Big Hero 6 was my most anticipated film of the year. And I am happy to tell you that it exceeded my incredibly high expectations. Big Hero 6 is a beautiful film crammed with heart, humor and epic action! I absolutely adored it!
Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name, centers around a boy named Hiro, a robotics prodigy. After his brother, Tadashi dies in a fiery explosion started by a villain named Yokai. Hiro gathers Tadashi's friends, GoGo Tomago, Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon and his insanely lovable robot, Baymax, to capture and avenge his brother's tragic death. And so, the group of superheroes called Big Hero 6 is born!
The story in the film is amazing. It tells a very sad and deep origin story. In fact, it's probably the saddest origin story I've seen in any superhero movie adaptation. Don't get me wrong, Batman's infamous origin story is pretty sad. The first 5 minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy? Those were pretty freaking sad! But Big Hero 6? It is just so depressing, especially with the way it's executed! The execution is vital here. Yes, both Batman and Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy had death as part of each character's origin stories, but as powerful as the scene in Guardians of the Galaxy was, Big Hero 6 just had a much better executed and more powerful origin story. Also, the way Hiro reacts to his brother's death is very realistic, as he goes into a state of depression.
There is also a lot more heart and depth where that came from! But saying anything else will cause spoilers so I can't really say much more than that. I am planning on doing a spoiler-filled review once the film has been out for a bit so see the movie and stay tuned!
The film also deals with a lot of pretty mature themes. Obviously, one of these themes is death, but it also goes very in depth with how to deal with death. These themes are really powerful and thought-provoking.
The characters in the film are instantly likable. Especially one particular character. A character that if you don't know of by now after seeing him in trailers, TV Spots, billboards and bus stations, you've been living under a rock. Of course I'm talking about Baymax! I absolutely love Baymax! He constantly steals the show and brings so much humor into the movie! Also, he's so adorable! He's not the idiotic side character that gets the characters in trouble, he's just uninformed! All he knows how to do is treat those that are sick or in pain. So Hiro is constantly explaining things to him. There's also a beautiful relationship that forms between Hiro and Baymax. It's so amazing to see how this adorable and squishy health care robot helps Hiro cope with the loss of his brother and how they both teach each other new things. They are an excellent duo with such perfect chemistry (no pun intended)!
I can go on and on about Baymax, but I need to talk about the other characters now! The other members of Big Hero 6 are GoGo Tomago, who is an adrenaline junkie who craves speed, Wasabi, a neat freak who always plays by the rules, Honey Lemon, a cute but still really smart character and Fred, a comic book fan (and also the one who came up with all those weird nicknames!). They are all very likable and funny, especially Fred! Which reminds me, wait until after the credits for an amazing and hilarious after credits scene with a Stan Lee cameo! even thought the movie is not from Marvel Studios, that doesn't stop him from making a cameo!
All of the characters develop throughout the film. Even Baymax goes through some character development! And he's a robot!
The animation in the film is unsurprisingly gorgeous and jaw dropping! The futuristic and highly detailed, lively and thriving city of San Fransokyo looks beautiful! There are also a lot of amazing shadow and shading effects and textures. It was also amazing to see the microbots Hiro built form into different things. Once Yokai gets a hold of them, there's millions of them forming different things which makes it all the more amazing and cool! The folks at Disney even created some entirely new technology for the film! There were so many parts that looked so nice that they left me breathless. You can tell how much effort the Disney animators poured into this film, and it really pays off.
The directing was excellent. Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams did a fabulous job bringing the sincere heart and humor to this Marvel Comics adaptation. They also really know how to direct action scenes, with a lot of epic camera angles and fighting scenes. I also liked how fast paced the movie was, especially the first act. Everything just kept on moving and there was never a dull moment.
They perfectly balanced the humor and the really heartfelt moments. As I mentioned before, there is a ton of humor. Hell, it was so funny that I was worried that I might choke on my popcorn! But, as I also mentioned before, there were also a lot of heartbreaking scenes. Tadashi's death is just one of them, and these scenes were executed with such care and perfection. They went a pretty dark route with this film and I commend them for that.
The voice acting is excellent, just like you would expect from a Disney movie. Each voice actor perfectly portrays the character they're playing. I think the standout voice performances were from Ryan Potter as Hiro, Daniel Henney as Tadashi and especially Scott Adsit as Baymax. There are also some other amazing performances by Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass (who I feel is a very underrated character in the film since I never see anyone talk about her) T.J. Miller as Fred, Jamie Chung as GoGo Tomago, Damon Wayans Jr. as Wasabi, Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon, James Cromwell as Professor Callaghan and Alan Tudyk as a businessman named Alistair Krei, who was also in the previous 2 Disney films as King Candy in Wreck-it Ralph and the Duke of Weselton in Frozen. They all gave outstanding performances! The score is excellent as well. I'm definitely planning on buying the soundtrack!
Of course, Disney also released a short film before the movie, and there simply cannot be a review for a Disney movie without talking about the short film preceding it! And this one is an absolutely excellent short film! Feast, directed by Patrick Osborne, follows the relationship of a man through the eyes of his dog Winston's through the meals they share together. It is a simply beautiful short film with great storytelling and gorgeous animation with a unique art style. It uses the same technology they used for Paperman, the short film before Wreck-it Ralph. I can definitely see this short film winning plenty of awards!
Big Hero 6 is an amazing film. It has the Marvel style action blended perfectly with the Disney style humor and heart. It's the best animated film I've seen this year and I recommend that everyone should experience this latest Disney masterpiece. There's really something in it for everyone to enjoy.
Film Grade: A+
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