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

Justice League: War Review

The first arc of The New 52's Justice League will always hold a special place in my heart. If it wasn't for this big reboot, I wouldn't have been reading DC comics on a modern basis. The New 52 was a gamble, because while it did open a gateway for new readers, it risked the chance of alienating longtime fans. Fast forward three years later, and it looks like it's been a success. Flashpoint was adapted into a movie not too long ago, and the after-credits scene gave us the indication that The New 52 will be the standard for DC animated movies to come. War takes some liberties, but for the most part captures the essence of the comic, even improving on a few aspects.

The story is the origin of the Justice League. When an alien invasion hosted by a malevolent being threatens the Earth, the world's super beings must unite. Character portrayals was one of the things hotly debated when The New 52 launched. Some were great, (Cyborg) and some not so great. (Superman.) For better or worse the portrayals pretty much match their comic counterparts. Batman is by far the best character, even beating his comic book appearance. He's the leader here, and really the star, just as with the first arc. Green Lantern is somewhat annoying, but to a much lesser extent than his comic self. In fact, a lot of his comic relief scenes were actually funny.

I never liked Superman's New 52 portrayal, and still don't. He was made into trying to be an 'edgy' version of the character, and the writing ends up being more obnoxious than anything. It doesn't help that the costume used here is terrible. The comic version looks much better. (Seriously, it's by far the worst Superman look I've ever seen.) Still, I'm glad they got his strength nailed. The now classic scene in the comic where he pulverizes Batman and Green Lantern was one of the best scenes in the film. If he and Batman were to fight for real, chances are this is how it would go down. (Superman completely obliterating him.) Wonder Woman got a lot of action to herself. In fact, she may have looked the best out of the characters power-wise. I personally love her costume, I'd say it's one of the better redesigns in recent years. My complaint with her from the comic was that her dialogue was a bit cardboard. She's definitely more fun here. Despite the rather cheesy ice cream scene, she was solid.

One problem was the inclusion of Shazam. He DOES NOT belong. He was NOT in the original story, Aquaman was. Seriously, Shazam could have been written out. He's supposed to be up there with Superman in power, but out of the characters he gets pummeled by Darkseid the most. Not to mention that Billy Batson is a jerk. He's like that in the comic, so technically it's a faithful portrayal. Doesn't make him any less unlikable. The Flash is pretty normal, just like his comic self. He sadly doesn't really contribute anything besides taking out Darkseid's other eye, which I suppose makes up for his lack of doing things. Cyborg was a surprise inclusion for the story back in the day. It's hard to picture him anything other than a Teen Titan, but it works. He's one of the best written characters in the movie, and despite a limited time his emotional story with his father is fully realized.

Darkseid was an immense disappointment in the original comic. He barely had any lines and was more of a brute than tyrannical mastermind. He was basically just a big obstacle. This was definitely fixed in the movie. While he may not be as well written as his DCAU counterpart, he was for the most part solid. Steven Blum voices him, but it's hard to tell since his voice was covered with a lot of robotic overtones. Nonetheless, it's hard to not call his voice cool. Alan Tudyk as Superman doesn't fare as well sadly. He didn't sound like Superman, and it seems like he was literally just reading lines off a paper without getting into character. Jason O'Mara as Batman was pretty solid, I don'r mind that he'll be sticking around for future films. Everyone else is pretty good, beyond Superman there's no real complaints to be had with the voice acting.

There's a lot of action throughout. In fact, this one may have the most action out of any DC animated movie. Most of it is against Darkseid's minions, and those things kept coming. The climax with Darkseid was good. Since Superman was out of the game, it was interesting seeing the heroes struggle against the monster. Wonder Woman was the power hitter, though sadly Shazam did almost nothing other than power-up the Mother Box. Again, he just didn't belong and felt shoehorned in. The soundtrack is solid, it's pretty much what you'd expect. There's no standout themes, they just simply blended into the scenes they were in.

Overall, Justice League War is a fun film and pretty solid adaption of the original comic. It doesn't reach the greatness of a good majority of other DC animated movies, such as Superman: Doomsday, Batman: Under the Red Hood, The Dark Knight Returns, and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, but it's worth a watch whether you like the characters, read the original story, or never even seen or read anything DC related.

4/5