Big Hero 6

A little over a year after I took my granddaughter Catrin (then almost three) to her first ever movie "Frozen" (which she utterly adored), I took her (now just four) to see this very different film from the same stable (Walt Disney Animation Studios) and I'm delighted to record that she loved it. We saw it in IMAX in 3D and we were both blown away.

Although this time the central character is a young boy - Hiro Hamada of the city of San Fransokyo - rather than two princesses, my granddaughter had no trouble relating to it because Hiro is so cute, his inflatable robot Baymax is androgynous, and two of his four friends - making up the six heroes - are very capable girls.

I reckon that "Frozen" plus "Big Hero 6" - with a few films in between - will give her a lifelong love of the movies.

Big Hero 6 is not among the best that Disney has ever done and it isn't flawless. But it is still very good and one of their best easily since the Renaissance. It did feel a little rushed at times and felt like it tried to do a little too much in the storytelling, as a result some ideas that were introduced like the science-is-good message gets lost. If it slowed down and explored a little less areas it would have improved things. The villain felt underdeveloped and his reveal came over as very obvious and forced as well.

However, the animation is outstanding with lots of rich colours and textures, backgrounds that are incredibly detailed and sweet(but not in a cloying way) character designs. One of the best-looking recent Disney films definitely. The catchy and upbeat yet atmospheric and emotion-filled soundtrack and smart script are other things to like, as are the brisk(when not rushed) pacing and rousing if not exactly inventive action. While the story is not flawless, on the most part it's still a winner. Whatever originality it may lack, it more than compensates for that with fun and heart. There are plenty of funny moments(i.e. Stan Lee), and of the laugh-out-loud witty kind and even better is the emotional impact Big Hero 6 has. The brother-brother relationship is handled very affectingly, like between Anna and Elsa in Frozen it was Disney trying to explore a different kind of relationship than they did before and it succeeds in that respect.

Sure Big Hero 6 sometimes takes a dark tone but not in a heavy or inappropriate way, there's no reason why anybody should be disturbed by that. The characters are not the most developed ones there ever were and as said more should have been done with the villain, but they're still engaging. Hiro is a very flawed but still likable main protagonist and his relationship between brother Tadashi is beautifully done. The most memorable character for me though was Baymax, he has to be one of Disney's most adorable characters, along with Maximus(Tangled) and Sven(Frozen) he has one of their cutest since the Renaissance. As well as being beautifully designed he displays a lot of laughs and a wide range of emotions, literally the film's heart and soul. The voice work from all(I just wish that James Cromwell had more to do) is very good, with particular mention going to Scott Adsit and his voice is a good match with Ryan Potter's deeply felt Hiro. All in all, not one of Disney's best but one of their better ones of the past 15 years. Haven't seen all the Best Animated Feature nominees but while this viewer did prefer How to Train Your Dragon 2 and the un-nominated Lego Movie they still felt that Big Hero 6 was still a good enough film to merit an Oscar nomination. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is absolutely wonderful. It really reminds me of "Guardians of the Galaxy" which is probably the best movie of 2014. I just love how it so effortlessly mixed heartwarming emotion, with thrilling action, and laugh-out-loud comedy.

For a quick synopsis, the movie is about a young boy named Hiro who is gifted in robotics and has an older brother named Hadashi who he looks up to very much and for good reason. Hadashi is also a brilliant scientist who has built a remarkable robot named Baymax who has the ability to scan people and give them medical treatment and advice. There is also a group of Hadashi's friends, the funniest being Fred, and there's also a villain whose motives and identity are not revealed until the climax of the film. After a tragic accident occurs and after learning that it was a planned attack, Hiro, Baymax, and their new group of friends end up creating a rag-tag group of superheroes which they name "Big Hero 6". The only reason why I gave the movie an 8 instead of a 10 is because of the villain. I just feel like some of his actions and his overall attitude are a bit over-the-top evil and his motivations aren't successfully explained. With that said, this movie is truly for everyone and it has something that I think many animated movies have been missing lately which is a very good plot, and endearing characters that you learn to care about deeply. I also love how they didn't make Baymax too human-like. I really hate when movies do that with AI characters, I think it's a cop-out because the audience will obviously care for a machine if it acts and looks exactly like a human. I also hate how they overuse the whole "questioning of love" cliché with those characters. In this film, Baymax understands that love and friendship are important to people because those things are important to a "patient's" emotional well-being. Although he is a believable robot, you can still get attached to him just like Hiro does because he is such an adorable, lovable, sweet-matured character and it doesn't hurt that he looks like a big marshmallow.

Although the film introduces awesome new superhero characters and has some amazing action/battle scenes, what it truly succeeds in doing is being a thoroughly entertaining movie that tugs at the heartstrings, and makes you root for these great characters. I left the movie in awe of how it so effortlessly entranced me and brought me into it's unique world. I can't imagine anyone watching this movie and not loving it so, if you're reading this review to see whether you should watch it or not, definitely do, you won't regret it.

Honestly, I put off watching this because I didn't feel like I would enjoy it so much. I was proved wrong. Right from the start, the fresh animation of this film along with the brilliant editing and voice acting had me engaged. Though the plot is pretty flat and for kids, the concept is pretty new (in that it hasn't been totally overdone), dealing in robotics which allowed them to show some cool stuff. But the story being from Disney, did have moments of it being 'too easy' as well as a few stock characters but it wasn't such a big deal. The story was told well, and wasn't cheesy or boring at all. The freshness of the voices and the animation really put this film together.

The connection between the voices and animation really showed on screen the chemistry between the characters, and this worked to gain the sympathy of the viewer's at certain scenes. I thought that was well done, the characters were developed well in relation to each other. And I know I keep saying this, but I just really like the animation, and the effects. Baymax is so cute, and the other character's have a kind of Asian feel to them. It's also quite cool how the animated characters almost always resemble the actors voicing them (I guess this is intentional).

However, watching the trailer again, I notice that they miss some of the scenes out. I mean if you put it in the trailer, you've got to put it in the film! I would've liked to have seen the scene with Baymax and the soccer ball.

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I did read before I went to see this movie that Disney would be testing some adult subjects, like the loss of somebody. Without putting out some spoilers, I might say that the movie really touched my boys. I have two boys in the age 6-9, and both of them had both laughter and tears during the movie.

It is a great action, comedy, drama package. Both my sons fell in love with Baymax, and if he where standing outside the cinema when we left he would have been given a big hug for sure.

The storyline is good, and as a father I had quite a few laughs myself and managed to stay awake for the whole movie. Many times going to the movie with your kids can be a snooze-fest, but this one actually entertained me as well.