Loosely based on the Marvel comic
series, the film is about Hiro Hamada, a very bright but underachieving young
boy who lives in San Fransokyo. He would rather use his immense robotic
engineering skills to compete in underground robot fights than apply himself at
the local university, where his brother Tadashi works. To get him out of his
funk, Tadashi brings Hiro to the university, to show him what he is working on –
a medical assistant robot named Baymax. Hiro also meets Tadashi’s friends
(other robotics students/expects Go Go, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon, as well as
their friend Fred). Having his interest sparked, Hiro decides that he does want
to enroll at the university, but to be accepted he needs to impress at an
upcoming robotics expo. Hiro works hard coming up with the idea of microbots.
His new invention is very well received by the university robotics professor
Robert Callaghan, as well as local businessman Alistair Krei. Instead of
selling his idea to Krei for lots of money, Hiro decides to accept the
university’s offer to enroll to further develop his microbots. The group of
friends decides to go out to celebrate. Tadashi is very proud of his younger
brother, but suddenly a fire breaks out in the expo and Tadashi runs in to help
save Professor Callaghan who is still inside. The expo explodes killing all
inside, including Tadashi. Hiro is devastated. His microbots are also destroyed
in the fire/explosion, but he notices something odd. One of his bots is acting
weird, trying to get back to the others (which Hiro thought to be destroyed).
With the help of Baymax, who is worried about Hiro now that his brother has
dead causing him mental anguish, Hiro follows the microbot to a warehouse where
he finds his microbots; and worse, he also finds a masked man controlling them.
Realizing that this masked man must have blown up the expo to steal his
microbots, thereby killing Tadashi, Hiro decides to go after him to avenge his
brother, with the help of Baymax (who has been repurposed to fight) and Tadashi’s
lab friends.
Walt Disney Animation Studios decided
to take full advantage of another Disney owned company Marvel. Presumably,
there was no plan to bring Big Hero 6 to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thus
making it available to Disney animation. Marvel has proved to be a massive
money-maker for Disney through their film division (especially after the
success of The
Avengers). It only makes sense that Disney would take advantage of another
Marvel property, particularly one that leads itself very well to animation
(such as this). Yet, Big Hero 6 does not feel like a Disney film (something
that I also feel is true of Wreck-It
Ralph as well). It feels much more like a generic animated film than a ‘Disney
Film’, like Tangled or Frozen
do. Growing up with Disney’s animated films, there is a certain style and
storytelling that I love in Disney films (and I generally love the songs, which
this film also lacks).
While I am not familiar with the
comic series Big Hero 6, some quick research revealed that Disney has changed
many aspects of the story and characters to better fit the demographic they
target with their animated films. I have no problem with this (as I always say,
the film and what it is based on have no real connection other than one being
the inspiration for the other – filmmakers are in no way beholden to their
source material, and should not be); however, something that I did find slightly
disappointing (as an adult) is how simplified and unearned everything feels in
the film. It is clearly meant for younger viewers, but I lost interest as the
film progressed, as it became less and less engaging (as it lacks good
narrative storytelling, something Disney usually does rather well, especially
since rebooting their animation division in 2008 under the supervision of John Lasseter).
So what does Big Hero 6 do well?
It is entertaining and funny (especially in the character moments between Hiro
and Baymax). Baymax is a fantastic character; and of everything in the film, he
feels the most like a typical Disney character: an outsider of sorts, with a
good heart, who against the odds finds a way to save his friends. The characters
overall are all pretty fun, and well voiced by the cast; but, everything feels
overly simplified. The film has big emotional moments (all of which are given
to Hiro), but it backs away from giving any supporting character anything
substantial of any kind, as if directors Don Hall and Chris Williams
are afraid to make the film too dark or overly sad. The supporting characters
might as well not even be there. Tadashi’s lab friends are just a pack of
upbeat hype-men. The same can be said for the film’s villain. They are all very
boring serving almost no narrative purpose other than to exist to sell more toys,
make jokes or give the team someone to fight against. It also feels odd that
Tadashi’s friends, who become Hiro’s friends by proxy (because he has none of
his own), all of whom are older than Hiro, decide to indulge his idea to become
superheroes to hunt down Tadashi’s killer. Hiro is fueled by hate and anger,
but should the older students not know better? Everything feels too easy and
thus unearned (and thus narratively weak and unengaging). Hall and Williams try
to create a tone that is really light, fun and superheroy (in the Marvel style),
but begin the film with very heavy emotions (Hiro essentially witnessing his
brother being killed by a fire bomb). Their light tone undercuts a lot of the
emotional resonance the film might otherwise have, given the first act.
Hiro and Baymax, however, have a
lot to do narratively. The film is really about Hiro needing to grow up. His
brother dying forces this upon him, as does his relationship with Baymax,
teaching him a moral code (of sorts). Hiro is in some ways both the hero and
the real villain of the film. Baymax can be used for great good or evil. It is
entirely up to Hiro to decide. Like many other superhero films, Hiro needs to
learn that with great power comes great responsibility (yes, I did just quote Spider-Man). Hiro’s
journey does resonate emotionally, which mostly makes up for the lack of any
other real connection in the film. Hiro losing his brother is heartbreaking,
and the audience is drawn in by this loss. Hall and Williams do a go job
developing Tadashi and Hiro’s relationship during the first act, but again they
lose a lot of this as the film progresses. The first act is very good; the film
just gets weaker and weaker from there.
I stated above that Big Hero 6 is
entertaining and funny. Most of the humor also comes from Hiro’s relationship
with Baymax (and how Baymax just does not fit in and is awkward at first). The
voice-cast also, again, does a great job with line delivery. The jokes are one
of the film’s strongest attributes. The tone is very light (despite taking a
few detours into the darkness to match Hiro’s emotional journey). Yet, the
action is painfully generic and tiresome. I realize that superhero films need
to have lots of big action set pieces – it is expected – but Hall and Williams
are so much better at telling jokes and developing Hiro’s relationship with
Baymax that the action feels like it is an afterthought. It just goes through
the motions so that the characters can put on their superhero costumes and run
around. This problem is exacerbated by the film being animated, as the action
feels so much less immediate – the stakes are so much lower by the nature of
the medium, especially without rich characters the audience cares about and has
a stake in (Pixar’s The
Incredibles is an animated superhero film that does, however, get the
action just right). Hiro and Baymax do have the audience’s attention, though I would
argue that it wanes as the film progresses, but the action scenes are overlong
as they also feature five other characters (including the villain) running
around doing stuff (all of which, the audience does not care about).
The big problem with the action
is that the audience is not invested in what is happening, leaving it to just
be a tedious exercise in action for the sake of action. This is a character
problem as well. Hiro builds suits for his new friends so that they can be
superheroes to find Tadashi’s killer. Yet, it is completely unearned. There is
a fairly bogus training montage, seeking to lazily explain why they can somewhat
effectively use their suits. It all feels so genetic, as if Hall and Williams
just started checking off scenes on the superhero film checklist. It might have
been more interesting to have just left these characters out of the film completely
and just focused on Hiro and Baymax (which is almost the case anyway – at least
from a character development perspective). The film devotes almost no time to
developing these characters or their bond with Hiro, yet they are big parts of
the action scenes. Thus, we must endure long action set pieces with characters
we do not care about and are not invested in. The stakes are non-existent. The
film’s villain is also laughable boring and underdeveloped. These action scenes
lost me, as I sat in the theater feeling bored and disinterested, when I was
really enjoying the film up until it turned into one action scene after the
next.
Big Hero 6 feels at first like it
might be more character driven, like the best Disney films, but abandons this
idea in favor of flashy action. Hiro suffers quite a bit in the beginning and
is forced to deal with the consequences of the pain he feels, but it is
marginalized by poor storytelling. Hiro is hurt by the death of his brother,
but begins to find a new way to channel his pain – replacing it with hate and revenge.
Hiro then begins to upgrade Baymax to become a machine built to destroy instead
of healing (playing into Hiro in a way being the film’s real villain and
needing to grow up emotionally). This stuff is interesting, but Hall and
Williams somewhat sidetrack fully exploring Hiro’s journey, instead engaging in
action scene after action scene in the second and third act, as the team chases
and is chased by the masked villain. The film could have cut back on the
action, replacing it with more character development (especially for the
villain and Hiro’s four friends – all these characters are basically reduced to
one thing: the villain is set on revenge, Fred just wants to be a Godzilla like
monster, Go Go just wants to go fast, Wasabi does stuff with lasers, and Honey
Lemon with chemicals – what else do we need to know, right). Plus, there is no
real sense of peril in the action scenes. There is no real danger for the
characters, no stakes.
The problem with action films is
that they are often very generic and the emotions of the characters and their
actions feel unearned because filmmakers are more interested in the visual spectacle
than the characters (which is always a mistake). Big Hero 6, sadly, suffers
from this as well as the film progresses. It does get a lot more right
character wise early in the film than many generic action films, as it at least
tries to create a character in Hiro with a real emotional journey, but it loses
momentum as the action starts to take center stage above character. To make
matters slightly worse, Big Hero 6’s action scenes are really not all that
impressive, as again they are incredibly bland and repetitive. The best moments
in the film come from Hiro and Baymax’s relationship (taking the place of Hiro’s
relationship with his brother), which is no surprise as character usually
trumps action.
This review reads very
negatively. That said, I did enjoy many aspects of the film. I laughed quite a
bit as the jokes do work well. Overall, Big Hero 6 does entertain and it does set
up a potential new franchise for Disney, as everything is in place for a
sequel. The film has big aspirations, but the execution is lacking, leaving
weighty emotions overly simplified, characters underdeveloped and action scenes,
while flashy, tedious.
On a side note, the animated
short that played before Big Hero 6, Feast, is fantastic. It does a
great job blending emotion and humor. It is a really funny and touching short
film.
Technical,
aesthetic & acting achievements: Don Hall and Chris Williams are big
parts of Walt Disney Animation Studio’s rebirth, animating, writing and/or
directing (in other words, being a part of in some way) Bolt, The Princess and
the Frog Tangled, Winnie the Pooh,
and Frozen. The best Disney animated films blend heart, rich characters and
emotional resonance with humor, musical numbers and action. With Big Hero 6,
Williams and Hall seem to want to blend Disney style with a more Marvel style
film, but they end up leaning too heavily on the action and humor, losing the characters
a bit along the way. The film is sure to play well for kids (being high on
humor and action), but grown up viewers may not be as enthusiastic.
Composer Henry Jackman’s
score is also fairly generic superhero fare. It gets the job done, but does not
stand out (in a world in which we have many iconic superhero scores and
themes).
T.J. Miller
and Scott
Adsit highlight the voice-cast, bringing a lot to their characters. Miller’s
Fred is very funny, with a zany energy. Adsit steals the film with Baymax’s
loving and curious voice. Baymax is the best part of the film.
Summary
& score: Big Hero 6 does not feel like a Disney film, which is too
bad, because Disney was just starting to make great films again (see Tangled
and Frozen). It is funny and entertaining, but lacks real substance and is far
too bland. 6/10
