Zombies Ruin Everything

Stars: Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., TJ Miller, Genesis Rodrgiuez, Daniel Henney, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph, Alan Tudyk

Rated PG for action and peril, some rude humor, and thematic elements. Running time 108 minutes, Sci-fi/Adventure/Comedy

Compare to: The Incredibles (2004), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Megamind (2010)

Just to make sure that somebody’s counting, both movies that open up today, Interstellar and Big Hero 6, feature helpful robots and the second that movie this year that includes TJ Miller speculating in awe and fear of the scary robots chasing him (Transformers 4). Just saying.

With superhero movies being all the rage, and Disney having bought out what could be the most successful franchise of them all, it’s only natural they would eventually turn a property into an animated feature. As a parody? As a new title of its own? A bit here, a bit there, Hero does a great job at fitting in, though it doesn’t break new ground as Disney is generally known for doing. Does that make it a disappointment though?

14-year old genius Hiro Hamada has already graduated high-school and the future looks bright. Well, if he can get out of illegal robot street fighting, that is. So when Hiro’s brother introduces him to a group of young geniuses at a school where his talents will be understood. But a fatal accident leaves Hiro troubled and its not until he utilizes his genius to find those responsible does he recognize a life long calling- to be a superhero, of course.

Cosplayers, make your choice.

What’s interesting about Big Hero 6 is that it could have just as easily been turned into a live action movie, a la Guardians of the Galaxy, with a similar budget even. But a full-length CG film is a more interesting route in its own way, with the setting taking place in the futuristic “San Fransokyo.” Neon lights and a tech-inspired makeover make for a great environment for all the superhero newcomers to destroy as well as save.

And Disney may have finally created its own version of Rio’s yellow bird and red bird or Madagascar’s penguins in Baymax- a portly and inflatable Michelin Man of a robot who only wants to help. The difference between the formerly mentioned characters is that Baymax actually adds to the story. No, really, the birds and penguins are great but it seems the way to last as a film is to overfill your animated cup with characters that add humor and sell toys but do little to advance the plot.

Hiro and Baymax or Hiccup and Toothless? MAKE YOUR CHOICE.

Though plot isn’t everything, and likable characters, especially in a cartoon is a must. And this movie’s got’em. I can hear the toy store registers ringing now! From the villain to the heroes (all six), each adds their own element to the team even with limited screen time.

Now as a far problems go, I don’t expect general audiences to find many. Though I will say that a few predictable plot points as well as a somewhat generic superhero origin story create for a certain lack of interest but nothing that causes the movie to lose its flow.

Positives: The animation, the humor, and the tone is all great in every way that it should be. An ‘any age’ type film.

Negatives: Predictable superhero type plot. At the risk of sounding snobbish, Disney seems comfortable with their superhero world but didn’t expand into any new territory.

Grade: B

Fun Fact: There IS something at the end of the credits. And…

Certain characters like Sufire and Silver Samurai were featured in the original comic, but the film versions belong to 20th Century Fox, as part of the X-men franchise. A version of the Silver Samurai could be seen in ‘The Wolverine’ movie, which came out in 2013.

This entry was posted on 11/07/2014 at 2:43 am and is filed under Reviews! with tags animated, Big Hero 6, disney, movie review, Superheroes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.