Disney's Latest Gorgeous, Yet Formulaic, Offering

Rating: 6/10 (19 November 2014)

Despite any dissatisfaction I generally have with Disney's recent stream of films, they always deliver in the visuals department. There's no doubt that Big Hero 6 is absolutely visually beautiful, further pushing the boundaries of realistic animation. Everything from the subtle muscle movements to the utter skin complexion is ever more impressive. The vibrant colors of rainbow variety and the stunning attention to the setting's many details surely represent Disney's masterful technique and way of extravagance in animation.
The movie opens up with an intriguing first thirty minutes that exposes the audience to a fascinating world of battling mini-bots and a genius 13-year-old kid who gets accepted into a prestigious science university —a white kid with a Japanese name, for whatever reason. Well, actually, this totally fictional city is part of an apparently hybrid world that blends Tokyo with San Francisco—a world that's never explained in the story but only clarified by the filmmakers themselves. Anyway, Hiro (Ryan Potter) shares a very intimate and encouraging friendship with his older brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney)—two brothers perfectly getting along in a Hollywood picture. Who knew that archetypes don't always have to play a part in these stories? Tidashi is another talented scientific mind who has created a personal healthcare assistant in the form of an intelligent, useful marshmallow- like robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit). It's only later that some very exceptional code programs this innocently-designed robot to suddenly transform into a "superhero."
As a matter of fact, Big Hero 6 does an outstanding job with character development—an outstanding job in properly fleshing out its multitudinous fun characters, especially in regards to turning Baymax into the sympathetic pet of the year and also giving life to a group of "nerdy" college kids who befriend Hiro along the way (all with their own distinct personalities, including T.J. Miller's usual dude-bro goofiness). Most of all, the story prioritizes the heartwarming dynamic between the kid in need of assistance, Hiro, and his new compassionate pet robot, Baymax.
With all that being said, the story is largely formulaic and unoriginal as we've come to expect from Disney's recent crop of storytelling. A checklist is practically floating around, checking itself off with every emotionally manipulative moment and primitive, predictable turn. "Okay, now smile; now laugh; now tear up; and now smile again!" The ending is also very deceivingly sad and ultimately misleading...not unlike what Disney has done with every one of their endings as of late, including the Marvel ones. Either stick with your route or go with an alternative one instead.
By now, it's become already apparent: gone are the mature, creative days of Pixar who consistently found a way to appeal both to adults and children, or even classic Disney who still had their inspired, magical tales to tell. Nowadays, you have predominantly juvenile comedy—solely consisting of body humor and outdated quips—that always gets the naively-minded mom and her exuberant child laughing off their seats. One can argue that Disney still makes entertaining pictures, but no way will I ever understand any adult that considers their animated work particularly humorous (like, say, the actually hilarious animated films we used to receive in Shrek or The Emperor's New Groove—I honestly think DreamWorks Animation just has a sharper sense of humor).