Review: Big Hero 6
Nov. 9th, 2014 08:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseFirst, a personal note: This has been an especially great movie year for my husband. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed them too, but this is the second movie this year that had a main character who was practically Brian's avatar - first there was the slightly-misanthropic-but-genuinely-wanted-to-be-liked tech-wizard ensemble member who saves the day multiple times (and who also happened to be a cute fuzzy animal), and now there's a movie whose primary protagonist is a super-gifted half-Japanese kid dealing with severe personal loss and depression precisely by learning to reach out to people and being a tech wizard and (eventually) becoming a superhero. Some of this is probably just demographics - now that we're in our 30s, people our age and with our generational values (love of technology, importance of diversity/teamwork, distrust of authority without proven reason for its continuance) are starting to be in decision-making teams on projects like major movies. But the very specificity of how well he has resonated with these films has been a complete joy to watch.
Although, to be fair, Big Hero 6 is a pretty complete joy to watch even if you're not the wife of a slightly-misanthropic super-smart tech-wizard half-Japanese man who loves superheroes and has dealt with severe personal loss. I hope this film becomes a primary text in screenwriting courses; it's an amazing example of how to develop character without slackening the pell-mell pace of its 90-minute screen-time, and does a great job balancing genuinely deep emotional moments with real humor and sweetness. Somewhat ironically, then, my only real complaint about the story has to do with how well its characters are developed, and the associated implications for group dynamics. But in order to discuss it, we're getting into early-film spoiler territory. It's a pretty predictable plot point, but they pull it off well enough that it carries real weight, so if you want to go in blind, here's a cut.
Basically, after Hiro's brother Takashi introduces him to his co-inventors in the 'nerd lab', he dies heroically, and much of Hiro's plot arc consists of learning that the solution to his grief is to reach out to his new friends so they can Face the New Threat Together. Which is all well and good, except -- Hiro basically becomes the team leader, despite being (it's implied) a good five-to-eight years younger than any of the other members. The film's beautiful economy of character development works against it here, since if they'd just been interchangeable minions looking for a leader, Hiro's obvious charisma would've sufficed for explanation; even if we'd spent a bit of time on Takashi's relationship with these people, and saw that they looked to him as a planner/manager, I could sort of see them allowing Hiro to be a stand-in. But all we see of them prior to Hiro rounding them up and turning them into an Elite Fighting Force (TM) is an admittedly-very-cool sequence where they're all doing their independent thing, and none of them seem particularly interested in following anyone else. I think MovieBob really hit the nail on the head, here - the characters are all so great you find yourself wishing they'd let the movie be about fifteen minutes longer, just so you can see them sort of hanging out together and bonding. Which says a lot about how good a story it is already - how often do you find yourself thinking a movie was too short?
Still, even with my group-psychology quibble, this is a fantastic movie; the sort that carries all sorts of Positive Messages for kids (the role of human connection in overcoming hardship, the importance of skill-diversity in team-building, the necessity of not letting your emotions control you so you lose sight of the bigger picture) while still being the most colorful outright comic-book FUN you can have. And it was a nearly perfect movie to see on a day when I'd been dealing with major emotional vulnerability. A
Although, to be fair, Big Hero 6 is a pretty complete joy to watch even if you're not the wife of a slightly-misanthropic super-smart tech-wizard half-Japanese man who loves superheroes and has dealt with severe personal loss. I hope this film becomes a primary text in screenwriting courses; it's an amazing example of how to develop character without slackening the pell-mell pace of its 90-minute screen-time, and does a great job balancing genuinely deep emotional moments with real humor and sweetness. Somewhat ironically, then, my only real complaint about the story has to do with how well its characters are developed, and the associated implications for group dynamics. But in order to discuss it, we're getting into early-film spoiler territory. It's a pretty predictable plot point, but they pull it off well enough that it carries real weight, so if you want to go in blind, here's a cut.
Basically, after Hiro's brother Takashi introduces him to his co-inventors in the 'nerd lab', he dies heroically, and much of Hiro's plot arc consists of learning that the solution to his grief is to reach out to his new friends so they can Face the New Threat Together. Which is all well and good, except -- Hiro basically becomes the team leader, despite being (it's implied) a good five-to-eight years younger than any of the other members. The film's beautiful economy of character development works against it here, since if they'd just been interchangeable minions looking for a leader, Hiro's obvious charisma would've sufficed for explanation; even if we'd spent a bit of time on Takashi's relationship with these people, and saw that they looked to him as a planner/manager, I could sort of see them allowing Hiro to be a stand-in. But all we see of them prior to Hiro rounding them up and turning them into an Elite Fighting Force (TM) is an admittedly-very-cool sequence where they're all doing their independent thing, and none of them seem particularly interested in following anyone else. I think MovieBob really hit the nail on the head, here - the characters are all so great you find yourself wishing they'd let the movie be about fifteen minutes longer, just so you can see them sort of hanging out together and bonding. Which says a lot about how good a story it is already - how often do you find yourself thinking a movie was too short?
Still, even with my group-psychology quibble, this is a fantastic movie; the sort that carries all sorts of Positive Messages for kids (the role of human connection in overcoming hardship, the importance of skill-diversity in team-building, the necessity of not letting your emotions control you so you lose sight of the bigger picture) while still being the most colorful outright comic-book FUN you can have. And it was a nearly perfect movie to see on a day when I'd been dealing with major emotional vulnerability. A
