Balalala la
That'll make more sense if you saw the movie.
The Plot
When boy genius Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) loses his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) in a fire, he discovers that the fire may have been caused by someone who stole his technology. With the help of his brother's greatest invention, a caretaker robot called Baymax, and Tadashi's classmates (Jamie Chung, Genesis Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr. and T.J. Miller) from an esteemed university, they all band together to stop this mysterious foe.
Analysis
This movie is not accurate to the comic book it is based on. Then again it is an obscure comic book in Marvel's plethora of properties. For all intents and purposes, this was meant to be the most anime inspired comic of the Marvel line. The artwork is very reminiscent to the manga art style and even draws from anime archetypes. The mecha, the boy genius, the samurai, the giant monster, the magical girl, and the tech suit hero. All of them are there. Yet for the film, they have been drastically changed.
Hiro, the boy genius, is pretty much the one who seems to remain in tact for the most part. Except he's not a snobbish kid, and he's not fat. Baymax is a mecha who can turn into a dragon with Hiro's dead father's mind acting as its's brain. However in the movie Baymax is a helper bot created by Hiro's brother. Honey Lemon is a sexy secret agent take on sailor moon who acts like a dumb blonde in order to hide the fact that she's the smartest woman in Japan. In the movie, she's a really geeky conservatively dressed girl who loves pink and chemicals. Wasabi is a samurai who can focus his chi (his soul) into creating energy katanas. In the movie, he's an organized OCD guy with a speciality in creating plasma technology. Gogo is an ex convict who was released under the condition that she uses her powers for good. In the movie, she's the tomboy no nonsense adrenaline junkie of the group. And Fred? Well, in the comics he is the descendant of the original inhabitants of Japan who can turn into giant monsters. In the movie? Fred is just a big comic book and kaiju fan who wears a modified monster suit.
So yes, very different. Yet I don't hear people complaining about this. Why? Because it is not a well known property. This allows the creators to take these characters and do whatever they want with them. They made all the characters science based and diversified their ethnicities. While it is the politically correct thing to do with giving them different ethnicities, it does kind of bug me that all of them are suppose to be Japanese. I admire the fact they kept Hiro and Tadashi Japanese, and possibly Gogo too. But what made this team special was them being Japan's only group of superheroes in the Marvel Universe. It would've been great to have all of them still be Japanese, but since no one will really care, it is completely fine. After all, what matters is if the movie is good and not how accurate it is to the source. So is it worthy of the name Big Hero 6?
Review
This movie is definitely one of the best animated movies of the year. A hell of a lot better than that trash called The Book of Life. This is what I look for in an animated film. It offers up adult themes and presents them to children in a way that they would understand. Themes such as dealing with loss of a loved one and learning to cope. While it is a theme that is often explored in animated movies, it is alway a welcoming one when the filmmakers don't hold back on what is going on and don't sugar coat it. And while that is definitely the underlying theme of the movie, there is another that is a lot more prominent. The idea that science and education is cool.
Another reviewer pointed out that science is usually portrayed as an antagonistic force in superhero stories. It is always the Mad Scientist who is the villain, and rarely are the heroes scientists. Sure, there is Iron Man, The Hulk, and The Atom, but there are more science villains than science heroes in both Marvel and DC. So it is really refreshing to have our heroes use science as a means to save the world. Sure, it seemed to have beat the message over the head by having the main character, Hiro, take a tour around the university to see the amazing things the other characters are working on, but it definitely would've convinced me to want to enroll. It is a nice way of saying that education is important, as well as showing just how amazing science can be with everything that can be done now. And it really helps that it has great characters to make science cool.
Hiro, voiced by Ryan Potter, may be the stereotypical tech boy genius who has no drive, but it works so well in this film. Tadashi, voiced by Daniel Henney, is the catalyst of the film who helps Hiro finds his purpose by showing him the potential of what he can become if he had the education and the resources to do so. And while it is morbid that Hiro becomes a lot more relatable after the passing of his brother, he is still relatable from the beginning as a kid who feels he's got everything figured out. We've all felt like we know everything we need to know and nothing else, but the truth of the matter is we don't know everything and we never will. But trying to learn everything is part of what makes life interesting. And that is shown well through Hiro.
But obviously, the standout of this movie is Baymax. The lovable marshmallow robot that was created to help people is one of the many bright spots of the film. He is naive enough to be lovable, but not so much that we would think he's dumb. Because in the end, he's meant to be a symbol of Hiro's brother. He's everything that Tadashi strived for by using science in order to help make a better world. While I'm sure Tadashi never intended Baymax to be customized into a fighting robot superhero, it is still clear that his message and what Bayamax represent resonates with Hiro. He is the very representation of what science can do to change the world, as well as help Hiro cope with the loss of his brother. It is a nice combination in a movie that is promoting the themes of dealing with loss and the amazement of science.
And the visuals of this movie are amazing. They're not as good as Rise of the Guardians or How to Train Your Dragon, but for a Disney Animated film that's not Pixar, they are definitely top notch. The world of San Fransokyo is vibrant and colorful while also being neo noir at night. And the action scenes are spectacular. Which they have to be if this movie is going to be a superhero movie. A city and incredible set pieces are just two of the staples of superhero stories, and this film excels in them. But that doesn't mean there aren't any weaknesses.
The supporting cast of Gogo Tomago (Jamie Chung), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), Fred (T.J. Miller) and Wasabi (Damon Wayans) were excellent with their one dimensional characters. And that is a major compliment in that their respective voice actors were able to make them feel alive, despite the fact they don't really develop. And they agreed to becoming superheroes a little too willingly. Then there is also the villain of the movie, which the filmmakers attempted to have a nice parallel with Hiro's character in terms of losing someone but going over to the dark side because of it. This could've been handled better, but it definitely was handled competently enough to where it does work.
Those may seem like big problems, but in the end they really aren't. Because the main focus of this movie is not on the ensemble, but rather Hiro's relationship with Tadashi which continues through Baymax. It is the story about a boy and his robot, who just happen to also wind up saving the city.
Final Thoughts
If you have kids and want them to be interested in science, please take them to this movie. It is a heartwarming film that has a great message all wrapped around a superhero adventure. It is not the best animated film of the year, but it is definitely one of them. There is so much to love about this movie and how much of an influence it can have on the younger generation. Science can definitely change the world, and can possibly save it. This is for the kids, while Interstellar is for the adults in terms of promoting the need for science. For comic book fans, it may not be accurate, but it is a damn good movie.
SCORE: 8.5/10 - A nice animated film that disguises "education is cool" in a superhero movie
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