Not Disney's best work, but Baymax and Hiro delights

Rating: 6/10 (20 November 2014)

Let's start with the basics. This is a Disney film regarding Marvel characters and as such, nods towards both franchises are littered throughout the film. Many people caught on with the Disney part with cameos from Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen's Hans and Chicken Little to name a few.
The Marvel part was a bit more subtle. Baymax (Scott Adsit) seems unable to comprehend expressions and metaphors, similar to Guardian of the Galaxy's Drax The Destroyer. Also, Baymax's initial flight parallels that of Tony Stark in the 2008 Iron Man, straight down to using his hands to stabilizing himself and flying high up into the sky before crashing down. However, I saw more nods towards Marvel's top team, the Avengers, with Baymax in angry mode chasing Callaghan similar to the Hulk chasing after Black Widow and the portal in the sky used in Big Hero 6's final fight akin to that conjured up by the Tessaract.
With that being said, Big Hero 6 would probably have been what the Avengers would look like if Marvel released it before Iron Man.
Introducing a team of 6 to an audience with no prior knowledge of them takes considerable skill. The Avengers went about this problem by first having stand-alone films for its characters, giving much more time for character development and a reason for us to care. Then when the big crossover happened, the characters are already well established and you head in knowing what to expect. Big Hero 6 unfortunately does not have this luxury, and in putting Hiro (Ryan Potter) and Baymax in the spotlight, it reduces the rest of the team to bland stereotypes.
Gogo Tamago (Jamie Chung) is the tough one with a devil-may-care attitude. Honey Lemon (Génesis Rodríguez) is the naive optimist. Wasabi (Damon Wayans, Jr.) is the sassy black guy and Fred (T.J. Miller) is the stoner comic relief. Now tell me you haven't seen this before in a teen movie somewhere. My point is the characters are so underwritten just to fit the purpose of having six heroes in Big Hero 6. Wasabi and Honey Lemon takes the short end of this already short stick and does so little that they can actually be removed from the film without repercussions.
The whole film just feels so rushed, with the movie's short runtime. The team went from scientific nerds to full-fledged superheroes in what appears as a day. All throughout the film, we only saw glimpses of advanced robotics, with current technology, like cars and subway, still in use. Then the film takes a dive to the extremely imaginative with teleporters and another dimension just so Disney could fit in their time-tested tropes
a) find a motive for our shock villain (Surprise!) b) the need to create a tear jerking moment at the end of the film.
The affair with Callaghan losing his daughter was extremely forced. Callaghan was portrayed as a charismatic professor who faked his death about twenty minutes into the film. Majority of these twenty minutes was spent on Hiro and Tadashi's relationship (more on that later) and we only saw glimpses of Callaghan and even less dialogue then. Nothing was hinted about him having a daughter or the fact that the daughter is lost. Coupled with the horrendously little screen time, you really don't sympathize with Callaghan's plight when they finally reveal it later in the film
It comes down to the two main heroes, Hiro and Baymax, and boy, did they steal the show. Baymax's role of surrogate brother, faithful companion and personal healthcare assistant is heartwarming, and the cuddly robot shows more emotion that every character in this film (save maybe Hiro) despite having an expressionless face. Also of note, Baymax's innocent nature ensures laughter every time he misinterprets statements or discover something new, even though the rehashed jokes threaten to run thin. Hiro appears to be on the other end of the emotional and logical spectrum, with his angst from losing his brother and superior intellect featured mostly in the film. His relation with Tadashi was well established despite Tadashi's early death, and Hiro's eventual acceptance and bonding with Baymax results in the highlight of the film.
One thing I must commend Disney on is the incredibly gorgeous landscape of San Fransokyo. I found myself marveling at the sights during the fight and flight scenes more than the action itself. San Fransokyo allows you to first spend time in predominately westernized sector before moving on to an eastern sector in the blink of an eye. Yet both sectors are not individual as they weave in minor elements from the other, creating a futuristic and colourful east-meets-west city.
Ultimately, Big Hero 6 is not a bad film. However, this is supposed to be the story of a team, not just an individual. Disney's inability to produce that resulted in them not being able to showcase their finest work.