Big Hero 6 – Movie Review

Disney Animation jumps into the superhero arena with Big Hero 6. So how does Disney’s first jump into the Marvel pool hold up? Will this knock Frozen off the bedspreads of kids world wide? So, is it any good?Big Hero 6, inspired by the Marvel comic, tells the story of Hiro Hamada – a brilliant, but unmotivated robotics genius who lives in the fictional city of San Fransokyo with his brother Tadashi. After an inspiring lesson from his brother, Hiro decides to follow in Tadashi’s footsteps and enrols in robotics school to put his genius to work. After a devastating turn of events, Hiro develops a relationship with Baymax, a huggable robot invented by his brother to act in a nurse like fashion to aid the people of the world. Soon enough, an evil mastermind is on the scene and Hiro, along with his friends, use their robotics knowledge to transform themselves and Baymax into a home-made superhero team!big-hero1Yes, this sounds like every superhero origin story you’ve ever seen/heard/read, and admittedly there isn’t anything here that hasn’t been shown on a screen before. That being said, this film has what every Disney film tends to have, a whole lot of heart, humour and charm. A lot of this comes from Baymax, the true highlight of the film. Voiced perfectly by Scott Adsit from 30 Rock, Baymax is a friendly, innocent robot who ends up having to go against his own programming to become a battle bot to aid Hiro and friends. This big, lovable character should be replacing Olaf in toy stores everywhere (unfortunately he won’t).

Hiro’s friends also provide plenty of laughs as they suit up to battle evil. From the lunacy of Fred, the obvious Kaiju fan who demonstrates none of the genius of his pals, to Wasabi, who seems to be the only one who realises the craziness of dressing up as superheroes, these other members of Big Hero 6 are great characters who all get their (small) moments to shine! The villain of the film is fairly menacing, rocking around town with a creepy Kabuki mask and an army of Microbots. Parents of really young ones be aware, this film is rated PG, and the villain could potentially scare the little ones.Big_Hero_6_-_teamThe city of San Fransokyo is beautifully designed and fleshed out (I’ll let you guess which cities it is a mash up of!). Visually the film is stunning, and the city’s mix of Asian and American cultures provides a great backdrop for the action of the second half of the film. The 3D provides a lot of depth to this fantastic city, but there aren’t any true memorable in your face moments.

While this is ‘inspired’ by Marvel’s comic of the same name, this is an original creation by Disney. It won’t knock Frozen off the top of the totem pole, but this is a great family adventure that any youngster, superhero or comedy fan will enjoy. Hopefully, we see more mining of the Marvel Universe for other animated adventures in the near future!

BIG HERO 6, I am satisfied with my care.

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