BLU-RAY REVIEW: Big Hero 6

[JessHorsley]

The Best Animated Feature Of The Year Hits Home Video...

What do you get when you combine beautiful CGI animation, characters ripped straight from a Marvel Comics series and a story that's all at once tragic, heart-felt and triumphant? Enter Disney's first ever animated film based on a Marvel Comic series - Big Hero 6. And, if you're anything like the Academy Award voters, you'll love this intense, hilarious and all-around entertaining film that's packed full of family-friendly fun.

At its core, Big Hero 6 is a buddy comedy combined with comic book adventure and a dash of the tragic that's present in almost every animated Disney film. In the futuristic setting of San Fransokyo, boy genius and orphan Hiro (Ryan Potter) wastes his talents as a bot fighter, illegally betting on fights in order to make extra spending money. Older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney), in an attempt to inspire Hiro, brings his unmotivated brother to the local University's "Nerd Lab" where Tadashi is a student. Here, Hiro meets Tadashi's eclectic friends: the wannabe monster-turned-mascot Fred (T.J. Miller), the speed-obsessed Go Go (Jamie Chung), the laser-light studying Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), and the chemistry guru Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez)...not to mention, Tadashi's unique project, a personal medical robot assistant called Baymax (Scott Adsit). Impressed, Hiro seeks to enter the University himself and study at the "Nerd Lab" under the leadership of Professor Callaghan (James Cromwell).

However, when tragedy strikes and devastates the "Nerd Lab," destroying the circle of friends and pushing the depressed Hiro into seclusion, it's up to Bayman, Tadashi's personal medical robot, to help bring Hiro back to the world of the living and solve the violent crime that shattered the lives of Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred and - most of all - Hiro.

The fun of having a diverse set of characters, while not unique to Big Hero 6, makes this film attractive to every person out there. Whether you're a science nerd and love chemistry, a super hero geek and love big armored suits, a monster fan who dreams of being a fire-breathing beast, a speed demon with a desire to go way too fast or a blade wielding warrior who's looking to cut down the bad guys, Big Hero 6 has all of that...and more.

Maybe what makes Big Hero 6 one of the best animated films in a long time is its ability to connect with children and adults of all ages on a level that's both emotionally exciting and physically engaging. Your adrenaline will flow as you watch Hiro traverse the physical demands of putting together a super hero team and your heartstrings will be pulled as you watch a broken boy mature and realize what it means to seek justice and forgiveness.

Beautiful CGI fills every scene, gorgeous colors bring the future world of San Fransokyo to life and dynamic designs fill the screen around every turn. The world is at once familiar and foreign, the setting a mix of China Town, the Bay Area and vast metropolises like Tokyo and LA. Likewise, the science and technology featured throughout the movie seem like something that's feasible, but not yet realized; "near future" at its peak of perfection.

All that said, it's the relationships that make the film the most engaging, ensuring it's impossible to turn away as we watch Hiro's tumultuous journey from inspired and hopeful to depressed and hurting to revenge-seeking to, finally, leader and forgiving...and it takes the love and care of a medical robot turned super hero named Baymax in order to bring Hiro full circle...

As for the blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD set, the Collector's Edition of this fantastic film includes the movie in all three formats as well as a plethora of special features, including the 15-minute "The Origin of Big Hero 6," which features Jamie Chung exploring the film's origins, which began with a Marvel comic book from nearly 20 years ago; the 7-minute "Big Animator 6: The Characters Behind the Characters," which features a creator roundtable exploring the film's animation and how they did it; a number of alternate and deleted scenes (including two alternate openings), and the film's theatrical trailer. Also featured here is the Academy Award Winning Best Animated Short, Feast, which is a brilliant little film that's an emotional roller coaster itself and well worth a watch.

Overall, Big Hero 6 makes for a nearly perfect animated film. It's got everything children and adults look for in an entertaining film: dynamic drama, hilarious humor, exciting action and adventure, emotional tragedy and brilliant relationships between well-developed and interesting characters. What's not to love?

Be sure to pick up your own copy of Big Hero 6 now wherever fine home video is sold!

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