BIG HERO 6 Review

BIG HERO 6 garnered a considerable amount of hype prior to its release on November 7th last year. Disney has been consistent in delivering quality animated installments. The fact that this particular one was superhero oriented, in line with Marvel Comics, added to the hype. Many people going into the theater had no idea it was actually based on a comic. Even a lot of Marvel readers didn't know. (And the fact Marvel is against re-releasing the older comics means people will probably never get to read them.) I was unprepared for the amount of fun and emotion felt going into this film. Big Hero 6 is a fantastic watch and ranks with the recent greats such as Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen.

From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind "Frozen" and "Wreck-It Ralph," comes "Big Hero 6," an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax, a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada. When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called "Big Hero 6."

After the gorgeous scenery in the intro, we're treated to an intense "bot fight" as they're called. (Think Beyblade, just with Pacific Rim-style appearance robots!) Just by these two sequences the viewer can see just how incredible the animation is. Everything is fluid and the characters are given a range of emotions. The story then takes a different turn as we see the relationship between the main character Hiro and his brother Tadashi. The first 15 or so minutes established this perfectly, which is great since it takes some movies over an hour to establish a realistic, touching relationship.

That's why Tadashi's death was so effective. It added a dimension of emotion to the story and remains a backdrop for the entire film. Disney has employed many saddening scenes in their films, but I must personally say this is one of their strongest yet. It's hard to go and watch things like The Nut Job or Minions when BIG HERO 6 employs this kind of writing and emotion. The story moves at an excellent pace going forward. One could say things happen a little too fast, because in basically less than a few weeks a bunch of kids get suits and become essentially superheroes. But it's so much fun and the characters are all likable that one simply cannot say that as a negative.

The only main negative perhaps is the antagonist, Yokai. He has a menacing design and commands a presence for most of the film, (not to mentioned accompanied by a stellar soundtrack) but the way his alter ego is driven mad doesn't quite appear right. It is true that nice people can go the other way when faced with a tragedy, but here it really could have used a little more deepening. Still, the writing deserves props for not going the generic route and making Alisair the man behind the mask. Baymax is a great character and the relationship established between him and Hiro is done very well. That's why in the climax when the robot makes a heroic sacrifice the emotion is felt.

It's rare in a movie when every main character is likable. Honey Lemon, Wasabi, GoGo, and Fred are all very good focuses. With just being a little over 90 minutes, there wasn't too much time to give each character backstory or deepening, but the writing managed to incorporate each personality well. It's nice to see genuine friendship portrayed on the screen. Hopefully the sequel will explore them a little more. The action scenes offer some unique imagery since Yokai uses microbots, which made for some fast-paced action. The chase scene was well done also. As stated already, the soundtrack is quite great. From the villain's intro to Baymax's programming to destroy, this is definitely one of the strongest soundtracks from Disney yet.

Overall, BIG HERO 6 is another quality animated installment from Disney. It features great characters, fantastic animation, genuine emotion, and stellar themes accompanying almost every scene. It's a great watch for an individual, or the whole family. The Incredibles finally has a competitor for best CGI superhero-inspired film.

4.5/5