REVIEW - BIG HERO 6
Big Hero 6 represents something a little special. It is the first film made by Disney Animation Studios, featuring Marvel characters, to be released since Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel. Given the status of these two giants, I had fairly high expectations going in. It turned out to be one of those films whose story and setting are nothing like what I had expected given the trailer and advertising. In Australia, these gave the impression of a kind of kid's buddy-cop movie with a teenage boy and a large, pacifist white marshmallow as the leads. In reality, Big Hero 6 does not reveal itself for what it truly is until the very end - an origin story. But, it is an origin story without all the painful story telling techniques typical of origin story films. It is fun, loveable, and beautifully animated with a surprisingly moving story for a Disney Animation.
Hiro Hamada lives with his older brother (and primary role model) Tadashi in San Fransokyo (located where present day San Fransisco is, but with considerable East Asian cultural influence, more on that later) under the care of their Aunt Cass. They lost their parents in unexplained circumstances eleven years ago. Worried that Hiro is squandering his genius mind by competing in Bot Fights, (semi-illegal matches between remote controlled robots built by their owners, which spectators bet on) using a state-of-the-art Bot he built himself, Tadashi takes Hiro to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Or, as Hiro refers to it, "Nerd School". Here, Hiro meets Tadashi's friends - Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go Go and Fred, all of whom are prodigies in their chosen scientific field. Except Fred. Tadashi also introduces Hiro to the Robotics project he has been working on 'Baymax'. Baymax is a personal healthcare robot, a kind of robotic nurse with a limited AI restricted to functions surrounding health care. From this point it is hard to continue outlining the plot without giving too much away - suffice to say that, inspired by the University Hiro becomes determined to get in. He manages it, but not before disaster strikes, beginning him on a quest for revenge, which fuels the plot for the rest of the film, accompanied by his new friends.
Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go go, and Fred are a lovable bunch - if not a bit archetypal. Wasabi is the gentle giant, Honey Lemon the quirky female genius, Go go the tough-talking badass, and Fred the dorky guy who is kept around mainly for the laughs. Despite the categories that these character slot into so easily, each of them is voiced and animated with quirks which give them slightly deeper personalities, and they are all very fun characters. Baymax's inability to understand things outside of the scope of helping people cure their ailments creates in him a sweet and naive nature - and leads to many hilarious misunderstandings between him and Hiro.
Big Hero 6 is a result of Disney being encouraged to develop a film which drew on the Marvel Universe, and it draws vague inspiration from a short run of comics with the same name. The name is probably the biggest similarity between the two - the differences are massive. In the comic, Big Hero 6 is an elite team of government operatives brought together to fight for the state. They are all adults, and their superpowers are more like that of the X-Men - unnatural mutations they were born with - than the scientific inventions the cast of the film create. The characters of the comic are all adults, apart from Hiro, and Baymax was designed as a bodyguard, rather than a nurse. There is no San Fransokyo and Fred can actually transform into a kaiju. Disney had quite a lot of creative license in adapting the film.
So now - San Fransokyo. At first I was a little confused. Assuming the city was just a futuristic San Fransisco (because of the clear images of the Golden Gate bridge at the beginning of the film), it wasn't until about halfway through that I noticed the compound name. The origins of this strange mash-up are never touched on in the film, but according to Directors Hall and Williams, the city is located in a parallel universe. In this universe's version of history, after the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake, an influx of Japanese immigrants moved there and had significant influence in the city's reconstruction. The name is a bit dorky, and it is tempting to think that the film is just cashing in on the power of 'Cool Japan' but the mash-up really works well. This may be because the real San Fransisco does have a considerable Japanese presence for an American city. Whatever the reason behind this strange city, it has been beautifully built. The amount of effort the animation team put into creating San Fransokyo's cityscape is evident, and it is justifiably shown off throughout the film. I find it incredible that the advertising team did not make a bigger deal of showing it off through the posters and other advertising.
Big Hero 6 is a celebration of intelligence and invention. It makes a big deal of the team's intelligence, and the fact that their scientific ability makes them cool and interesting. This is what endears it to me. There is a lot of nerd pride, and a strong faith in technology as ultimately good. The writing is fairly strong- the big bad is not obvious from the beginning, and everybody's motives are mixed and interesting. I would happily watch Big Hero 6 again for its loveable characters and quirky, creative setting.
Hiro Hamada lives with his older brother (and primary role model) Tadashi in San Fransokyo (located where present day San Fransisco is, but with considerable East Asian cultural influence, more on that later) under the care of their Aunt Cass. They lost their parents in unexplained circumstances eleven years ago. Worried that Hiro is squandering his genius mind by competing in Bot Fights, (semi-illegal matches between remote controlled robots built by their owners, which spectators bet on) using a state-of-the-art Bot he built himself, Tadashi takes Hiro to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Or, as Hiro refers to it, "Nerd School". Here, Hiro meets Tadashi's friends - Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go Go and Fred, all of whom are prodigies in their chosen scientific field. Except Fred. Tadashi also introduces Hiro to the Robotics project he has been working on 'Baymax'. Baymax is a personal healthcare robot, a kind of robotic nurse with a limited AI restricted to functions surrounding health care. From this point it is hard to continue outlining the plot without giving too much away - suffice to say that, inspired by the University Hiro becomes determined to get in. He manages it, but not before disaster strikes, beginning him on a quest for revenge, which fuels the plot for the rest of the film, accompanied by his new friends.
Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go go, and Fred are a lovable bunch - if not a bit archetypal. Wasabi is the gentle giant, Honey Lemon the quirky female genius, Go go the tough-talking badass, and Fred the dorky guy who is kept around mainly for the laughs. Despite the categories that these character slot into so easily, each of them is voiced and animated with quirks which give them slightly deeper personalities, and they are all very fun characters. Baymax's inability to understand things outside of the scope of helping people cure their ailments creates in him a sweet and naive nature - and leads to many hilarious misunderstandings between him and Hiro.
Big Hero 6 is a result of Disney being encouraged to develop a film which drew on the Marvel Universe, and it draws vague inspiration from a short run of comics with the same name. The name is probably the biggest similarity between the two - the differences are massive. In the comic, Big Hero 6 is an elite team of government operatives brought together to fight for the state. They are all adults, and their superpowers are more like that of the X-Men - unnatural mutations they were born with - than the scientific inventions the cast of the film create. The characters of the comic are all adults, apart from Hiro, and Baymax was designed as a bodyguard, rather than a nurse. There is no San Fransokyo and Fred can actually transform into a kaiju. Disney had quite a lot of creative license in adapting the film.
So now - San Fransokyo. At first I was a little confused. Assuming the city was just a futuristic San Fransisco (because of the clear images of the Golden Gate bridge at the beginning of the film), it wasn't until about halfway through that I noticed the compound name. The origins of this strange mash-up are never touched on in the film, but according to Directors Hall and Williams, the city is located in a parallel universe. In this universe's version of history, after the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake, an influx of Japanese immigrants moved there and had significant influence in the city's reconstruction. The name is a bit dorky, and it is tempting to think that the film is just cashing in on the power of 'Cool Japan' but the mash-up really works well. This may be because the real San Fransisco does have a considerable Japanese presence for an American city. Whatever the reason behind this strange city, it has been beautifully built. The amount of effort the animation team put into creating San Fransokyo's cityscape is evident, and it is justifiably shown off throughout the film. I find it incredible that the advertising team did not make a bigger deal of showing it off through the posters and other advertising.
Big Hero 6 is a celebration of intelligence and invention. It makes a big deal of the team's intelligence, and the fact that their scientific ability makes them cool and interesting. This is what endears it to me. There is a lot of nerd pride, and a strong faith in technology as ultimately good. The writing is fairly strong- the big bad is not obvious from the beginning, and everybody's motives are mixed and interesting. I would happily watch Big Hero 6 again for its loveable characters and quirky, creative setting.
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| Not the poster used to advertise the film in Australia! |
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