Big Hero 6

Because I am a mature adult, I went to see Big Hero 6 in the cinema the other day. The new Disney film is set in the fictional city of San Fransokyo (a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo), taking on aspects of both cities whilst remaining somewhat futuristic. The art style remains cartoon throughout, however certain aspects of it look realistic, and the scenery is always bursting with colour; there is always something to peak your visual interest.

The film begins with Hiro, a 14 year old genius who specialises in robotics, taking on a menacing character in a backstreet robot war. After getting in trouble with the law for illegal betting on the robot war, Hiro's brother Tadashi urges him to join his "nerd school", introducing him to the eccentric characters in the robotics laboratory. It is here that we meet Baymax, Tadashi's health assisting robot, made from vinyl to make him more "cuddly". Baymax is instantly heart-warming; his face soft and smiling and his demeanour always caring. Due to his inflatability, Baymax is often slow and clumsy, his legs chafing together and his belly bouncing as he moves. Baymax's appearance seems to be the opposite to every connotation of a robot's; there are no hard lines or metallic elements to him, which helps to humanise him. Baymax is programmed to scan and diagnose patients, waking up when alerted by someone exclaiming in pain and goes back to recharge once the patient has said they are happy with his service.

After applying for Tadashi's school by submitting his own experiment, micro robots which join together to become anything imaginable, Hiro wins the approval of the professor in charge of the robotics programme and gains a place. However, the same evening, the school catches fire and Hiro loses his robots (and some other things I will not mention in fear of spoiling the film). After losing hope and failing to register with the school, Hiro slumps into a depression. Accidentally tripping over mess in his room, Hiro awakens Baymax, who discovers one of the micro robots in the room. They find it odd that the robot seems to be attracted to something outside, considering they thought the micro robots were destroyed (the robots join together through magnetism). After following the micro robot to a warehouse, they discover that someone has stolen the micro robots and are manufacturing more.

The identity of the thief is hidden behind a mask for the majority of the film, and it was fun trying to guess who it could be, although the film tries to point you towards a specific character. This character with the help of the micro robots becomes a super villain, who uses the micro robots for evil. Hiro, along with the characters he met in Tadashi's lab use their robotics knowledge to create superhero suits. Even Baymax gets a makeover to his soft, cuddly appearance. Baymax questions why a health care robot would need to wear armour and why karate moves are downloaded in to his hard drive, but Hiro insists that if Baymax helped him it would make him feel better. The six superheroes go off to fight the villain, however Hiro loses purpose when he discovers the villain's backstory. He is overcome with anger and instead of trying to stop the villain, he wishes to get revenge on him. 

This leads to him removing Baymax's hard drive, which causes him to forget his caring ways and becomes a mindless killing robot. Obviously, the film has a somewhat happy ending, but it does get a bit intense at some points (which was spoilt for me, in a cinema full of young children, by the endless wailing of some toddler). If you wanted to take young children to see it, I would recommend it as it isn't scary at all, and is an exciting superhero cartoon where the characters are relatable to people of all ages.

 Before the film starts, you are introduced to a "short", one of Disney's short films, about ten minutes or so long, called Feast. This is about a puppy named Winston and his relationship with his owner. I loved this short, as I have recently got a puppy, and could definitely see some aspects of my puppy's personality displayed in Winston.