Movie Review: Big Hero 6

Yes, I’m late to the party on this one. Sorry about that. But when the local theater offers a free matinee showing of a movie, how can I say no? So I took TRC and DC and headed off to see Big Hero 6 on Saturday. I’d heard good things about the movie, and I had some high hopes going into it.

For 2/3 of the movie, my hopes weren’t just met–they were easily surpassed. The movie is about a robotics genius of a boy who’s trying to find his way in life. He’s only 14, and he’s already graduated from high school and isn’t sure if he wants to actually go to college or not. He makes an awesome robot invention, tragedy strikes, and he deals with that tragedy as best he can–largely through the help of a giant inflatable robot doctor. I’ve already talked about the plot more than I’d like, but since the general description on IMDB discusses the fact that the boy becomes part of a super hero team . . . I guess I’m not giving anything huge away by mentioning that.

Which is also where the film falls apart a fair bit for me. Don’t get me wrong–it’s still a good movie. It’s just that when the super hero stuff kicks in at the 2/3 mark, it stops being an original, inventive, unique film and morphs into a movie that’s playing largely to the tropes of the genre it settles into. Why settle for a two star movie plot when what you were doing just minutes before was 4 star territory?

The first 2/3 of this movie are fantastic. They’re playing on multiple different levels, dealing with a wide range of emotions in a way that’s very Pixar-esque. And then it just give up on all of that and goes with the simple straightforward approach.

I still really enjoyed myself, but I couldn’t help leaving a bit disappointed. Still, a 7/10. Just wish it were higher. Was I the only one to feel this way about the movie? I’d really like to hear some other opinions on it.