Glance*: Big Hero 6
(2014, Don Hall/Chris Williams; Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment disc and streaming)
Big Hero 6 performed well with both audiences and the Academy (winning Best Animated Feature for 2014). There’s a lot about it to like: the focus on Asian-American main characters; the use of the great Scott Adsit (late of 30 Rock) as the voice of Baymax; some wonderful animation, especially of the microbots that furnish the primary plot device (their tidal wave-like motions recall The Lego Movie in that each film animates block-like parts into complex structures at high speeds); and a surprisingly heavy story about making a new family when you’ve lost your own. But a non-fankid viewer can’t help but see some liabilities as well, many centered around story tropes and beats that are less than original. As an origin tale for a to-be crime-fighting collective (the titular 6), the innovations of hero Hiro and lovable robot Baymax are undercut by the rest of the team’s stock juveniles from Central Casting (at times uncomfortably reminiscent of a 1970’s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series): There’s Fred, the funny one; he’s a comic book fan, the college mascot, and turns out (in the post-credits) to be the son of a costumed superhero; GoGo, who is tough, Asian, and “modelled on a bike messenger” per director Don Hall (a tough Asian bike messenger like Y.T. from Neal Stephenson’s seminal Snow Crash from 1982, perhaps?**); Honey Lemon, the chemist, described (of course) as a “mad scientist,” and the team’s quirky member; and Wasabi, who’s black, cautious, and neurotic — each one feels like a cliché, at least in the tiny bit of screen time they’re allotted, and less time still is allowed for Hiro’s guardian Aunt Cass (voiced by Maya Rudolph). The film winds up feeling as if it’s missing more elements than it provides. For parents in the audience, some of the thinness of characterization is mitigated — or, for the cynical, papered over — by early plot points that are highly emotional and difficult, like the deaths that kick off both Finding Nemo and Up.
With all that said, pro and con, the movie’s breakout relationship is between Hiro and the medical robot Baymax, who proves to be an excellent foil. As his older brother Tadashi’s invention and dream project, Baymax represents a lost relationship for Hiro, but not as a simple brother substitute — instead Hiro respects and emulates Tadashi’s passion while adding his own innovations to his brother’s (literally; the gentle medical robot purposely given a balloon body to protect human patients becomes a fearsome combatant when he’s outfitted with Hiro’s battle skin and software). These scenes of exploration, discovery, and an actual friendship are what make the movie worthwhile; it's just a shame that 100 minutes doesn't have room for similarly detailed development of the flesh and blood friendships as well.
Reminds me of:
Hmm, other than Hanna-Barbera from the "limited animation" era? I do like the university research lab as an originating source for Tadashi and his friends; that has a bit of a Dead Poet’s Society or latter Harry Potter-ish vibe. Actually, there should be more stories set in graduate school research labs; as a team using pure brains and invention to fight crime, the Big Hero 6 team members could contribute to a STEM revolution.
But then — the guilt!
In terms of guilt, the overinflated and elephantine Baymax in the room is my lack of enthusiasm for this strong performer. I'm at odds with my spouse, who saw it in the theater with our youngest and was enchanted by it. She and I were in theaters together 11 years ago for The Incredibles (the kids were too young then); our mutual love for that work was not repeated here. There's a family focus in both movies (coming together in Incredibles; reacting to loss and building your own community in 6) which she may have responded to; for me, the intricate superheroes-among-us backstory of Incredibles was fascinating in 2004, like a Watchmen specifically designed for kids and in some ways superior for it.*** So I wish I liked Big Hero 6 more, but I certainly will watch a sequel or try out a series version if either appears in the future, and will especially be hoping that the four remaining members of the six get an equal focus.
Pitch:
This is unquestionably a handsomely animated film with an appealing lead and an innovative main relationship; it's more than worth a spin with young fans.
* For movies and shows which are current — in theaters or streaming — I'm posting a short, less-spoilery take on #WhatThomWatched (and generally only when something really strikes me as worth passing on). These shorter essays are labeled Glance.
** Not only is Honey Lemon a riff on Stephenson’s Y.T., but the lead character of Snow Crash is also named Hiro. (His full name is Hiro Protagonist, proving that Stephenson has some Thomas Pynchon level of breezy sarcasm.)
*** I'm comparing Incredibles the film to Watchmen the book; I have no desire to watch the 2009 film version of Watchmen. I can practically re-read my copy of the graphic novel instead in the same 160+ minutes, with “Tales of the Black Freighter” intact.
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