Movies: Big Hero 6

Voices By: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, T.J. Miller, Daniel Henney
Directed By: Don Hall & Chris Williams
Written By: Don Hall & Jordan Roberts (story); Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson & Jordan Roberts (screenplay); from the comic by Duncan Rouleau & Steven T. Seagle
Walt Disney, 2014
PG; 108 minutes
4.5 stars (out of 5)
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An absolutely cute film that my children (ages 5, 6 and not-quite-9) loved, and that I thoroughly enjoyed aside from the somewhat simplistic plot that held no real surprises. That's why I deducted half a star.

Still, Big Hero 6 is a visual feast, and the voice acting is impeccable. My two youngest are officially in love with Baymax; my oldest is science-minded and appreciated the genius inventor angle. It probably helped that the movie is set in San Fransokyo, which looks a lot like the San Francisco we live in with a bunch of Asian touches.

I can't say anything to how this movie pairs with the comics because I haven't read them. I know Disney had to tiptoe a bit because the comic is part of the Marvel X-Men universe and Fox holds rights to certain aspects of that. I definitely have the notion that Big Hero 6 as a film is washed up a bit so as to appeal to a younger audience. That is to say, the comics probably skew a bit more mature than this movie.

In any case, the movie is about young Hiro, a 14-year-old genius with no direction in life until his older brother Tadashi takes him to visit the R&D lab at his university. Hiro decides he wants to start going to uni, too, and enters a competition to get in. His development: microbots that respond to thought via a special headband.

Meanwhile, Tadashi has created Baymax, a marshmallow-like robotic nurse. When Tadashi dies in a fire, Baymax takes it upon himself to make Hiro feel better. Tadashi's lab mates also band together to help Hiro, and when they discover someone has stolen Hiro's microbot tech . . . That's when the Big Hero 6 bit comes in. Hiro, Baymax, and the four lab rats formulate a superhero team to take out the villain.

As I mentioned, the "twists" are utterly predictable, but on the whole the movie is adorable and enjoyable despite this.

Big Hero 6 also featured an animated short that ran before it, Feast, about a dog's perspective from being rescued from the streets through watching his [male] human companion love, lose, love again, and have a family. A very sweet little morsel, so to speak. The two make a fine pairing. Add popcorn and Junior Mints for maximum enjoyment.