Monday, December 1, 2014

Michael J. Tresca gave 5 stars to: Big Hero 6

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:


Big Hero 6 Amazon Instant Video ~ Scott Adsit


5.0 out of 5 stars Science is the real hero, December 1, 2014

This review is from: Big Hero 6 (Amazon Instant Video)

My family is well-acquainted with the Man of Action team of writers from their work on the Generator Rex, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Marvel's Avengers Assemble cartoons, so we were excited to see their movie debut with "Big Hero 6." My seven-year-old boy was not disappointed.



That said, the film isn't quite about what you might think from the trailers. It's not so much "a boy and his robot" as it is "a boy helps form a super-science hero team, one of which happens to be a robot." "Big Hero 6" doesn't refer to a person, it refers to the team of six heroes, all of them powered by cutting-edge sci-fi technology. One of the powerful and welcome messages that comes through in this film is that the pursuit of science is important, but it is only as good or bad as the person wielding it.



Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) is a 13-year-old robotics genius who lives with his Aunt Cass (Maya Rudolph) and older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney). Hiro is fond of engaging in illegal robot fighting to earn some money, which Tadashi recognizes is the wrong path for a prodigy like his little brother. He encourages Hiro to apply to the robotics lab at Tadashi's university, where the entrance exam is determined by a science competition. Hiro enters his nanobots.



Nanobots are game-changers and the power Hiro demonstrates is both breathtaking and terrifying. It's not long before a fire breaks out at the competition, a tragedy that results in the loss of the nanobots. Hiro mopes about, listless, until he accidentally stumbles upon Tadashi's crowning achievement: Baymax, an inflatable medical robot dedicated to helping people. You can see where this is going, right?



Hiro slowly unravels the mystery behind the fire -- BIG SPOILER 6! It was no accident -- and creates a team of superheroes by retrofitting Baymax and drawing on the collective genius of Tadashi's colleagues. There's Fed (T.J. Miller) the stoner who likes kaiju movies with a fire-breathing suit to match; Gogo Tomago (Jamie Chung) who uses electromagnetic wheels as skates and weapons; Wasabi (Damon Wayans) who wields laser cutters on his forearms; and Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) who has a purse-full of sticky goo bombs.



The heart of the movie revolves around Baymax. He is a soft, huggable helper spawned from the ideals of Tadashi -- but his armor and weapons are all Hiro's youthful rage. Baymax waffles between these two ideologies throughout the film, but it's ultimately Hiro's choice to be a hero.



The superhero tropes don't always make sense (Wasabi's laser hands seem like the worst power) but it's easy to overlook in light of the beautifully rendered, diverse futurescape that is San Fransokyo. It also features a kid who overcomes his challenges with science. My son gave it five stars.



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