By Laurie Coker
Rating: B+
With Big Hero 6, Disney gives us creative, loving characters, who don’t have the broad shoulders, perfects pecs and whittled waistlines of typical Disney heroes. Instead we get Baymax a puffy, marshmallowy robot with a knack for subtle wit and making people feel better. Wicked animation more than makes up for the lack of freshness in story and this fun-filled film loosely based on Marvel’s comics, and it gives us some unlikely heroes for which to cheer.
Hiro (Ryan Potter), a nerdy, super-smart teen, who enjoys hustling cash in bot-battles, finds himself alone after his older brother, Tadashi (Danie Henney), is killed in a suspicious fire at a California “San Fransokyo,” University. Fortunately for Hiro, who previously lost both his parents, his brother leaves something behind – an air-filled a health-care robot, designed to give care to the sick and injured. Baymax senses Hiro’s sorrow, scans him and attempts to assist him. At first Hiro tries to put the bot back in its box, but soon the pair is on an adventure of a life time, fighting bad guys, with the help of his brother’s lab buddies. Hiro and Baymax discover a secret behind the fire that killed his brother and in which Hiro’s state-of-the-art “micro-bots” were destroyed – all but one, that is.
Disney’s animation is stunning, perfect down to the hair on each head and the air that escapes Baymax’s balloon-like body. With some robotic magic, Hiro transforms Baymax from sweet and caring to fierce fighter. Fast-moving, fun and exciting action sequences kept both my three-year-old granddaughter and my ten-year-old grandson engaged. During several scenes even the little one laughed out loud. Getting her to sit still is sometimes impossible, but for Big Hero 6, she sat on the end of the sit utterly engaged. I, too, enjoyed the movie, although it doesn’t have as much for the adults as other such stories. Hiro and Baymax make a great team and when joined by Tadashi’s former lab pals, we get “Big Hero 6”, and an opening for sequels.
Big Hero 6 does include a few scenes of daunting baddies and mild violence, but not so much as to upset a three-year old, as least not mine anyway. Little is special about the story, but Baymax alone is. No one expects much from a hero whose thighs rub and squeak like a pool toy, but we get everything – a lover and fighter and a healer. Vivid imagery, beautiful character and scene rendering and endearing heroes put it on my best, animated feature list. I recommend it for a holiday family outing and am placing a B+ in my grade book.