BIG HERO SIX (2014 - ANIMATED / ACTION / FAMILY) ****1/2 out of ***** OR 9 out of 10
(I want one. I want one now...)
CAST: Voices of Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, T.J. Miller, Jaime Chung, Genesis Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., Daniel Henney, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph, Alan Tudyk.
DIRECTOR: Don Hall & Chris Williams
(WARNING: Some SPOILERS and valid reasons for having your own personal robot - straight ahead...)
IT'S LIKE THIS: If the movies are any indication, then fusing American and Asian cities is a very cool idea. In BLADE RUNNER (review # 261), we saw a futuristic Los Angeles that looked like the bastard child that would result from a drunken one-night-stand between the City Of Angels (LA LA Land) and the City Of A Billion Karaoke Bars (also known as... Tokyo). Essentially, the L.A. of BLADE RUNNER looked like a grimier Chinatown on a really, really busy, rainy night with particularly bad air quality, to boot, somehow. Hell, if you didn't know it was supposed to be Los Angeles, you'd think it was the slums of Tokyo - only even more bizarre.
In our next review, the stupendously awesome animated adventure BIG HERO SIX, we get another blending of an American burg with an Asian one. Thankfully, though, this time the result is a lot less grimy and much, much more fun. Our story is set in the metropolis of, um, "San Fransokyo." Imagine San Francisco as it looks now, but with a major overlay of Japanese decor, accents, and themes - and where every other person is either Asian or Eurasian. That, folks, is San Fransokyo - and I want to live there ASAP. At the very least, I'm assured to never have to worry about running out of noodle shops or Karaoke bars.
Our hero is, er, Hiro Hadashi (Ryan Potter), one of the millions of "half-breeds" who live in what used to be Frisco. Hiro is a teenage prodigy who graduated from high school at the age of 13. However, instead of moving straight into college and being the youngest freshman at San Fransokyo University, Hiro decided to go into... bot-fighting. Basically, that's like cock-fighting but with remote-controlled robots instead of... cocks. Since this story is set in a place that used to be the Gay Mecca of the United States, I could run a hundred miles with that joke, but I won't.
Anyhow, bot-fighting is apparently illegal, and while Hiro is extremely good at it, his college-age brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) wants him to quit it immediately and put all his misdirected genius ability to good use instead of towards cock-fighting, er, bot-fighting. To try to inspire Hiro to aim for something bigger than himself (or bot-fighting), Tadashi takes him to the university laboratory that Tadashi studies and works at. There, Hiro meets the other whackjobs that Tadashi spends his days and some of his nights with.
They, in no particular order, are: (1) Fred (T.J. Miller), dude who wants to be able to transform into a giant lizard and readily admits that he, um, "recycles" his dirty underwear (please really don't ask); (2) Go Go (Jaime Chung), aptly named aggressive chick who is more driven and determined than The Terminator; (3) Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), easily-frightened dude who seems to be the only African-American in all of San Fransokyo (where'd the others go?); and (4) Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), ditzy chick whose research involves explosive play-dough or something.
Somehow, the time spent by Hiro in this lab and in the company of these bizarros and freakshows apparently floods him with inspiration. Especially after he meets Dr. Callaghan (James Cromwell), the stern, by-the-book director of the laboratory. Dr. Callaghan basically tells Hiro that the lab produces some of the best technical geniuses in the world - and that if he plays his cards right, he might be admitted into the program, too. Before you know it, Hiro has tossed aside his obsession with illegal bot-fighting and is wracking his brain to come up with a project that will gain him access to the University.
Speaking of projects, Tadashi introduces his little brother to the one he's been working on. Evidently, altruistic and humanitarian Tadashi has been trying to invent a medical aid robot that will help patients, and care for them better than any human doctor could. Unfortunately, Tadashi has evidently been watching GHOSTBUSTERS too many times, because his robot looks like the Giant Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man from that movie. Only much nicer. His name is "BayMax". And given this place used to be San Francisco, I'm surprised his name isn't "GayMax". I'm just saying.
BayMax can do all sorts of cool stuff, like analyze your biometrics at a glance and tell you if you have hemorrhoids before you even feel the first tingle. Unfortunately, looking like a smaller version of the Stay-Puff Man, he's not exactly the model of cat-like grace. Which makes him kind of useless for anything more than being a nurse or medical aide. Soon, however, BayMax must be more than just a fatter Florence Nightingale when Hiro recruits him to be his sidekick.
You see, during a showcase at the campus designed to show off the projects of prospective students in order to determine if they make the cut, a fire breaks out that kills Tadashi and Dr. Callaghan - and wipes out the entire showcase hall. That includes Hiro's special project: nano-bots. Of course, Hiro's too heartbroken at losing his big bro to care about his special project being burnt right the fuck up.
Soon, however, Hiro is starting to question whether the fire was accidental or not. And he's starting to think not. He starts to investigate with the aid of Stay-Puff Junior, er, BayMax. Then as if that weren't enough, Tadashi's whackjob pals from the lab join in the hunt. So much for Lone Wolf-ing it. Before you know it, they have zeroed in on a prime suspect: Alistair Krei (Alan Tudyk), a wealthy industrialist who showed an excessive amount of interest in Hiro's nano-bot project at the showcase. Right before the fire broke out. Hmmmmmmmmmm.....
Is Krei the one who started the fire that killed Tadashi and Callaghan? Did he do it to steal Hiro's nano-bot project? If so, why? And what can Hiro and BayMax do to get it back? Will Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred be able to help? What happens when all of them get "superhero makeovers"? Will they start calling themselves... "Big Hero Six"?
What do you think? What's the poster say? Duh.
BUT SERIOUSLY: Sometimes a film can seem okay, even good, in its trailers - but completely amaze you when you actually go see it. When one of my buddies said earlier this year that we had to see BIG HERO SIX, my answer was a non-committal "sure, why not." I'd forgotten about my promise until this past weekend when it opened against, of all movies, Christopher Nolan's latest would-be blockbuster, INTERSTELLAR. I thought the previews for BIG HERO SIX were okay, but it was INTERSTELLAR that I was dying to see, being a big Chris Nolan fan.
Well, imagine my surprise that out of the three movies we saw in theatres this weekend (THE BOOK OF LIFE being the third one), the one I loved the most was... BIG HERO SIX. And the one I liked the least was... INTERSTELLAR. We'll discuss why INTERSTELLAR is not only a huge disappointment, but also the biggest disappointment of 2014, in our review for it (coming up next). For now, let's talk about why BIG HERO SIX is such an awesome film.
Quite simply, this movie caught lightning in a bottle with its concept and execution. Its premise of a teenager befriending a non-human being and embarking on a quest together is nothing new. We've seen that set-up as far back as E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, and most recently in the HOW TO TRAIN YOU DRAGON MOVIES. However, BIG HERO SIX puts a refreshing spin on that well-used scenario by tweaking the details and giving them quirky spins.
The setting of the City of San Fransokyo is colorful and evocative and goes a long way in reinforcing BIG HERO SIX's link to anime and manga comics - a popular medium in Japan. The proliferation of Asian influences also gives the visuals an exotic flavor that is utterly beguiling, from its numerous Eurasian and Asian characters, to the details of the streets and buildings. The result is an appealingly surreal and festive atmosphere that ups the energy level.
The given of any excellent film, animated or otherwise, is a strong set of vivid, likable, dynamic characters, and BIG HERO SIX has an outstanding gallery. Led by the plucky, resourceful, and gifted hero, Hiro, and his best new pal, BayMax, these colorful figures anchor all the spectacular action because of our interest in them. At least twice during this movie, I turned to my buddy and said, "Man, I love these dorks..." That's the sign that a movie has clicked with you. Not once did that come even close to happening with INTERSTELLAR. In fact, I actually rolled my eyes at least four times in that movie. But more on that soon.
What really distinguishes BIG HERO SIX is the same thing that elevated the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON movies, which also made E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL the classic that it is: the friendship between a boy and the "pet" that he loves (and loves him back). The relationship between Hiro and BayMax is the strong emotional spine that holds this film together. There is a moment of sacrifice at the end of this film that will bring a tear to your eye. The same exact scene exists in INTERSTELLAR, but that didn't bring a tear to my eye - instead I just rolled them yet again. But, as I said, more on that later.
The key to BIG HERO SIX's success as a story is it deftly juggles various plot and character elements and uses the right amount of humor, action, and emotion - without trying to shove any of them down the audiences' throats. As a result, the audience reacts on their own - and genuinely. With INTERSTELLAR, Christopher Nolan inexplicably and unfortunately doesn't trust us to feel things on our own - and resorts to cheap gimmicks that belong more to M. Night Shyamalan.
But, as I said, that's for our next review. For now, just know that there's a reason that BIG HERO SIX, a movie no one was really anticipating, trounced INTERSTELLAR at the box-office this weekend (a movie that everyone, even me, was expecting to be terrific and number one): it's a far better film.
Shows you what we know....
