Review: BIG HERO 6

BIG HERO 6  (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE-COMEDY)
3 out of 4 stars
Directed by Don Hall & Chris Williams
Featuring the Voices of: Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph
Rated PG for action and peril, some rude humor, and thematic elements.
108 minutes
Verdict: BIG HERO 6 is visually sumptuous and more emotionally complex than you might expect, so it's perfectly worthy family fare, even if it doesn't hit quite as hard as FROZEN or WRECK-IT RALPH.
YOU MAY ENJOY BIG HERO 6 IF YOU LIKED:
WRECK-IT RALPH  (2012)
THE INCREDIBLES  (2005)
MEET THE ROBINSONS  (2007)
BOLT  (2008)
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON  (2010)

BIG HERO 6 represents the first melding of Marvel Comics characters with Walt Disney Animation Studios since the Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment and their massive stable of comic book characters and properties in a multi-billion-dollar deal in 2009.  As is typical of Disney Animation when adapting non-folktale/fairy tale stories, they've plucked a story of a more obscure nature, with room for greater creative liberty.  The Big Hero 6 are a little odd even within the world of Marvel Comics characters, and fittingly, they introduce a surprising new flavor their own to the classic Disney formula.
Being Disney Animation, our young hero is an orphan, appropriately named Hiro, Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter).  Hiro is a techno genius and robotics prodigy, but after graduating from high school at 13 is content to put his formidable intellect to use in underground high-stakes robot battling in the futuristic city of San Fransokyo.  His older brother Tadashi is no slouch at robotics himself, having built an inflatable "healthcare companion" called Baymax (voiced by Scott Adsit from 30 Rock), whose sole interest is to provide optimal healthcare, and Tadashi wants to get Hiro off the streets and into the university with him.  Tadashi shows Hiro around, introducing him to the students he invents with, among them: Honey Lemon (voiced by Genesis Rodriguez), a brilliant chemist with an insanely bubbly personality; Wasabi (voiced by Damon Wayans, Jr.), a reserved and slightly neurotic lasers specialist; Go Go (voiced by Jamie Chung), a terse adrenaline junkie developing electromagnetic wheels for maximum speed; and finally, Fred (voiced by T.J. Miller), a comics book enthusiast and school mascot who hangs out in the science labs for kicks.  What really primes Hiro's interest though is the presence of his idol, robotics professor Robert Callaghan (voiced by James Cromwell).  After a disaster occurs, claiming the lives of Tadashi and Professor Callaghan, leaving Hiro distraught, until he accidentally reactivates Baymax, and with the big, soft, "huggable" robot uncovers a criminal conspiracy connected to the fatal accident.  Wanting to help, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Go Go and Fred join in the investigation, and with their technological prowess and Fred's comic book know-how, they form the superhero team "Big Hero 6".
It should be noted, BIG HERO 6 goes to some pretty dark places and may even be a bit frightening for the little ones who enjoyed last year's surprise Disney mega-hit, FROZEN.  The central theme here is grief and dealing with loss, which isn't strange to the canon of Walt Disney Animation, but it really takes center stage here.  The family entertainment specialists at Disney pull it off with tact and sensitivity regardless, and when it really dives into the darker aspects of its journey, it's the most engrossing.  In addition, the cast of characters are pleasantly diverse, with positive representations of multiple races and types, from the Asian protagonist Hiro, to Go Go, with her feminist-friendly catchphrase, "Woman up!"
Furthering the multi-cultural vision of this future world, Disney has adopted a captivating blend of East-meets-West for the visual aesthetic.  Baymax is reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki characters executive producer John Lasseter has championed in the U.S., big, warm and cuddly with a less-is-more design.  Another example is the world of San Fransokyo (also a physical combination of the two cities) a richly-detailed setting, awesomely showcased during a car chase through the steep, sloping and narrow streets of San Francisco lined with trees covered in cherry blossoms.  
BIG HERO 6 is funny and exciting, with some strong emotional points to boot, although it never matches the hearty laughs of TANGLED, the soaring emotions of FROZEN, or the witty charm of WRECK-IT RALPH.  On the other hand, it's more consistent and coherent than the latter two, which operated on a higher level before stumbling into some shaky final acts.  We've had a full decade, as of this month, to spend with Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES, which has become a certifiable classic, so it's really unfair to judge BIG HERO 6 against it, even if it is the obvious comparison as a computer-animated family superhero film.  Clearly, from where we're standing, THE INCREDIBLES is the better film, but we'll see how BIG HERO 6 fares ten years from now.
Be sure to get into the theater on time so you don't miss Disney's newest animated short, FEAST, playing before the feature.  The short film uses the same process as PAPERMAN (which, as far as I'm concerned, was the last time a Disney Animation movie really "blew me away" from start to finish) to blend 3D computer animation with traditional hand-drawn animation techniques to tell the story of a dog, Winston, who experiences the love life of his owner through the meals they share.  It's a charming, amusing little story that demands more attentiveness than you might expect, but with multiple fun payoffs.