When Disney released Big Hero 6 in 2014, they only slightly altered their successful animated movie formula. Yes, it is funny. Yes, there is a cute non-human friend guaranteed to offer mass merchandising appeal. Yes, there is a terrible villain who must be stopped. The only thing missing was the beautiful princess and a few catchy tunes (think Frozen). Coming to Blu-ray and DVD on February 17, 2015, Big Hero 6 is worth owning.
Based on a comic book series of the same name, Big Hero 6 introduces us to prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter; Supah Ninjas) whose inventions catch the eye of University Professor, Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell; The Green Mile). When Hiro's older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney; X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Callahan perish in an explosion, Hiro is left to pick up the pieces and deal with Tadashi's annoying but lovable invention, Baymax (Scott Adsit; 30 Rock). Aided by Tadashi's friends, Hiro discovers what really happened the night his brother died and the evil plot behind it.
The amazing vocal talents of Adsit inflect warmth into a very robotic voice and makes Baymax even more lovable than the character is written. With his fist bumping "Balalala", he works his way into the audience's hearts. The rest of the cast are well played and enjoyable and round out the cohesiveness of the story.
The story itself is a new twist on the same formula. Good triumphs over evil but not without loss. The death (spoiler alert) of Tadashi is handled well, in a manner that younger audiences can understand. The superheroes are so well fleshed out, they could stand alone in a film, and together they simply work well. The technical aspects of the plot make Disney current; something they don't normally do.
The animation is the best out now and the 1080p video shows vibrant colors and crisp visuals. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 allows the audience to enjoy the flying sequence (a la Iron Man) as Baymax and Hiro soar over the fictional San Fransokyo.
The Blu-ray extras add very little to the package. There are some deleted scenes that frankly are better left deleted and a conversation with the animation supervisors could have been left out. The animated Theatrical short "Feast" was really cute and enjoyable to watch.
Some Hardcore comic book fans will find fault with Big Hero 6 but I for one thought it was really entertaining and I loved Baymax! I don't think anyone, whether or not they have little children, could go wrong by adding this movie to their collection.
Grade: A-
