REVIEW: Big Hero 6

As always, animated movies most definitely aren’t just for kids. Big Hero 6 was a very enjoyable, funny, sweet and moving film, and I would expect no less from Disney it met all the standards you would expect from the hugely successful company. It also gave an opportunity for Disney to try out its fairly recently acquired Marvel Comics characters and as expected the two go together in perfect harmony in this enjoyable outing perfect for the entire family. Where I think this movie particularly excels is that at its heart is a very serious subject. The effect the loss of a loved one has on a young boy’s life.

At the heart of the story of Big Hero 6 is Hiro Hamada a 14 year old technology genius who seems to be going off the rails a little and engaging in illegal ‘bot battles’ with his hand-made robot. He and his older brother, Tadashi, who he idolises and who is also a genius in robotics, are being raised by their delightfully kooky aunt after the death of their parents. After gentle coaxing from Tadashi, he is inspired to put his intelligence to better use and join his big brother and his friends at college. Tadashi has created his own robot, arguably the real star of the show, Baymax, the loveably squidgy medical assistant.

At the convention where prospective college applicants get scouted Hiro’s presentation of his creation of nano-bots is very well received and he looks set to start college with his brother but then disaster strikes leading to the tragic death of his brother. But all is not as it seems and someone is keen to steal Hiro’s nano-bots and use them for their own personal gain so the Big Hero 6 must unite to save the people of San Fransokyo.

After the death of his brother Tadashi the film truly comes into its own. As an adult watching the film it is clear to see that behind all of the genuinely hilarious scenes between Baymax and Hiro and the beautifully rendered action scenes that take place in the fictional city San Fransokyo (The perfect mix between San Francisco and Tokyo in architecture)at its heart Big Hero 6 is essentially a story of Hiro’s recovery after his brother’s sudden death.

We journey with Hiro as he moves through the various stages of grief: from denial, through his period of depression, to anger, to eventual acceptance. I’m not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears throughout the film due to the truly beautiful relationship between Hiro and Baymax, who clearly represents the only remaining link Hiro has to his brother. He helps Hiro through his depression and helps to reconnect him with other people who he has distanced himself from throughout the grieving process (namely Tadashi’s old college friends who become part of the superhero group).

I was surprised at how deeply moving Big Hero 6 was. I feared that by merging with Marvel that Disney movies may lose some of their emotional heart in favour of comic book action but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that a perfect balance of both was present here. It really is a movie for all the family, and I look forward to any future Marvel/Disney outings if Big Hero 6 is anything to go by. As always Disney always finds the perfect way of conveying difficult subject matter to younger audiences while keeping older audiences entertained and Big Hero 6 was no different. Big Hero 6 looked beautiful, and the voice cast put in very impressive performances and the plot moved along at an enjoyable pace so little ones didn’t get too bored.

In the movie theatre I saw it in, there was lots of children, and they were largely silent throughout the whole film. Surely that is as good an indicator as any that Big Hero 6 is not one to be missed.