Big Hero 6

2014 has been another great year for Marvel. After perfecting the superhero movie in 2013, they proved that the genre has legs with the espionage heavy Captain America: The Winter Soldier and exceptional sci-fi comedy Guardians of the Galaxy. Big Hero 6 is an entirely different prospect, but it does more than enough to kick 2015 off with a bang.

Boy genius Hiro lives a life of leisure above his aunt’s coffee shop in San Fransokyo. Having graduated high school at 13, he spends his time building and illegally battling robots in underground fighting rings across the city, destroying the competition in a flurry of thumb flicks and finger taps.

Fortunately for Hiro, his brother Tadashi is about the greatest sibling a robotics wunderkind could ask for, and it’s not long before Tadashi has Hiro on a path towards a bright future in robotics at his university. Tragedy strikes, as it always does, and so Hiro takes it upon himself to find the perpetrator, with just a little help from Tadashi’s inflatable healthcare droid Baymax.

Believe it or not, there are four other heroes to make up the six person team, and although Hiro and his adopted robot pal are the emotional core, the other players keep the laughs coming and add real emotional warmth to proceedings. The plot is nothing new, and despite plenty of great comedy moments, some real heart and the glorious setting of San Fransokyo – a delicious blend of eastern and western architecture –  the film’s formula is palpable throughout.

There’s plenty of traditional jokes in Big Hero 6, but the most grin-inducing gags come from Baymax’s adorable idiosyncrasies. His movements are slow and deliberate, yet clumsy and poorly timed, and his naive, innocent view of the complexities of the human psyche make him an absolute joy to watch. There’s Disney/Pixar DNA on show – as reiterated by the adorable Pixar-style short film that plays before the feature – and Baymax might be the studio’s most adorable character yet, even when unwillingly kitted out with weaponry and armour plating.

Ironically, of all Marvel’s properties, it’s an animated feature that has the first real feeling of loss, and it’s possibly the most refreshing thing about Big Hero 6. Not only are the emotional beats affecting, but the general tone of mourning permeates throughout, adding depth to an already engaging feature.

Joe Manners Lewis

Big Hero 6 is released nationwide on 30^th January 2015.

Watch the trailer for Big Hero 6 here: