Big Hero 6 is the latest animé movie from Disney. Essentially a buddy story, it concerns the relationship between independently minded 14-year-old boy Hiro and a balloon-style robot named Baymax that was being developed by his adored older brother, Tadashi, as a science project.
When Tadashi dies in a huge explosion, what should Hiro do but use the robot to search for the truth about that tragic event?
It is laying it on a bit to have both boys already orphans and living with a doting aunt, plus there is a mysterious villain whose identity is relatively easy to guess – for older viewers, anyway. That said, sentimentality and predictable plot features are the staples of many stories, and not just those for kids. The big question is whether they intrude on viewer enjoyment.
Set in a Japanese-influenced version of San Francisco named San Fransokyo, the adventure sends the boy and his rather goofy machine, plus a group of Hiro’s new science-nerd friends, on a quest to discover the villain’s identity and the nature of his evil plan. The street settings, with their jumble of Western and Eastern architecture, and similarly mixed-language advertising signage, are entertaining in their own right. The rendering is superb, and if you happen to see the 3D version you will especially enjoy the watery sequences.
Baymax is a softie with a tough interior. Its character owes something to another robot, Wall-E, from the 2008 Disney-Pixar animated movie of the same name. Both develop awareness of ethical values and of the frailties of humans during the protagonists’ escapades.
The flying scenes are reminiscent of 2010’s Dreamworks movie How to Train Your Dragon and, if you want to go further back, The NeverEnding Story (1984) or The Water Horse (2007), all of which represent bonding between boy and creature.
There are plenty of humorous moments, a couple offering variations on fart jokes, but also an underlying theme of the nobility of sacrifice for others, even when enacted by a machine. The latter part of the movie depends overly on a big-scale smash ’em up, but it’s tolerable enough. There are clear signs, too, that this is expected to lead to further movies with same group of characters. Who whispered “franchise”?
Given that this is a production created in association with Marvel, it’s no surprise there is a cameo by Stan Lee, which you will see if you hang around until the credits close.
Big Hero 6 ultimately has a charm that cancels most of its flaws. There is a lot of action, a likeable hero in Hiro, and a different sort of sidekick in Baymax. The movie has something for adults and the kids – and, look, it’s just in time for Christmas!
