Well, if you thought ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ was an
obscure comic to turn into a film, it’s got nothing on ‘Big Hero 6’, taken from
a 1998 Marvel comic featuring Sunfire, Silver Samuraui and some other people. If
you have actually read it and were hoping for a tight adaptation I’d walk away
now, as ‘Big Hero 6’ has been kicked around and abused so much fans should
bring a rape kit to the cinema.
Whilst the established marvel characters from the comic have
been jettisoned, they’ve kept 13 year old genius (think Tony Stark in short
trousers) Hiro, and marshmallow like robot (changed from a monster) Baymax (I
kept hearing Betamax for some reason). Other original characters Honey Lemon,
Wasabi and, um, Fred are intact as well, but with different origins. Basically,
the comic has been Disneyfied, and to be honest is probably better for it.
Set in a mash up of San Franciso and Tokyo (San Fransokyo, natch), this east meets
West film tries very hard to mix anime with Disney, and doesn’t succeed that
well, with oriental characters not looking at all oriental to be honest. The animation
is, of course, first class, with the city itself looking gorgeous. The plot
centres round loss and revenge, basically, with one massive hole in it that
should make everyone question the villain’s methods.
The star of the film is Baymax, a white, sort of cuddly
medical robot who tries to fix Hiro’s broken spirit after a personal tragedy.
Baymax is very endearing and has his own personal development alongside Hiro as
the two become close. The other characters are pretty one dimensional and after
the main Big hero 2, the other 4 fail to make the viewer care that much for
them, being neither likable nor unlikable, just sort of there.
‘Big Hero 6’ is remarkably contrived and very unoriginal,
yet remains entertaining for all it’s faults. It’s never going to be regarded
as a classic but will keep kids amused for 90 minutes with it’s fun characters
and in your face action sequences. Just don’t expect too many of them to be
clamouring for a baymax toy afterwards, as any excitement will probably
disappear in a few hours.
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