Big Hero 6 (2014)

So who knew this was actually based on a Marvel comicbook?...be honest. Yes this is indeed an adaptation although not an entirely accurate one, is that a problem? no not really. None the less I must report that the comicbook does appear to be very different from the movie. Firstly Baymax seems to be a huge green thing that turns into a dragon, one or two characters are out (most notably Silver Samurai) and one or two characters seem to have been created (or changed) for the movie, plus the plot has of course been altered.

So who knew the movies title of 'Big Hero 6' was the name of the superhero team we see? well I didn't! Up to this point I always thought that was the name for Baymax (didn't know he was called Baymax). Its only at the point when the team come together I sat there counting and suddenly realised...oooh...I'm an idiot.

OK so I won't natter about the plot seeing as its a formulaic ordeal involving the creation of a superhero team, coming to terms with the death of a loved one, battling an evil baddie (with obvious twist), the team realising their potential and friendship and finally saving a damsel in distress. There is nothing new to see there whatsoever...fact. The characters though are a well thought out and well designed bunch that touch on every type of superhero trait whilst utilising some older movie ideas.

Fred (in the comic) is a typical beanie wearing skateboarding type dude who's costume is a fire breathing Godzilla-esque affair which I personally didn't like much, it didn't fit in if you ask me. In the comic he can transform into a Godzilla type monster sooo...yeah. Wasabi (in the comic) is now a well built but very nervous black man with dreads which kinda loses the emphasis of the original character if you ask me (after doing some homework), but lets not go down that route again. He has some very cool plasma wrist blades that look like they've come straight outta the Halo universe. GoGo Tomago (in the comic) does look quite similar to her comicbook counterpart but in this movie her suit has a very Tron-like appearance with the glowing frisbee disc things and her speed abilities. Honey Lemon (in the comic) again is very much like her comicbook counterpart, the closest of the lot actually with her silly super powered nano-purse faithfully recreated here. Hiro (in the comic) is a 14 year old teen and apart from his glasses going AWOL he also looks quite close to his comicbook roots whilst his sidekick Baymax looks like a giant Super Bomberman (its a videogame).

I'm unsure but I believe the main baddie character of Professor Callaghan was created for the movie. Although I must say this characters look with the Kabuki mask, long dark trench coat and seeing him ride around on his legion of black micro robots was really cool! All the characters looked admittedly very slick considering this is advertised as a kids flick, I certainly didn't expect it at all, an ice cool blend of Disney and Marvel. Speaking of slick the visuals overall were excellent, I loved the architectural/cultural combination of San Francisco and Tokyo despite the name of San Fransokyo being God awful. That also got me thinking...why the hell has San Francisco basically been invaded by the Japanese in this world?? to the point where they have actually changed the cities name!! Jesus! immigration much! Bit odd, doubt that would ever happen but it looked good here...well more like Tokyo than Frisco but anyway.

I'll be honest and say that the movie starts off slow. Once we reach the critical sequences where the plot evolves you pretty much know what's gonna happen for the rest of the movie, its all very predictable stuff. Even though this is a kids fantasy film and its based on a comicbook the story is very questionable, I mean in this universe literately anything can be built or invented...anything! The game changing, earth-shattering, human race altering micro robots Hiro creates were just a pet project to get him into a college for flips sake! Plus those things are way more incredible than Baymax...whom I might add is actually a bit annoying from time to time.

I found myself liking this movie mainly because of the characters, their look/designs and the visuals in general, I adored the Japanese culture on show. The story was kinda weak and generic with a generic but (as already said) cool looking bad guy...if it wasn't for that sweetass yet completely unexplained Kabuki mask he wouldn't have looked half as cool. When I say unexplained I mean why a Kabuki mask? I know he used it to control the micro robots but why use a Japanese theatrical mask? Other than that the action was standard superhero fair, a big car chase through a mysteriously deserted San Fransokyo...seriously where the hell was everyone?? All the characters seem to become top notch fighters and highly proficient with their weapons in no time, post credits scene which is typically Marvel etc...usual stuff.

So even though everything I've seen here is completely and utterly unoriginal bringing nothing new to the table at all...I still enjoyed it. There is decent camaraderie, heart-warming moments, its fast and frantic, it balances humour with a semi-serious tone and its easily accessible for all. It has all that yet its still clearly a very colourful toy/action figure advert, I have no clue how the hell they came to Baymax's look if you see the comicbook version, and still...still we can't escape the Stan Lee cameos.

7.5/10