Big Hero 6

Will Disney stop hitting home runs?

Hiro is a boy genius throwing his intelligence into unimaginative projects so he can gamble on robot fighting. His brother, Tadashi has had enough, and plans on trying to get Hiro to use his gifts for better purposes. After visiting Tadashi's lab, and meeting his friends, Hiro is hooked on joining the prestigious school; but, when Hiro gets accepted for building a revolutionary technology, his brother dies trying to save the founder of the school. Hiro is inconsolable until a project his brother was working on powers up, and helps him through his loss. The project is Baymax, a medical, balloon, robot only concerned with the well being of humans around him. Baymax stumbles across something that leads Hiro to call on Tadashi's friends in order to bring the person responsible for Tadashi's death to justice.

Short answer to the subheading question: not this time. In what seems like a winning streak for Disney animation, this movie is another in the line of great successes. I was worried that this would have been the one falter in the amazing line, but it just doesn't show any signs of slowing down. This movie owes no small credit to the storyline backing it up. I don't mean that the story line was "the most original" or anything like that, I mean the characters were unimaginably likable, and the message they were trying to convey was inspiring. 

The message here, beyond relying on your friends is now "HEY KIDS! SCIENCE IS AWESOME! Rely on that big brain of yours!" Sure the overlying message is great, rely on the people around you to coup with the loss of a loved one (a kind of darker place to go); but I feel like we have seen it before. The other message was sneaky, and a little more inspiring for today's youth who hero-worship like no tomorrow. I just want to hear a little kid ask their parents to grow up to be an inventor, or scientist. I want to see kid's dressed up as Hiro for Halloween saying that they are "going to invent a big robot to stop bad guys." This message is one for intelligence and I have nothing, but respect for a message like that. 

The characters are amazing across the board. Sure, they all have their little quirks that make them indefinably significant, as well as racial diverse; but, those quirks are so endearing you can't help loving them. Fred is the slacker, obsessed with science fiction becoming a reality, and ultimately get's his dream granted. He is the lovable oaf of the group, that won't be deterred by bad vibes. Honey Lemon is the ultra, hyperactive nerd, filled with an appreciation for chemistry; as well as, a strong yearning to help her friends. Wasabi is the overly neat, big guy with an affinity towards cutting things in half with lasers. Baymax is the lovable squishy robot that will do anything to make sure his patient is feeling well either mentally or physically, and Hiro is the leader. My favorite character had to be Go Go, with her thrill seeking attitude and "Woman Up!" catch phrase. There are a lot of things to these characters that I won't be able to get to (in the interest of time) so let me go over some bullet points. I love that Go Go used her catch phrase regardless of gender, I love that Baymax is easy to imprint on as "human," without ever giving you any clue that he is actually becoming more human, and most importantly I LOVE THAT THERE WAS NO ROMANCE BETWEEN ANY OF THEM! (Sorry, I just wanted to get that point across) 

This movie also won in the animation department, being one of the most beautifully crafted movies to come out this year. I have a massive hatred for 3D as a whole, but this movie was enhanced by it in the only way it appeals to me. Particles seeming like they are going towards the screen, instead of something feeling like it is coming at you. The small micro bots battling under their master's control is a beautiful sight to behold, and no detail goes unnoticed here. Sure, the character design is the same from the last three movies, but that is never a problem for me. Pixar had the same art style through out all of the movies that came out under its banner, and it didn't stop me from liking most of those. The biggest selling point of the animation was the setting. Mashing bits and pieces from San Fransisco and Tokyo so well, you would think this location was a real city in America or Japan. 

 

The acting here was great. Damon Wayans Jr. gave a command performance as Wasabi, Jamie Chung sold me on the Go Go character, and Genesis Rodrigues stole the show a few times; but, the real tip of the hat has to go to James Cromwell and Scott Adsit. James Cromwell made a small plea from the villain seem like the world was ending, and Scott breathes life into the lifeless. 

Now, I know what you are thinking. "Dustin, I think your opinion is biased since you like most Disney movies, and have nothing bad to say about this." On the contrary, I feel the biggest set back this movie had was not being long enough, and while that may feel like a cop out, it is not. This movie just rushed in to the ending, and I didn't get enough time with the characters. Which made me sad in the end, since I loved the characters so much; but, the only one they felt like following through most of the movie was Hiro. Nothing against Hiro, but I wanted more Go Go and Wasabi. I know that Disney is most likely going to make this into a series (because Disney is Disney), but I just wanted more this go around. This error is still not enough to keep me from giving this movie...

Final Verdict: Buy It The comedy always hits its mark, the characters were lovable, the story was endearing, and the animation was gorgeous; this movie wasn't perfect but no movie is (if you look hard enough). See. This. Movie.