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#154 - Big Hero 6
Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014
A teenaged genius who specialises in building robots joins his older brother's team of inventors.
Big Hero 6 is decent enough as far as modern Disney films go. Granted, it takes a bit of effort to suspend disbelief in some ways - I can buy a teenage boy being capable of complex robotic design but the film's setting being a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo that is imaginatively titled San Fransokyo is a bit too ridiculous. It hits a lot of the usual narrative beats of a Disney film as well - protagonist with a tragic backstory, scene-stealing comic relief, supporting cast full of broadly-drawn and colourful characters, elaborate action sequences, getting really dramatic at the end of the second act - it's all here. However, the inconsistency of the pacing is a little troublesome. The first act is good, moving things along at a brisk pace before ending in a somewhat surprising development. The second act, on the other hand, turns the film into a mystery that isn't all that interesting on its own but at least it provides the chance to show off our heroes getting into all sorts of comical mishaps in the process. The third act, well, given that this is a film based off a Marvel property about a handful of misfit superheroes you can probably guess how the ending is going to play out. It's a superhero movie, so you're not really getting any major surprises when it comes to the plotting.
Fortunately, the film compensates for its familiar narrative reasonably well. The show is naturally stolen by Baymax, the inflatable healthcare robot who is clearly a graduate of Lt. Cmdr. Data's School for Highly Efficient Yet Comically Serious Artificial Life Forms. Other characters are decent enough - protagonist Hiro (heh) effectively conveys a wide range of adolescent emotions, while the ragtag group of students make the most of their limited characterisations. The film looks as vibrant and smooth as you'd expect a Disney production to look, though the action scenes vary in terms of excitement (the car chase halfway through the film is rather underwhelming, though things naturally pick up a bit from there). There are no big surprises when it comes to Big Hero 6, but the film itself shows that such a fact is not necessarily a condemnation of a film. It's well-made in just about every other regard, but at its most fundamental it's merely an alright film, and if you're okay with that, then you'll be okay with this film.
Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014
A teenaged genius who specialises in building robots joins his older brother's team of inventors.
Big Hero 6 is decent enough as far as modern Disney films go. Granted, it takes a bit of effort to suspend disbelief in some ways - I can buy a teenage boy being capable of complex robotic design but the film's setting being a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo that is imaginatively titled San Fransokyo is a bit too ridiculous. It hits a lot of the usual narrative beats of a Disney film as well - protagonist with a tragic backstory, scene-stealing comic relief, supporting cast full of broadly-drawn and colourful characters, elaborate action sequences, getting really dramatic at the end of the second act - it's all here. However, the inconsistency of the pacing is a little troublesome. The first act is good, moving things along at a brisk pace before ending in a somewhat surprising development. The second act, on the other hand, turns the film into a mystery that isn't all that interesting on its own but at least it provides the chance to show off our heroes getting into all sorts of comical mishaps in the process. The third act, well, given that this is a film based off a Marvel property about a handful of misfit superheroes you can probably guess how the ending is going to play out. It's a superhero movie, so you're not really getting any major surprises when it comes to the plotting.
Fortunately, the film compensates for its familiar narrative reasonably well. The show is naturally stolen by Baymax, the inflatable healthcare robot who is clearly a graduate of Lt. Cmdr. Data's School for Highly Efficient Yet Comically Serious Artificial Life Forms. Other characters are decent enough - protagonist Hiro (heh) effectively conveys a wide range of adolescent emotions, while the ragtag group of students make the most of their limited characterisations. The film looks as vibrant and smooth as you'd expect a Disney production to look, though the action scenes vary in terms of excitement (the car chase halfway through the film is rather underwhelming, though things naturally pick up a bit from there). There are no big surprises when it comes to Big Hero 6, but the film itself shows that such a fact is not necessarily a condemnation of a film. It's well-made in just about every other regard, but at its most fundamental it's merely an alright film, and if you're okay with that, then you'll be okay with this film.