Big Hero 6 (Out of 10)

Rating: 6/10 (30 October 2014)

This new Disney/Marvel movie centers around a 14 year old boy genius named Hiro (think Jimmy Neutron) who sets out on a mission to track down a man who stole one of his inventions and deeply hurt him in the process. He's accompanied by a group of zany "nerdy" friends and a rather large, cute inflatable robot named Baymax, and the story largely focuses on their relationship. They become more like superheroes as they strive toward their goal. You may be thinking, "this sounds familiar" and that's because it is. This movie covers territory that's already been treaded on countless times in recent years (in fact, it bore many similarities even to "Guardians of The Galaxy," only this time for kids) and it really adds nothing new to the formula.
And that doesn't make a movie inherently bad. There are countless formulaic movies that are still extremely enjoyable and touching, but this one simply misses the mark. Where this movie really went wrong is how it tried to balance its tougher, more saddening themes, with light-hearted entertainment. A good example of a movie that did this right is "Up," which takes segments to solely deal with hard moments and let the audience be sad, and then it provides lovable characters and funny dialogue to make them smile later on. "Big Hero 6" tries to soften the blow of the tough moments by throwing in some silly humor here and there, which ends up cheapening the effects of both. It's never funny long enough to be considered entertaining escapism, and it's never serious long enough to actually say anything new about its darker themes (death, grieving, recovery--I know, some heavy stuff). It just sits in this awkward middle ground. And the plot, action, and characters are not entertaining enough on their own to sustain it, either. It's the typical learning to work together to conquer plot missions as well as emotional battles--Disney and other studios have been doing it for years and there's just nothing even remotely fresh about anything on screen.
I know I'll be stepping on a few toes with this review. I don't think the movie is "trash" as another reviewer suggested, I just think it's nothing new and nothing interesting. There are still some amusing sequences, though (Baymax provides pretty consistent chuckles) and I didn't outright hate the movie. It just wasn't for me. If you're a parent of a hyped-up Disney fiend, then sitting through this won't be that bad and you'll even find yourself chuckling from time to time, but unless you're being forced to see it or really have nothing else to do, then I would stay home--maybe pop in "Wall-E" or "Up" or "Tangled" if you're really craving some modern Disney. Not terrible, but simply not worth the time or money.