BIG HERO 6 - updated

(2014) 102 Minutes, Rated PG

Mike's Review: This movie had some good and some bad to it.  The good.  It looks like PIXAR is finally rubbing off on Disney's computer generated cartoons. The realism has improved and some of the details were well done.  I also liked the idea of the story and characters were well done for a cartoon.

The bad. Disney still can't seem to change is that cartoons do not need anyone to die in them.  But that is the Disney formula. A splash of color and a dash of humor all rolled up into a tragic death of a main character to invoke 'feelings' in the audience.   Maybe one day the PIXAR way of story telling will rub of on Disney as well as the improved graphics.

Best Scene:  Baymax was a riot.

Mike's Rating: Matinee.  It would have been worth the price of the ticket but Disney hasn't learned yet that cartoons do not need a body count. 

Bean's Review: Very cute, entertaining movie.  Big Hero 6, “Baymax”,  is a blow-up robot that administers health care.  Interesting concept.  The animation was quite good, as the “cartoon” people almost looked life-like.

I was not expecting quite the amount of Japanese influence, but I do not follow Japanese cartoons and robots.

As with Disney movies, someone or something dies.  The characterization is good and we get quite attached to Baymax, which, of course, dies in the end, but then a “clone” is reanimated.

It was a good “escape” movie.

Best scene:  when Baymax is taping himself back up at the police station-this was laugh-out loud

Bean’s rating:  for kids-matinee, however, I would watch again on DVD

A.C.'s Review:  BIG HERO SIX is this year’s release from Disneystudios…a big departure from last year’s juggernaut FROZEN because this is an out and out superhero origin story. In fact I believe BIG HERO 6 is a property of Disney owned MARVEL STUDIOS thus the Stan Lee cameo as a portrait on the wall of the slacker due’s father (and if you stay until after the end credits-Stan Lee appears in animated form for his usual Marvel cameo in a humorous scene with his slacker son).

The story deals with how a superhero group is formed in the mythical blended city of San Fransokyo. When teen genius Hiro meets with a family tragedy he must bond together with an unlikely band of science geeks and form a team that can put a stop to an evil menace threatening the city and extract some personal justice in the process.

The main character and focus of the marketing in the character of Baymax. A robot medical diagnostic tool Hiro reprograms into a superhero. Initially he appears as a cross between and giant marshmallow and a balloon creation. I’m probably in the minority but Baymax was the character I cared least about.

The real prize in the movie for me was the supporting cast of science nerds turned superheroes. I liked them all. They made for an interesting team with their quirky personalities and I liked their dynamic. My favorite was Honey Melon. There was a long segment where they disappeared from the story and was happy when they were brought back and from that point on they were all in. Even the bit characters like Hiro’s aunt and the supposedly “evil” industrialist came off very good.

The first few minutes of the movie concerned me that it would be about “Bot Fighting” but that subplot was dispensed with fairly quickly and an emotional story quickly took center stage. During one very  grim scene I heard a child burst into tears and had there been more people in my theater it probably would be filled with crying. As strange as it sounds I think a movie does something right if you can get small children invested enough that they would get upset by what’s happening on screen. It shows they can have an attention span if the story is done right.

As said the audience was small but that was because I waited a long time to see it as I was ambivalent…worried it might be too much like animae which I don’t like but it wasn’t and in the end I was glad I saw it.

Best Scene:  The tragedy at the science fair and the aftermath

A.C.'s Rating:  Full Price