Meet Hiro Hamada, the 14-year-old boy genius who wastes his talents duping opponents at “bot fights”, which are illegal robot battles in San Fransokyo’s underground. His brother, Tadashi, thinks Hiro needs to put his brain power to better use, and succeeds in showing him the endless possibilities at his disposal. Hiro, orphaned and living with his aunt, agrees to be a student at the “nerd lab” where Tadashi and his friends experiment, but tragedy strikes when Tadashi is unexpectedly taken away from his little brother in a fire.
Enter Baymax, Tadashi’s last creation before his death.
A large, unintimidating robot that looks more like a blow-up doll than a Transformer, Baymax has been programmed to be an incredibly courteous healthcare professional. In an attempt to heal Hiro’s emotional trauma, he unwittingly helps him see that the circumstances around Tadashi’s death were murky. In order to avenge Tadashi’s death, Hiro sets out to create an amateurish group of superheroes named Big Hero 6 — based on an eponymous Marvel comic. Fred is the eager but sloppy one, Wasabi is the by-the-book one, Go Go is the take-no-prisoners one and Honey Lemon is the feminine mastermind. Together with Hiro and Baymax, they set out to bring justice.
The result is a visual roller coaster. One of Disney’s most believable 3D renderings, Big Hero 6 has us half-expecting human actors to walk onto the animated sets. Using new technology that showcases light in a way that is truer to life, the film creates ultra-realistic cityscapes and breathtaking sunsets, sweeping you away into this imaginary fusion city.
But the film falters in its content. The story seems to be overly ambitious and convoluted, with predictable plot twists and a lack of character depth. The superhero team is brimming with potential, but we’re left feeling like we don’t know who they are, or why we should be invested in their stories. And though there are sprinklings of humour throughout, there are also many jokes that miss their cues and fall flat.
Striking finale
The film culminates in an action-packed finale that’s striking to watch, but drags on for too long. It concludes with an abruptly bittersweet moment, without having the bravery to let the melancholy stick. Whereas some animations leave us aching, Big Hero 6 barely allows time for the sorrow to settle, bouncing right back to a positive note fast enough to give us whip lash.
The animation succeeds and indeed excels in creating an aesthetically fascinating world. But even though it touches, at times, on superhero greatness, it ultimately falls short of the mark by condensing too much material into too little time, failing to let the story, or its characters, breathe.
