One Of Disney’s More Boring Flicks: Big Hero 6 Flops!

The Good: Decent moments of theme, Voice acting
The Bad: Dull story, Unlikable (bland) characters, Obvious reversals, Fairly unimpressive animation
The Basics: Disney and Marvel’s first big animated crossover is one of the worst Disney animated films in years.


For me, it’s always interesting to see how hype lives up to substance. Even when there are films that are hyped to an extent that I am actually excited about them, I try not to let hype (or anything else outside the actual work I am reviewing) affect my review of it. In the case of Big Hero 6, it was one of the films from 2014 that my wife and I were actually disappointed we missed seeing on the big screen. So, with it now out on DVD and Blu-Ray, we eagerly picked it up to watch it. And we were both severely disappointed.

Big Hero 6 is the first demonstrable result of Disney buying out Marvel Comics; with Disney using an obscure Marvel graphic novel as its source material. Appealing to the Manga crowd, Big Hero 6 is a pretty generic super hero story wherein smart young people come together to use technology to solve a crime. Even if it were not for Marvel’s creation of vastly more memorable heroes, Big Hero 6 would have been a painfully obvious and generic super hero story. The result is a film that might not be as bad as it is boring and predictable.

In San Fransokyo, Hiro Hamada uses a versatile little robot that he created to defeat bigger, more powerful robots in the local robot fight club. Hiro’s older brother, Tadashi, has Hiro come visit him at the San Fransokyo Institute Of Technology where his friends embrace him and encourage his creativity and technical genius. Hiro applies for admission to the Institute Of Technology using innovative microbots, small robots who work together and respond to (essentially) telepathic control. Unfortunately, after exhibiting the microbots for the head of the Institute, Robert Callaghan, a fire breaks out in the exhibition hall and kills Callaghan and Tadashi.

While working through his grief, Hiro uncovers Tadashi’s creation, the medical robot Baymax (which Tadashi showed him prior to his death). Baymax notices the actions of Hiro’s microbots and that leads them to a factory that is producing Hiro’s microbots. After surviving an assassination attempt, Hiro realizes that the masked man who tried to kill him might be responsible for killing Tadashi and stealing his mircrobots. With the help of Tadashi’s friends, Hiro and Baymax set out to find and stop the masked man and stop the microbots from being used for a nefarious purpose.

Big Hero 6 falls into the category of painfully familiar science fiction super hero stories. The film utilizes all of the most obvious conceits of super hero films. The dead who aren’t shown killed on screen never seem to die and the characters are given very weak characterization outside the protagonist. Hiro is surrounded by pretty generic sidekicks who, like Smurfs, seem to only have one distinct quality each.

The film’s main adversary is a generic villain who attacks Hiro for his technology and is only given the thinnest motivations – almost simultaneous with his defeat. Perhaps it is because I have watched so many James Bond films lately, but the adversary in Big Hero 6 suffers from being thinly drawn and somewhat obvious (being that he is voiced by the biggest actor in the ensemble who is not the lead hero or main robot. The result is an entirely unimpressive villain and yet another film where the casting undermines the plot “reversals.”

While the animation is all right, there is nothing exceptional about the visual stylings of Big Hero 6. Big Hero 6 is just boring and unoriginal; not worth watching.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Frozen
Monsters University
Wreck-It Ralph
Brave
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
Ponyo
The Princess And The Frog
Bolt
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Lilo & Stitch
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Monsters, Inc.
Mulan
Hercules
The Lion King
Beauty And The Beast
The Little Mermaid
The Great Mouse Detective
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
Robin Hood
The Aristocats
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

2.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Bolt Is A Fun Action Adventure Animated Film That Has Some Real Moments!

The Good: Decent premise, Moments of clever dialogue, Good sense of emotion
The Bad: Very predictable plot format, Disney sidekick conceit
The Basics: Bolt is enjoyable, but not as substantial as some other, more unpredictably character-driven Disney animated films.


Part of the fun of the holidays for me is in giving my wife gifts I know she will like. Because so many of the movies she loves are from Disney, I picked up many Disney movies for her in the last year. The thing is, when I had money to do that, I bulked up on the gifts for her. So, when I planned out her gifts, I wrapped up many of them and put on each one the holiday or event it was intended for. Today when my wife was unwrapping gifts, one of them was a Disney film I had forgotten all about. It was Bolt and it became the first DVD or Blu-Ray I bought my wife for the holiday that she wanted to see. So, we spent some time this afternoon watching Bolt and I have to say I enjoyed it!

Bolt begins as an engaging-enough animated film that becomes less distinctive as the movie goes on. While it bursts right into the plotline in a way that is uncharacteristic of Disney movies, it promises something uncommon. Unfortunately, at the moments that Bolt could truly, fully commit to being a powerful, adult film disguised as an animated movie, it cops out and reverts to being a very predictable, surprisingly obvious Disney kid's movie. That made the movie less satisfying for me as one who loves adult films.

Bolt is a puppy when he comes to live with Penny. Five years later, he is a super-powered dog that helps Penny in her unending quest to find her father again. Bolt is fast, strong and smart and with Penny, he takes on an entire international criminal syndicate. At least, that is what Bolt believes. Actually, Bolt works on a television show, unbeknownst to him. When the network comes in and demands the show retain its important demographic by becoming more depressing and real, the producers of the series feature a cliffhanger episode where Penny is abducted. Penny tries to reassure Bolt, but because the producers need Bolt to believe in the reality of the show, she is forbidden from seeing him after the episode wraps and reassuring him.

Bolt, desperate to find Penny, breaks out of his trailer and begins his search for her. Bolt gets mailed off to New York City where he encounters Mittens, a cat running a protection racket. Out in the real world, Bolt begins to fear what it means that he has lost his powers. Together with Mittens and a bubble-ball ensnared hamster, Rhino, Bolt learns to beg and works to get back to Hollywood and his beloved friend Penny!

The road trip movie is hardly a new thing for a Disney animated film. They do that type of character journey on about half of their films and Bolt offers nothing truly new. Bolt is an uncharacteristic action-adventure film with minimal comedy at the outset. What comedy there is in Bolt is slapstick, usually Bolt running into doors, windows and the like. That humor gets repetitive and seems specifically designed to get back the children that are mortgaged by the direct, action, drama aspects that lead the film.

The other big Disney conceit comes in the form of Muffin and Rhino. Disney movies seldom have the character developing on their own. Instead, they need sounding boards and that dependence upon these stock characters is troubling. In Bolt, while Muffin is interesting, Rhino quickly comes across as a very basic, generic sidekick. His lines are not terribly funny, though he is performed as a manic, over-the-top, sidekick who is responsible more for catchphrases than character growth.

Bolt is performed by a surprisingly limited cast for a Disney film. John Travolta takes the voicing of Bolt like a champ, though the musical number during the closing credits did not exactly help to sustain his post-Pulp Fiction comeback. Miley Cyrus voices Penny without real distinction, so it is hard to see why Disney tapped her for the project other than the fact she was probably already on the lot when the movie was being produced. Malcolm McDowell and Diedrich Bader provide distinctive vocals as Dr. Calico and one of the cats, but other major roles, like Mittens and Rhino are voiced by the comparative unknowns, Susie Essman and Mark Walton, respectively.

On DVD, Bolt comes with behind-the-scenes featurettes and some decent additional cartoons, like the one where Rhino is added to the television show that Bolt is a part of! The bonus features are cute and informative, making the DVD a worthwhile buy. Despite the Disney conceits and the sacrifice of the more adult moments that open the film, Bolt is very entertaining and worth picking up.

For other Disney animated films, please visit my reviews of:
Tangled
Toy Story 3
A Christmas Carol
Up
WALL-E
The Incredibles
Monsters, Inc.
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Lady And The Tramp
The Sword In The Stone
Sleeping Beauty
Fantasia

7/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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