“Big Hero 6” is Disney’s only major animated offering this year, the first fruit of its highly-publicized partnership with Marvel Comics. It’s an agreeable movie with some cute gags and clever details, but I don’t see it becoming as iconic as some of Disney’s other output.
The story follows a boy with the unsubtle name of Hiro (Ryan Potter) as he tries to revolutionize the world of robotics at the age of 13. He suffers the loss of his even-smarter older brother (it wouldn’t be a Disney movie without a child suffering a loss), who leaves behind a prototype of a medical robot called Baymax (Scott Adsit).
Baymax is eager to help, but he’s clumsy. His body is inflatable and puffy, so as to be appealing to children. He’s not built to travel long distances and subject himself to harmful elements. But Hiro is impressed by the technology behind Baymax, so he makes a few upgrades and turns him into a (very compassionate) fighting robot. Hiro enlists four of his brother’s awkward lab friends to hero-fy themselves as well and together they set out to discover what happened to the brother.
Baymax is a loveable, memorable character, but the rest of the team seems to have been created by marketing people trying to sell action figures. The same can be said of the film’s plot and action scenes. Disney has gone down the superhero route before with “The Incredibles” and I never could never shake the feeling that this film is not as heartfelt as its predecessor. It’s clear that the more creative Disney people were allowed to have at least some influence on “Big Hero 6,” but the finished product is a disappointing superhero movie with a few outstanding elements.
Two Stars out of Five.
“Big Hero 6” is rated PG for action and peril, some rude humor, and thematic elements. Its running time is 104 minutes.