'Big Hero 6' saves cliche story
For most people who read my reviews, talking about Big Hero 6 may seem a little too late. After all, in the United States, the movie came out available for download this week. However, in Malta, it made its debut on the big screen in 3D, and I made it a priority over everything else I could be doing to go see it. Fortunately, I knew a couple of other people who also wanted to see it.
Let me say straight off that everyone in my group loved this film. One Austrian woman laughed loudly throughout the first half of the movie as did my Russian friend. Another woman wanted to see the movie again right away. With the international group that I brought loving it, I could only have a good time. I was able to avoid almost all information about the movie even though I follow numerous Disney and entertainment news feeds, so I was able to watch the film without any preconceived notions. Big Hero 6 is a barnburner of a movie that hits all of the right emotional cues sometimes at the same time. It can be sad and funny. It can be cute and funny. It can be straight up funny, and most of the fun comes from Baymax, the puffy robot dedicated to caring for people. Yes, the film has its problems. It is clichéd riddled – following the hero story arc from genesis to failure to group origin to failure to success, using the death of a loved one as the reason to seek revenge instead of justice, and the two brothers are left without parents in typical Disney fashion. (This time the aunt is taking care of them.) It uses deus ex machina, really early on, and after watching Cracked After Hours (nsfw) take on the training montage, I just can’t see that sequence in any other light. Honestly, what was the villain doing during that time? There is a somewhat plausible possibility, but it just seems like he could have done something totally cool in less time than the montage should have represented. What the film does with the clichés is tell a story that is real, in which the characters are real, and in which there is growth for the characters. The film has a couple of surprises up its sleeve, and it has the sincerity of Baymax and friends. It has some good lessons about creativity and innovation, which was nice to see since that is what I am studying. It also has a cameo by Stan Lee. The short that accompanied Big Hero 6 was a little disappointing. Feast was about a cute dog and his perception of relationships as based around food. It was trite and not nearly as good as Paperman. However, overall, I am satisfied with my service. |
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