Only the animation team has integrity as obnoxious 'superheros' battle unpleasant professor villain in a mythical 'San Fransokyo'

Rating: 4/10 (30 November 2014)

'Big Hero 6' is based on an obscure Marvel comic series that was adapted by Disney and reconfigured into a 3D computer-animated superhero comedy. The characters function in San Fransokyo, a mash-up obviously of San Francisco and Tokyo. At first I thought this might be a city in a future USA where somehow Japanese culture became overwhelmingly influential but it turns out the city is entirely mythical (wouldn't it have been more realistic to use China as a model for some kind of future transfiguration?).
Nevertheless, the protagonist here is Hiro Himada, a 14 year old Japanese-American robotics prodigy. I could buy the idea that the kid has developed a small robot that he uses to win cash in illegal, back alley robot fights, but what comes next strained my credulity. After Hiro's brother Tadashi saves him from a bunch of rough characters who have been engaging in robot fights on the streets, he takes him to the university where he attends, which specializes in advanced robotics. Since Hiro has a rebellious streak, he never got around to checking out the university, which is right up his alley. Oddly, to be accepted, academic performance is not considered, but rather the fledging thespian must develop a robotics project which impresses the faculty.
Hiro ends up developing a project involving 'microbots' which swarm together to form any structure imaginable. The whole idea of the university is to help the student create the next great technical innovation. Hiro, however, has already done it, so why does he have to attend a university to improve on his capabilities? Nonetheless, when he's offered the chance to sell out to tech guru Alistar Krei of the new rising tech company, Krei Tech, he goes with Professor Callaghan at the University.
'Big Hero Six' begins its march toward complete unpleasantness, when Hidashi dies in a fire at the university. Callaghan saves himself by encasing himself in a swarm of microbots during the fire. While at first Krei appears to be the villain, it soon becomes apparent that Callaghan becomes a much bigger antagonist. He blames Krei for the apparent death of his daughter during a failed teleportation experiment. Very conveniently, Callaghan uses Hiro's microbots to attempt to destroy Krei and his company.
Hiro attempts to stop Callaghan by enlisting the aid of Tadashi's last creation, Baymax, a robot that resembles the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Baymax has a computer chip that turns him into a kindly physician, who can both diagnose and treat virtually any illness. Hiro is also aided by Tadashi's team of student colleagues who morph into superheros with Hiro, replete with special costumes (a la 'The Avengers').
The last third of the picture involves tiresome battle sequences where the superhero team is pitted against Callaghan and the microbots. When the vengeful, obsessed professor is finally subdued, we're treated to the completely awkward discovery that his daughter was in stasis the whole time inside a worm hole, and is saved—only to see her idiotic father being hauled away by the police, and probably sent up the river for years due to his myopic thirst for revenge.
Hiro learns his 'lesson' after first switching Baymax's microchip, transforming him into a violent robot with enhanced karate skills, only to suddenly realize that he was echoing Professor Callaghan's proclivities toward vengefulness and realizing he needed to turn the robot back into a kindly, attending physician.
For aficionados of violent video games, a good deal of 'Big Hero Six' is for you. The painstaking animation goes all for naught when one discovers that the film is devoid of charm. Everyone and everything is obnoxious: from 'kick-ass' Hiro to Betamax, where the medical profession is put up on a pedestal. From brother Tadashi's death, to the most unpleasant Callaghan, who insanely attempts to 'get even' after an accident, this is a film that is hardly appropriate for children. If you must see it, do so for the excellent animation team—they, as opposed to the screenwriters, still have some integrity left.