Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Big Hero 6 / Feast (2014)

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-10-2014, 01:47 PM:

I really enjoyed Big Hero 6. It doesn't exactly break new ground storywise, although visually it's a real treat.

The story is your classic boy-and-his-best-friend-save-the-day scenario, mixed in with healthy doses of The Incredibles and stuff from just about every Marvel movie and a few elements from earlier Disney movies. The difference here, of course, is that the best friend is a rubbery robot named Baymax, whose main focus (at first, anyway) is health care.

The supporting characters are also standard Disney fare, featuring one from just about every personality trait.

What's surprising is the amount of heart the film has, especially regarding Baymax, who is surprisingly emotional even though he has no face to speak of. He's also a scene stealer, especially at one point where he runs low on battery power.

The last act of the movie goes over the top with impossible situations and outrageous visual effects (I'm always annoyed when the villain seems to have "unlimited" capabilities) but by that time, you're having enough fun with the story and the characters that it doesn't matter. This movie is a crowd pleaser and the kids and adults alike were smiling and laughing on the way out -- so it bodes well for future business. And there is so much to look at in the movie that people are already saying they want to see it again just to look at the backgrounds.

In the list of recent Disney animated movies I would say this is better than "Wreck-It Ralph," and not quite as good as "Frozen," but at least this one doesn't have an annoying song*. (Also kudos to Disney for resisting the urge to stick a princess in there somewhere.)

4 out of 5 stars for me.

The opening short, "Feast," is another masterstroke from the Disney short films department. As with many of the recent animated shorts we've seen from Disney and Pixar, the appeal is not so much from the story itself, which is pretty ordinary, but from the way it's presented.

The movie shows short vignettes of a typical guy from childhood to adulthood to fatherhood, featuring scenes of fun, adventure and heartbreak along the way -- all as seen through his pet dog and what the dog manages to snack on.

I've never seen anything like this film visually. It looks like moving watercolors or something. The focus is almost always on the dog and whatever he's eating, but the human story progresses in the background, sometimes out of focus or overlit or otherwise imperfect, but even so the film manages a great amount of emotional connection.

As with all good stories, at the end you're left with a lump in your throat and an overall good feeling. So it made a perfect lead-in to this particular feature movie, which is itself an emotional rollercoaster.

It all adds up to another slam dunk for Disney Animation.

* Just to be clear, "Let It Go" wasn't annoying the first 50 or 60 times I heard it.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-14-2014, 09:06 PM:

CINEMA: Merle Hay Cinema, Des Moines, IA
PRESENTATION: 35mm/Dolby Digital/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Picture a bit dark and soft
RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

You know the end is very near for film AND for this great big house when there aren't any trailers to play. The lights dimmed and we went straight to the short. The FLIX Brewhouse (who as it turns out is the brewhouse theatre division of Galaxy Theatres) opens around Christmas on the other side of the mall. Merle Hay has about a month left.

The dog in the short? Pretty much me in a nutshell. Except the part about saving the guy's relationship. Fuck that. Gimmie a meatball.

THE PLOT: Oh no! The exhibition hall is on fire! Wackiness ensues.

I guess this is a Disney adaptation of a Marvel franchise. Not enough to put Marvel's flippy intro on the front but enough to get in the obligatory Stan Lee cameo. Blink and you'll miss it, but I laughed out loud.

This is a decent movie for the kids. Reminded me a lot of "Sky High" for some reason. Probably technically a better movie than "Sky High", but not nearly as fun.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 11-29-2014, 08:14 PM:

Feast/Big Hero 6
AMC Leawood Commons 20, Leawood KS
AMC Prime(Dolby Atmos)
11/29/2014 2:15pm

I typically enjoy cutesy animated movies such as this so I try to see them all, but this one really took me by surprise.

Both "Feast" and "Big Hero 6" moved me to tears. Like, flowing-down-the-cheek, chin quivering tears. Corny, I know, but there it is. As Mike said, Feast was a perfect lead-in. Really set the mood.

Both were so vibrant and full of life and emotion. For the duration of Big Hero, I was either laughing my ass off or crying. I didn't once get uncomfortable or fidget.

Fantastic feature, would recommend to anyone.

4.5/5, everything a movie should be for me. Would be 5/5 if not for the god-awful cropping.

Posted by Carol May (Member # 4068) on 11-30-2014, 05:19 PM:

I thoroughly enjoyed Big Hero 6, and thought the animation was better than ever. As Mike mentioned above, Baymax really stole the show in the first half of the movie. His interactions with Hiro were so human, yet of course not. I would see the movie again.

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 12-01-2014, 05:21 PM:

I was really surprised how much I loved this movie. It was choke full of heart and like Buck said moved me to tears. "Feast" made me especially wet in the eyes as I love the bond between dog and master. To me Big Hero 6 had a special feel to it like the best Disney/Pixar animations of the past. And the snippet at the end of the credits was well worth the wait.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 01-01-2015, 10:46 AM:

three great Marvel movies in one year: Big Hero 6, Captain America 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy - woohoo!! [beer]

the 3D was great and the while I wasn't able to hear this in either Atmos or 7.1 - the 5.1 mix was still stellar in it's own right.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 01-10-2015, 06:26 PM:

Disney's cinematic adaptation of Marvel's Big Hero 6 markets itself off the back of Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen but it is an inferior film to both of those movies, lacking the intergenerational appeal and depth of those predecessors.

Big Hero 6 is all a just bit "kiddie" and twee compared to it's contemporaries. Yes, this is a kids movie but after all the intergenerational "kids" movies we've had from Pixar and others, a plain ol' kids movie barely cuts it anymore. The beauty of intergenerational childrens films is not just that they entertain the kids' parents but that children will find them enriching as they get older as the adult themes are opened up to them. Pixar's Up being the prime example thus far. So there are few reasons not to do it.

The other issue with Big Hero 6 is that it follows what are probably the story's least interesting characters. Baymax is a benign creature with a benign personality, not a great start for creating a character of interest. Sure, he's kind of cute, but that wears thin quickly. And Hiro (our hero) is an off-the-rails orphaned youth with authority issues who, after the death of his brother, finds direction in his life. It's an oft used narrative that adds little to a well-traipsed formula beside said benign robot.

The female characters in it, however, GoGo and Honey Lemon, are both more interesting characters and perhaps the film would benefit from revealing more of their backstories. Given that Big Hero 6 is clearly the origins of a new franchise, there is scope to explore these characters further and so maybe future films can build positively on this foundation.

The short film, Feast, which precedes the feature, however, is a masterpiece following the ups and downs of a human relationship from the perspective of the family pet. It's full of heart, truth and will quite possibly make you cry. Just brilliant. Perhaps the strength of the short undermines the weakness of the feature.

(A Big Hero) 6 out of 10

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 01-11-2015, 09:05 PM:

Quick fact check, I saw it in Prime at AMC Leawood Town Center 20, not AMC Commons 20. Both theaters exist, but the Commons doesn't have Prime and is in Independence on the other side of the river.