The hero we deserve

‘Big Hero 6’ wins box office, love from audiences

By Mercedes Deutscher, Staff Writer

4/5

It is looking like Disney and Marvel will have yet another successful hit during the holiday season with this year’s Big Hero 6, which placed first in the box office on its opening weekend, beating Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

The film is loosely based on a Marvel Comics product (also Big Hero 6), about a team of superheroes. However, it goes for a more family-friendly appeal rather than sticking strictly to the original story. The Disney retelling places much more focus on the bond between Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter), a 13-year-old boy struggling from a family tragedy, and Baymax (Scott Adsit), a loveable balloon-like robot invented to provide healthcare.

Hiro is a promising young technology prodigy. When a threat looms in Hiro’s city, San Fransokyo, Hiro and his close friends GoGo (Jamie Chung), an adrenaline junkie; Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), a girly and bright chemist; Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), a reserved young man with a knack for lasers; and Fred (T.J. Miller), a fanboy, come together, along with Baymax, to form a high-tech superhero group known as Big Hero 6.

The film brings forward awkward yet charming humour, leaving the audience with several memorable moments. Disney returns to science fiction, which it has had little success with in the past. It teaches children who watch it that it’s cool to be a nerd. Big Hero 6 is also aware of and caters to its older audiences with an animated cameo from Stan Lee, notable comic book references, and a very anime-esque style.

Disney has continued its trend of the past decade with computer generated animation. While not a fan of CGI myself, it suits the film, making the amazing technologies shown in the feature even more amazing—especially if you see it in 3-D. The character designs are believable, hinting at Japanese ethnicity without going too far. However, they are not authentic to the original characters in the comics. Still, this redesign makes it more believable that these characters are a couple of teenagers, rather than just powerful heroes.

The voice actors cast in this film do an excellent job with their roles, as their voices make the heroes seem like real characters.

Although this film exceeded my expectations, I found myself somewhat dissatisfied with the antagonist, Yokai (James Cromwell), and his motivation. This is a man who causes great destruction, yet starts becoming evil before the event that is supposed to lead to his evil spiral even takes place.

That aside, if you’re looking for a light-hearted and fun movie to see in theatres this holiday season, I strongly recommend Big Hero 6. It has a great, all-ages plot and humour with that irreplaceable Disney charm.