REVIEW — “Big Hero 6”

This is the first time Disney has made an animated flick out of their recently acquired Marvel property, and it pays off in a huge way. “Big Hero 6” is likely the best animated flick to hit theaters this year, and it sets up for an incredible franchise with great crossover possibilities to their Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since this story is set in the future they could easily, down the road, say it takes place AFTER anything that might happen during the all the Marvel stories.

The animation in this is probably the best I’ve seen in a while as it’s so slick and crystal clear it can amaze you even on a smaller screen. The movements of all the characters is so fluid, and the character designs and color schemes used really breath a lot of life into these fake people. They didn’t do any kind of motion-capture work for this, but you can see how easily they could have transferred this into a live-action adaptation of the Marvel comic had they wanted to.

The story has something for everyone : family drama, heartache, action, mystery, and humor! I was surprised at just how much emotion is packed into this, and that’s what sets it apart from similar genre fare. I will not spoil something here, but there was a surprising incident that occurred that I thought might be too dark for a kids flick, but they ran with it so well that it actually turned into a learning experience. Not to mention T.J. Miller provided expert comedic relief, as did the amazing Baymax, who does a fist-bump thing that I LOVE and now make my GF do with me.

The voice-cast isn’t anything to necessarily write home about. They all did well, but there weren’t any outstanding performances, and with no big names attached (likely to keep the budget down) they are all almost instantly forgettable (aside for a cameo and T.J. Miller). Disney can’t really be blamed for this as they were trying something new, and the voice cast doesn’t do anything to detract from the overall enjoyment of “Big Hero 6;” it just isn’t impressive.

As a whole this is a unique experience in a time when all comic book adaptations need to have massive budgets and huge stars. To market this towards kids, in a way that it is still a serious flick, I thought was a genius move. Disney really knows what people want, and Baymax is going to be an instant success. A “Big Hero 6” sequel is going to be a for sure thing. 5/5