Disney has done it again. After pumping out such gems as Frozen and Tangled, it was hard to believe that the company could possibly create another masterpiece, but they did. Big Hero 6, as all movies, was not without its faults. However, it was overall an extremely fun and interesting film.
It would be wrong not to mention how stunning the animation was. It was clear that an intense amount of effort was put into this movie, as most of the visuals were breathtaking. There were some instances in which the animation looked startlingly life-like. This only added to the beauty of the overall film.
The film had a pretty wide range of comedy, often venturing into the slapstick genre, but it was never stupid. One issue in many children’s films is that script writers resort to making jokes that only children find funny. This movie managed to find a good mix of silly slapstick comedy and more sophisticated comedy. The script also managed to have touching and emotional moments without being cheesy or predictable.
One of the few flaws this movie had was setting. Basically, if San Francisco and Tokyo had a baby, that is where this movie would take place. Literally called San Fransokyo, the architecture of most of the buildings in this film was either very modern or very Japanese. This did ultimately create some pretty cool visuals in the film, but it really took the audience out of the story when any of the characters would seriously comment on the drastic state of San Fransokyo. Some have argued that, since this movie was an adaptation of a Marvel comic, it is not Disney’s fault that the source material had a weird setting. This argument is completely invalid as the original comic takes place in Tokyo. This unnecessary Americanization of the story, while not a huge deal, can be distracting to viewers. Unfortunately, the movie also suffered from a general lack of character development. As the title suggests, there are six main characters, but only two of them are developed as the story progresses. One of them is an emotionless robot, Baymax.
By the end of the movie, the only thing you know about the four other main characters is that one is really stupid and has a weird obsession with dragons; another will abide by any street regulation upon threat of death; one is probably a feminist, considering the amount of times she says, “woman up”; and the last one is really hyper, likes a lot of colors, and is the only one who can pronounce the main character, Hiro’s, name correctly, including Hiro. All of this is very superficial and does not add any character depth, which is a real shame considering how interesting and enjoyable the movie is.
The few flaws that this movie had, while annoying, ultimately did not take away from the overall experience. Big Hero 6 is a fantastic story that continuously dazzles with both fantastic visuals and a really interesting story.