BIG HERO 6
Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams
Cert: PG, 114 mins
Following on from Disney’s terrific run of recent CGI animated films that are both character-driven and highly entertaining – from Bolt to Tangled to Wreck-It Ralph to Frozen – their latest effort, Big Hero 6, is every bit as good and recently won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
When robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) suffers a personal loss, it’s up to his brother Tadashi’s (Daniel Henney) inflatable medical robot Baymax (Scott Adsit) and his genius scientist friends – Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr. and Genesis Rodriguez, plus the hilarious ‘science enthusiast’ Fred (T.J. Miller) – to help him process his grief.
Along the way, they discover that a man in a kibuki mask has stolen a swarm of micro-bots designed by Hiro and is using them to wreak havoc on the futuristic city of San Fransokyo.
Five friends and It
These six friends (five human and one robot) must transcend their usual ‘nerdish’ personas and become heroes in order to take on this mysterious figure and save the day.
There are no romantic relationships in the film but there is plenty of love, with many characters caring about each other as friends and family. As a result, the audience emotionally invests in the characters, so that when they finally suit up and become superheroes, it feels organic and satisfying.
The film poignantly deals with themes of loss, growing up, and self-sacrifice. Without wanting to spoil anything, there’s even a sense in which certain heroic, sacrificial characters could be said to live on (or even perhaps in some sense be reborn). This could serve as a nice reminder of the ultimate sacrificial hero, Jesus Christ, who not only laid down his life for the sins of his people, but also took it up again, victorious over sin and death.
Big Hero 6 is a superb film; not only heartfelt, but also hugely entertaining, with great action sequences, an evocative score by Henry Jackman, and a refreshing sense of humour about itself. There’s also a scene at the end of the credits.
