A sense of child-like glee trumps the film's flaws.

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2015)

Big Hero 6 is the latest film to be released by animation legends, Walt Disney Animation Studio, and in recent years they have proved to be on top form with Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph being put on the list of some of my favourite films of all time. So how did their recent instalment fare?
* * *
Let's start by saying that this film is far from perfect: the character development is poor and inconsistent, the plot and twists aren't terribly surprising creating a lot of clichéd moments, and the ending lacks consequence.
However, on the plus side, the animation in this film is stunning. The world is incredibly detailed and colourful especially given its Japanese inspired style blended into Disney's typical animation style. The music to this film is brilliant too – Henry Jackman (previously used for the music in Disney's 'Wreck-It Ralph') has done a stunning job with the music, elevating the film's uplifting moments, giving tenderness to the more emotional parts, and giving it a general fun and exciting feel; the music is half the reason I was smiling through most of the film.
* * *
Some have considered this to be a "kid's film" but I feel that's very harsh. Admittedly, the film does not make you think too much but it does not patronise you in the sense that limits this film to one that parents might take their children to see and sit there wishing they were somewhere else. This film is a lot of fun and highly enjoyable!
Baymax is undoubtedly the best part of this film – he is adorable, quirky, funny, memorable and gives the film heart (ironic considering he is a robot). Every time he spoke, he had me smiling and the relationship between him and Hiro is quite touching. However, the rest of the characters, although Disney try to push their personalities, are very one dimensional. Don't get me wrong, the characters were enjoyable and generally memorable but the development on them was barely there and I can't say that I knew them anymore than I did at the start of the film – they're just tag-alongs there for the ride.
* * *
The plot creates a lot of fun moments and is quite action-centric with that Disney heart (as you'd expect from a Marvel/Disney match-up) and the action is a joy to watch! However, there are moments that just seemed far too obvious or poorly handled like *SPOILER* Tadashi's death - I would have enjoyed more build up on him as a character in order to feel the pain of his absence or even that he went tragically; He was a heroic and kind character but running into a burning building with blind hope was a little foolish and made his death very obvious. *SPOILER*
Again with *SPOILER* the reveal of Professor Callaghan as the main antagonist seemed poorly handled as there was very little there to present or foreshadow that it was possibly him behind this all and once it's revealed it's difficult to feel sympathy for him despite the reasons for him becoming the villain. *SPOILER*
Finally, *SPOILER* despite the cliché that Baymax sacrifices himself to save Hiro, this was a very touching moment for me and it was sad to see Hiro lose the biggest legacy he had left of his older brother. Baymax died a hero, and yet Disney decide to make his sacrifice redundant by making sure that Baymax was able to put his own programming chip into his booster glove so that Tadashi could rebuild him afterwards. The film constantly shows us that Baymax is not very agile or capable of great movement, so how was he able to put the chip in his hand and also keep his programming of helping Hiro without turning into Evil Baymax. It makes very little sense, as well as the fact that Hiro was able to just magically build another Baymax out of nowhere which really hinders the film and makes the ending all so anti-climactic and far too inconsequential. *SPOILER*
* * *
To round up, despite its plot and characterisation flaws, I highly enjoyed this film. It was a fun and heart-felt ride that was an absolute joy to watch, especially so on the eyes and ears with the animation being the best Disney has produced yet and the music being so wonderfully magical. I do genuinely feel that I enjoyed the film so much that its production values and positive moments in the film do overlook negatives. It kept a smile on my face and a feeling of child-like glee that I haven't felt in a film since Avengers. However, I could only recommend this film if you are willing to let that inner child in you have some fun – if not then the fun may be a little lost on you and flaws might crack through the aura of fun that the film inspires.
8/10 (4 Starts) – As long as you're willing to have a bit of fun.