Monday, November 10, 2014

Big Hero 6 - Movie Review


Big Hero 6 is the latest animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios and was co directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams. The movie features the voice talents of Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans, Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, and Maya Rudolph.


Hiro (Potter) is a 13 year old engineering prodigy who, since graduating high school, has decided to spend his days competing in illegal robot fight clubs instead of furthering his education. When a tragic incident sends him in to a state of despair, it's only the unexpected help provided by a medical robot named Baymax and a group of trusted allies that leads Hiro on a path to solve the emergence of a mysterious masked villain.


Big Hero 6 is freaking awesome!

Disney's animation department has been on quite a roll lately with some big time hits like Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, and Tangled although their latest effort may actually be the best of them all. This is such a fun movie with a ton of unforgettable moments and a roster of really great characters led by the one and only Baymax who is about to be a very, very popular robot with kids of all ages. Seriously, this rather simple medical assistant robot has so much charm and personality that he pretty much owns every single scene he is in and is truly the heart and soul of the picture. We also get a  really cool villain who remains quite the mysterious figure right up until the very end which is a nice change from a lot of movies like this where we have to spend a bunch of time getting to know who he is and why he is a bad guy. This allows a lot more time for the directors to really dig into Hiro's story as well as giving him plenty of time to bond with Baymax which is, again, a key factor in what makes this movie so good.


As far as the animation is concerned, this movie is absolutely beautiful with a very bold and vivid color pallet that goes really well with the fast paced energy of the story. The quality that studios like Disney, Dreamworks, and Pixar are putting out these days is truly stunning and really adds to the depth of the story telling in way that were never possible in years past. I chose not to see the movie in 3D although there are several scenes that I can tell were tailor made for the format so I wouldn't turn you away from it. Disney usually does really well with its 3D presentations and animation is a perfect vehicle for the format so definitely give it a try.


In case you weren't aware, Big Hero 6 was originally a Marvel property but Disney saw the potential of turning this into another mega hit for their own animation department and made the necessary tweaks to give it that little bit of magic and pixie dust we have grown to expect. Seriously, this movie is so good, I would put it up with other heavy hitters like The Incredibles and How to Train Your Dragon. The audience I watched it with was about half kids and half adults and, based on the reactions during the movie and how people were taking about it afterward, this movie is going to be a huge crowd pleaser going in to the holiday season. Aside from all the fun moments and comic book style action, there is also a very heartfelt story that will absolutely tug at your emotions as evidenced by both the young boy and her mom getting teary eyed on more than one occasion during the movie.


Have I said enough good stuff about this movie yet? Let's see, we have an action packed yet heartfelt story with a very likable cast of characters and a robot that is just too cool for words all brought to life in beautifully rendered 3D animation. In a year that is without a release from Pixar, there has been still some really amazing animated features like The Lego Movie and How to Train Your Dragon 2 although I firmly believe that Big Hero 6 has managed to outdo them all so please, go see this movie right now. Take the kids, take your significant other, or just go by yourself. You're gonna love it.




 


No comments :

Post a Comment

The Hot List