Big Hero 6 is the 54th Disney animated feature film and the first to be inspired by a Marvel Comic of the same title. The film is wonderfully directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams and features an amazing voice cast: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung, Damian Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, T.J. Miller, and Maya Rudolph. It’s fun, has amazing animation, and is all around one of the best Marvel/Disney collaborations. This is definitely a movie to see.
The movie is set in the futuristic hybrid city of San Fransokyo. We follow a young robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada and his robot Baymax, who uncover a criminal plot after a family tragedy. Hiro then pulls his friends together: Wasabi, Honey Lemon, GoGo Tomago, and Fred, and makes them into a team of inexperienced crime-fighters to solve the mystery of the masked villain and stop him no matter what the cost.
The movie stays true to its Disney core about kids learning to overcome the odds, come together, and stop something bigger than themselves, all while learning to be better friends. But it has a nice mix of Marvel superhero teenage angst and some really cool technology that makes them into amazing superheroes just like Iron Man or Spider-Man. The kids learn to use their special devices for the greater good.
Each character is 100% realized and thought out. The attention to detail to make these characters seem real is a testament to the amount of time that was put into making the movie that much better. Each character gets their “superhero” moment and nothing feels forced into the plot. Everything that happens, happens organically and makes you fall in love with each team member that much more.
The attention to detail in the animations is nothing but amazing. Out of all the new Disney flicks that have CGI characters, this is probably the most realistic looking group of human characters. Yes, they are still exaggerated to a point, because they’re still cartoon characters, but they look astounding, as if you could interact with each one of them in real life.
Each character is voiced amazingly by their actor. Some do better than others, but overall everyone is giving it their “A” game. Some of the characters that stand out are Daniel Henney as Tadashi Hamada, Hiro’s older brother, Ryan Potter as Hiro himself, and T.J. Miller as Fred. All have amazing timing and work well as voices for animated characters. Each bring a remarkable amount of realism to their roles.
The most memorable character is Baymax, the inflatable robot built by Tadashi, Hiro’s brother, to serve as a healthcare companion. The characterization of Baymax is nothing but inspiring. Baymax looks at the world from one perspective as he just wants to help people. He is funny, adorable in his robot naivete towards the world, and is played amazing by Scott Adsit. His voice really leans a wonderful sense of wonder and positivism to such a great character.
The villain of the movie has such a dramatic look to him that he is very memorable to the flick. The black and white mask surrounded by a black nothing is such a striking image that he can send chills up your spine. He’s one of those villains that are doing bad things for “good reasons,” albeit misled. He’s not gonna go down as one of Disney’s best villains, but he is far from being the worst. His look is what will be more remembered than his reason for being bad.
The movie is strikingly visual. The city, surrounding buildings, and environment is one of the best ever seen. It looks so real, as if you could just reach out and touch the city itself though the screen. There’s so much “life” in each scene, it’s hard not to believe that this universe isn’t real. This is one of the best looking Disney animated films ever made.
This is one great movie that kids and parents will love. It has comedy, drama, and all the heart you need. It could be said that Disney just wanted to make yet another movie with superheros and jump on the giant superhero bandwagon that we’re living in right now. And that could be the case, but they managed to take a generic story and make it great. This is one of the Disney films of the last decade that will be remembered for a long time.