BIG HERO 6

With so many superhero movies aimed at adult fans of comic books, it's refreshing to have one made pretty much for little kids.  Big Hero 6, inspired by a Marvel comic book and made by Walt Disney Studios, is entertaining, if a little simple for the older viewer.

Sometime in the slightly futuristic city of San Fransokyo, robotics prodigy Hiro (Ryan Potter) is a teenager making money and getting in trouble by entering robot fighting games.  His older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) wants Hiro to do more, which Hiro resists until Tadashi brings him to his university.  Hiro loves the advanced technology, likes Tadashi's scientist friends -- burnout Fred (T.J. Miller), happy Wasabi (Daymon Wayans Jr.), flower power-type Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodrigues), edgy cool chick Go Go (Jamie Chung) -- plus robotics legend Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell).  Hiro also likes Tadashi's creation Baymax (Scott Adsit), an inflatable medical robot (that, for comedic purposes, sounds and acts drunk when its battery is low).

Hiro's application project for the school is microbots, small robots that all combine together and are controlled by a headband.  Everyone loves it; businessman Alistair Krei (Alan Tudyk) wants to buy them, but Hiro passes.  Hiro's accepted, but before he can celebrate the school burns down, killing Tadashi and Robert, plus destroying all of Hiro's microbots.

Or did it?  Weeks later, as Hiro is moping and Baymax tries to help him, Hiro finds a microbot -- and it's pulling towards others.  That leads Hiro and Baymax to a villain in a kabuki mask controlling massive numbers of microbots -- that he uses to try and kill Hiro!
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Hiro decides that "Kabuki Man" stole his microbots and set the fire that killed Tasashi and John to cover it up.  Since the police don't believe him, Hiro decides it's up to him to find and capture the villain.  He upgrades Baymax with everything from kung-fu skills to battle armor with jets and a rocket fist.  He also talks Fred, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Go Go to help, making them armors that match their interests and personalities.  And then they're off to find and expose Kabuki Man -- while unraveling a mystery about a bird logo.

Big Hero 6 is both fun and basic.  The animation is nice, and the action sequences are well done.  But this is fairly typical superhero origin story material -- loss, anger, redemption -- and the movie only has two sequences with the six heroes together.  Big Hero 6 is likable, but definitely more for kids than grown-up superhero fans.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch