Big Hero 6: Endgame

I was not expecting to like "Big Hero 6" as much as I did. The prospect of eating pancakes during the 9:00 AM showing of this film during its opening weekend was much more exciting than seeing the film, which looked interesting from the trailer, but, as I have not had much luck enjoying Disney animated films in the past, I was not expecting much. I am not a huge fan of animation, especially Disney animated films, as they rarely spark any emotional response from me and leave me cold. Not only did I enjoy the pancakes at the movie grill I attended, but I also enjoyed the film.

Hiro is a young man who loses his big brother, Tadashi, in a fire at a center at which Tadashi is participating in a robotics competition. Tadashi has created a medical companion robot called Baymax. Baymax is the primary reason to see "Big Hero 6." Baymax is a very funny character and a character full of life, to use a tired cliche. It helps that the film is genuinely funny and very sweet without being sappy, nor does it revert to childish humor or humor dependent on a knowledge of current pop culture, a trend that recent animated films seemed to have fallen back on in the past few years. "Big Hero 6" does not try too hard to be funny, and for that, I am pleased. Perhaps my enjoyment of Baymax, and therefore my enjoyment of the film was due to the fact that Baymax was not an animated representation of a human being. Animated representations of people, with few exceptions as in the great 1987 Japanese animated film, "Grave of the Fireflies," do not generate any emotional involvement in me. Baymax, rather, was a robot, something to which, in a live-action movie, one would not expect to develop a strong emotional response. In the case of "Big Hero 6," Baymax is the reason to see the movie as I developed an appreciation for Baymax and the emotional ties he represented to Hiro.

After the death of his big brother, Hiro, like his brother, a whiz at robotics and things technological, begins again the development of Baymax. Conflict arises when an evil businessman wants Baymax for his own and Hiro and a group of friends have to keep Baymax from being stolen away from them. There were enough funny moments involving Baymax to keep me engaged and laughing. Towards the end, the film does get a bit too "action-y" as Hiro and his group of friends battle to save Baymax from clutches of evil. The film has a satisfying ending and along the way, delivers a very nice nod to a famous person you will probably know. What I suspect made me enjoy "Big Hero 6" more than the average lifeforce-draining Disney animated movie is that it is a collaboration between Disney and Marvel as "Big Hero 6" is a Marvel property and Disney owns Marvel Entertainment. Perhaps there was some "Marvel-ization" of the script as most films based on Marvel characters tend to include some witty dialogue and humorous situations. Aside from this, the film creates some genuinely touching moments between Hiro and Baymax and between Hiro and Tadashi early in the film. Give it a shot and I think most will enjoy this fun and, unexpectedly for me, emotionally-involving animated film.