynamic that makes for some great scenes and funny moments. Baymax is clearly the star of the show and is taken in a lot of interesting new directions when he is upgraded from a simple medical robot to a medical robot with a library of kung-fu moves.

Supporting characters include Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Gogo Tomago, and Fred, each of which is given a different kind of personality that is told through use of action and all of which are generally memorable in their own way. Each are given a different ability with the aid of Hiro based on the kind of work they do and their respective personalities. You can tell the actors playing them had fun with their role, especially with the character Fred. But, like I said, a little more time just hanging out with them and fleshing out their characters more could have made for a much stronger film overall.

The visual set-piece are also the main crux of the film with spectacular moments like flying through the skies of San Fransokyo to the final battle against the mysterious masked man. I feel that this hits a middle ground between Wreck it Ralph and Frozen in terms of visuals as I have a hard time putting it over Frozen with its spectacular visuals and this certainly feels closer to Wreck it Ralph in that scene. But, much like Wreck it Ralph, is also an adaptation of a character from another media (sort of). The soundtrack is also very cool, but Disney almost never disappoints there.

While this film is great in its own right, it isn’t necessarily my favorite Disney film of recent memory. And even when compared to other super hero films of its kind, specifically Pixar’s Incredibles, it just doesn’t hold up quite as well. All that being said, I’d still recommend you check it out since there isn’t much else out at the moment. Unless you’re absolutely needing to see Dumb and Dumber To… in which case I feel sorry for you.

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