Decent and heartfelt effor at a super hero movie for a younger generation

Rating: 6/10 (21 November 2014)

Thought I'd write a mini review of this film since I heard it got mixed reviews. I'll just break things out to a few points to make it easy.
Presentation: The film presents itself as a super hero film hinged on the wings of a "can do" attitude for aspiring intellectual folk. While I didn't care much for the perpetuation of the somewhat negative "nerd" theme, the film does go to a little bit of a length to show "nerds" as just as cool as anyone. The fusion of San Francisco and Tokyo was interesting. There's heartfelt moments, a few chuckles, but the overall delivery was fairly average.
Plot: There isn't too much to the plot. Main protagonist suffers tragedy, goes after "villain" in an effort to make sure the lost life means something and is not forgotten. Along the way, our antagonist goes through stages of emotion, including loss, anger, sadness, and elation. The formulaic plot is nothing new, but the robotic component to the 6 making up "Big Hero 6," is what makes the film stand apart. The big guy is just lovable. I found myself grinning from ear to ear watching his actions and character development. Above I surrounded villain with quotes. Why you say? I didn't really consider the main antagonist a villain, simply due to the fact he wasn't out to get everyone, destroy the world, or generally cause random harm to people. While his actions were wrong, he didn't go all "son of the Green Goblin" and wreck havoc on the city. Like our main protagonist, he was hurt by someone, and harboured anger, instead of showing restraint. Hiro actually came close to being the exact same thing, if it wasn't for the heartfelt video Baymax plays for him after his first encounter with Dr. Callaghan. Overall, the plot is predictable, but fun for everyone.
Visuals: Nothing too spectacular, but the animation was done well for the style of the film. Emotions were projected well, and details were thought out around the city. Decent job here.
Characters: Most characters get little time in the realm of character development, aside from Hiro and his brother. While we get to meet several other people, we don't get to see their background all that much, but that is quite alight. Baymax is the obvious star, and without him, the film would have felt much more flat. I hope I wasn't the only one who seemed confused by the seemingly odd switch-on-a-dime English/Asian inflections Honey had. It's pretty noticeable when she speaks Hiro's name. Other than that, pretty standard affair of rag-tag bunch, with flat villain-type.
I was fairly pleased with the film, but it's nothing to shout home about. It has charm for the kids, and some good imagination, but I felt they could have done a whole lot more with the plot. At times I felt like I was watching The Incredibles, but with a different cast. The overall experience is worth a viewing, and a buy if you have kids, or are a kid at heart.