'Big Hero 6' Deserves Your Respect

If it's one thing I've seen a million times, it's the trailer for Marvel's/Disney's comic-book-movie-that-you-didn't-know-was-a-comic-in-the-first-place, 'Big Hero 6'. Let me say this: it wasn’t my choice. It's just been literally everywhere; before every movie, in almost every commercial spot, and on each medium soda I buy! It even plagued me every time I watched 'Interstellar' (I may or may not be on my sixth time...the Regal Cinema Membership Card is my friend...don't judge me). To be honest, I thought it looked sort of ridiculous. Yeah...the trailers were funny, and I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few human beings on the planet who is still a fan of the most overplayed Fall Out Boy song in the world. However, in my mind, a fluffy marshmallow-like robot can only be so funny. It did indeed look really cool, but it was surrounded by so many other good movies. This forced 'Big Hero 6' to be pushed to the bottom of my must-see list. I finally took the bait this past weekend and ultimately went to see what this phenomenon was all about. After all, it did beat out 'Interstellar' in its opening weekend. Not only was I impressed, I felt like I needed to apologize for committing the almost-unforgivable sin of disregarding a movie for almost no reason at all. 'Big Hero 6' deserves your respect and here's why.

Wow that's a lot of links to 'Interstellar'. I regret nothing.

Chris Williams' and Don Hall's 'Big Hero 6' follows child prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) and the special bond that forms between everyone's-favorite-inflatable-robot Baymax (Scott Adsit) as their adventures help form a group of tech-fueled heroes. A terrible event befalls the land of San Fransokyo, (yes, you read that right) and Hiro finds himself caught in the middle of it. Like all protagonists under the age of 20, he turns to his friends for help. Introducing Go Go (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), Fred, (T.J Miller) and Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez): your new favorite supporting characters. Together they attempt to save San Fransokyo, and all the while grow in friendship and respect for each other. Don't worry, it's a simple plot, but it's loads of fun. It was a relief not feeling overly pressured to necessarily relate to just the main character. Each and every supporting character brings their own flavors (and super-ish powers) to the table for you to pick and choose who you like. The entire cast of characters and plot felt really cohesive. Everything flowed really well, and it felt like everyone belonged and fit well to the setting and the plot. Even the weird 'Murica-Japan mashup city of San Fransokyo came alive through every single scene of this film. It sounds odd but you're welcomed with open arms, so to speak, to everything this movie has to offer you, and it didn't feel troublesome to accept whatever they threw out; major kudos to the film for this.

Disney has gotten bold, and I mean really bold. I don't know whose idea it was to release a film based on a failed comic book and repackage it so that it appeals to a wide audience...but they deserve a promotion. Marvel Studios already took a huge gamble with 'Guardians of the Galaxy' this year, and it was surprisingly a huge success. They somehow managed to create a huge fan base out of a comic book movie that know one knew or cared about before. Disney somehow managed to take that idea, reuse it, market it relentlessly, and strike mountains of gold with this animated film. If you try to look for the Big Hero 6 original comic books (which are different from the movie adaptation) now, then you better be prepared to spend a pretty penny.

I can almost guarantee that this movie will make a fan out of you. I know it did that for me, and I didn't even expect it. I am a kid at heart, and 'Big Hero 6' will appeal to the kid in you. It's so lighthearted and fun that you can't help but sit back, relax, and enjoy the awesome action scenes, semi-adult humor that you're not quite sure you understand, and the oh-so-lovable well developed characters. If you're one of the few not-so-kid-at-heart moviegoers that see this film, don't fret. I found the adult in me really appreciating the serious and, quite frankly, dark moments that came up...and those moments came down hard. It's at those points that I felt like Disney was trying to relay an important message to both kids and parents alike: Life isn't easy. I can't say much without giving major spoilers but 'Big Hero 6' is quick to show that even animated films can take things seriously.

One of the key rules of filmmaking is that you have to make the audience buy what you’re selling. In other words, make the audience buy into the universe you're presenting. The world of San Fransokyo is a farfetched idea at best but 'Big Hero 6' helps you go with the flow and buy into it. This came with a cost though. While the film made the audience okay with a 'Murica-Japan fusion world, it tried too hard to establish its characters, and that made some of the dialogue a tad bit...painful. For example, there's a scene near the beginning of the movie where Hiro is arguing with his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) and unashamedly shouts at him with the line, "Yea I know! Mom and Dad died when I was 6 remember?!". Well of course Tadashi would remember! He's Hiro's brother, I'm pretty sure that he was also alive to witness his parents' deaths. I understand that this sort of dialogue makes it sort of easier for kids to understand plot points and backstory, but there are ways to go around it. There must surely be better ways than that. Another problem I had actually had to do with film's main antagonist. For everyone who hasn't seen the movie, it's the "guy in the kabuki mask.” Later on, you find out why this guy is doing what he's doing, (I'll just leave that there) but when you see the reason, the character of the villain just falls...flat. While it's a good reason to seek revenge and other villainy things, it's not strong enough to convince the audience that it's justifiable to go to such lengths to do it. This wasn't a breaking point for me but it was something that could've been fixed with just a tad bit more effort.

Despite it's small flaws, 'Big Hero 6' was a movie I wish I had seen sooner. This is something I think everyone should watch at least once. I'm sure that everyone has a space somewhere in their heart for inflatable-savior-Baymax and the merry band of San Fransoyo's superhero team. A lot of people, including me, didn't think much of this concept at first glance, but I urge anyone who is reading this to give it a shot. I can (almost) guarantee that you won't be disappointed. It's not movie-of-the-year material, but it deserves recognition for really, really good Disney animated films in my book.