Big Hero 6 (2015) Capsule Review

Look, it’s slim pickings out there OK? Yes, I know, I know, what the hell is happening here, a Disney film sneaking its way onto the Menagerie, what fresh madness is this? Well I’m still committed to my pre-Oscar programme and my coverage of the animated nominees is light, plus as these movies go Big Hero 6  has been getting a lot of praise breathlessly equating it Pixar at their best, and that’s good enough for me. Due to the screen domination of 50 Shades Of Buscemi there is precisely zero new releases which tickled my fancy last week, so I figured I’d take down one more movie before the Awards ceremony on Sunday. As it turns out this was an entertaining and energetic picture, and the Japanese bow to proceedings was warmly welcomed, not to mention bringing the rather sticky concepts of nanotechnology, corporate espionage and bereavement to a younger audience;

As you’d expect of the cinematic strain Big Hero 6 is a cornucopia of vivid colours, exhilarating action and digital delirium, and thankfully is not as nausea inducing with the ‘message’ and moralizing which can denigrate much of Disney’s fare. Probably the most fascinating element alongside the state-of-the art animation is the vivid realization of San Fransokyo, a delicious blend of Japanese anime and Californian chic, the sequences of  young robotics guru Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) rattling through the city with his velvet voiced robotic companion Baymax (Scott Adsit) is quite a visual delight. The generic plot manages to hold the attention as I moves through the programme of comedy, character and action set-piece maneuvers – young orphaned genius programmer is sucked into a mystery after his revolutionary nanobot designs are stolen by a ominous stranger – and thankfully it’s also not too heavy on the blatant adult in-jokes and pop cultural references. The film is also blessed with the best deployment of 3D I’ve witnessed for a while, you may have noticed I barely mention the technique during, say, my Jupiter Ascending review or indeed many of last years blockbuster reviews, simply because it doesn’t register as being particularly memorable or enhance the cinematic experience. I also must be getting old as with the exception of Maya Rudolph and St. Dudley Smith I didn’t recongnise a single member of the voice cast, although they all turn in sterling work in making their characters animate to life;

So yes, for a superior animated kids style movie I think you could do a lot worse that Big Hero 6, I think it has a very strong chance of securing a statuette on Sunday. Now, before Blackhat opens on Friday – the Menagerie is very excited at the first Michael Mann film in what, five years? – is there any other film panting breathlessly in the multiplexes that could possibly tickle my fancy? Well, it is one of the biggest films of the year (a staggering $250 million opening weekend, the biggest 18 certificate  opening ever I think )so I suppose I ‘have’ to go and see it………(sighs dramatically)…..