Big Hero 6 (2014)

Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams
Written by Jordan Roberts, Dan Gerson, and Robert L. Baird. Based on Big Hero 6 by Man of Action.
Premiered October 23, 2014
102 Minutes
Rated PG

Synopsis
In the metropolis of San Fransokyo, Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) is a boy genius who fritters away his brains on robot hustling. Luckily, his older brother, college student Tadashi (Daniel Henney) saves his bacon and introduces him to his friends at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology--sarcastic action grrrrl GoGo (Jamie Chung), perky Honey Lemon (Génesis Rodríguez), neurotic Wasabi (Damon Wayans, Jr.) and manchild Fred (T.J. Miller). Dazzled with the institute, Hiro invents microbots to impress famed robotics professor Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell) but a disastrous fire consumes Tadashi, Callaghan and Hiro's microbots. Left in a depressed funk, Hiro is only brought back to life when Tadashi's pet project Baymax (Scott Adsit), an inflatable healthbot, is reactivated and discovers Hiro's microbots are still functioning. Hiro tracks his microbots to an abandoned building where he learns they are being mass produced by an evil masked man.

Before We Begin
I have only seen Big Hero 6 once before. It was shortly after it was released on DVD. (Yes, I still buy DVDs). Actually, I think I asked for it for Christmas. Um, well, the important thing to know is, I've only seen it once. I remember it as "good", but obviously it didn't strike my fancy enough for me to watch it again until now.

Look, I'll be real with you: I AM SO TIRED OF SUPERHEROES. Exhausted. And how could I not be? How aren't you exhausted? The media is positively saturated. You know how westerns were huge in the 50s and 60s? Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Rawhide, etc. You look at those line ups now and you're like "What the fuck? How can there be so many shows about lawmen and cowboys on all at once?" And then in the 70s, poof. No more westerns. Basically. And now look. Not a one on the air. Why? Because the media was saturated.

I was into Spider-Man, back when Tobey Maguire played him (yes, yes, I'm showing my age). After the third movie tanked and it became obvious that no fourth movie featuring my most prominent Hollywood crush was coming, I pretty much stopped caring. When Disney acquired Marvel, all hell broke loose and the next thing you know there are movies being made just so ownerships don't lapse...or whatever. Plus there are "in-jokes" up the ying and if you don't watch Captain America: Springtime Sergeant, you won't understand The Avengers Down Under.

(Also, my fiancé has been binge-watching The Flash and Agents of Shield lately and I just can't anymore...Love you, Babe!)

So when I heard, a couple years ago now, that Disney's 54th animated feature was going to be about superheroes, I was just tickled pink.

Mötley Müsings
• Positive. Positive. Stay positive.

• Hey, you know what's fucking annoying? When you can't figure out how to play DVDs through your TV that has 8 billion hook ups so you have to watch it on your laptop like your a college student in 2004.

• Starting out on the right foot...

• Did you know this won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature? I have seen every winner. I used to really give a shit about that category and saw the nominees. That stopped in 2009. Still haven't seen Fantastic Mr. Fox.

• Okay...you know my feelings about Disney and sci-fi. They're not too good.

• San Fransokyo...so Japan took over the U.S.? Is that what you're telling me? How did this come to pass?

•  His name is Hiro. Really?

• Everyday he's hustlin'.

• The aunt has to raise the kids. She was probably enjoying her life asa  single woman with no cares but herself and her cat and her café and then BAM two kids to raise. Bummer. What a nightmare. (Yeah, I know I sound like an asshole.)

• FAT CAT!!!!!!!!!!! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!

• “They died when I was three, remember?” #exposition

• Meet the gang. Yuck. Sarcastic Tough Girl is in this movie.

• Honey Lemon is dressed the like the 60s. K.

• Oh thank God. Baymax. Everyone loves Baymax. (Yep, me too.) He was created for our love. I feel so manipulated by his soft, huggableness and yet I don't care. Show me someone who doesn't like Baymax. Show me! Come forward, monster!

• “You have a minor allergy to...peanuts.”

• "I am a robot. I cannot be offended."

• Oh. I bet that's the bad guy.

• “Pretty sick, huh?” Do the kids still say “pretty sick”?

• “Eye of the Tiger”. Pop song cues. Flashbacks to Chicken Little! Ah....subversion. NICE.

• “Stop whining. Woman up.” UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

• They took a selfie. #dated

• Dude, rainy funerals and black umbrellas is such a cliché.

• Aunt Cass has that Rapunzel-Anna-Elsa look.

• Yay, more Baymax!

• “You have fallen.”

• “On a scale—on a scale—on a scale—on a scale--"

• "Diagnosis: puberty."

• “Puberty can often be a confusing time."

• "Would that stabilize your pubescent mood swings?”

• SHE'S A FUN AUNT.

• “Oh no.”

• “I am not fast.”

• Oh no. His action has run down. Baymax is the 21st century's benevolent Tik Tok!

• THE FAT CAT IS NAMED MOCHI! (Mochi is delicious.)

• Thank you for this cat, Disney.

• “I cannot be sick. I am a robot.”

• Baymax would be such a great fat guy Halloween costume.

• “I also know karate.”

• What is your problem, GoGo!? Jesus. Have some chocolate, you moody bitch.

• Oh god. Driving into water is one of my nightmares.

• "It's like spooning a warm marshmallow." Erm.

• "Does this symbol remind you of anything?" Uh...Captain Jack Sparrow?

• You're right. Krei is too high profile. It's Callaghan.

• Ugh. Montage. Oh, hey, Fall Out Boy.

• So you've turned Baymax into Iron Man?

• She's gonna die.

• Hey. It's Callaghan. What. Really.

• “Spider-Man doesn't kill people.”

• Brother wanting revenge for accidental death. Works better here than in Brother Bear.

• “This is a revenge story.”

• “I want my father back, you son of a bitch.” See, revenge was cool in The Princess Bride. And in Kill Bill. We get such mixed messages from our fiction.

• You know...I didn't really like The Incredibles either.

• “This ends now.” UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

• "The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand."

• Maybe if we had met Callaghan's daughter before, say at the big "show off our projects" expo, we would care more. Just sayin'.

• Oh no. Baymax....why am I so teary today? I know he's gonna be fine!

• See...he's fine.

Final Thoughts

No shit, if it weren't for Baymax, this movie would be in the Meh pile. Maybe even the Something Amiss pile because I am so tired of superheroes and superhero clichés and booms and the This Ends Nows. So. Tired. But Big Hero 6 is not bad. It looks great, sounds great, blah, blah, blah. Technically good.

But when it comes to characters...well...

Hiro, like many a young Disney male is bland. Tadashi is nice, but also bland, and not around long enough. GoGo annoys the shit out of me and reminds me of Audrey from Atlantis. Honey Lemon is whatever, but she makes me want a cup of tea. Wasabi and Fred, however, I did enjoy--one for subverting stereotypes and the other for being a total lovable manchild cliché. They were trying too hard with Aunt Cass. As for the villain, who didn't see that coming? Disney has been doing a lot of "The villain was THIS GUY ALL ALONG!" stuff lately. Hmmmmm....Like four movies in a row lately...

But thankfully, there's Baymax and he makes everything all right. Every minute of this movie without Baymax is...okay. We're set up for a sequel--I guess--but everyone would probably just prefer a Baymax spinoff. (I have discovered Big Hero 6 is probably getting its own TV show which is awesome. That's where this belongs. I mean no disrespect.)

I feel like I've been harsh. Sorry for that. My feelings for Big Hero 6 may improve with time. It was only my second viewing.

Favorite Character

Baymax

Favorite Moment -- Baymax petting Mochi.
Favorite Song -- "Immortals" performed by Fall Out Boy. It's the only song so it wins by default, but still not a bad song.