SNAPSHOT
Set in a fictional metropolis called San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo), a young prodigy named Hiro Hamada and his self-created robot Baymax uncover a criminal plot and must join a team of inexperienced crime fighters,[8] including Wasabi-No-Ginger, Honey Lemon, GoGo Tomago, and Fred. (synopsis via Wikipedia)
The first trailer released for Disney’s Big Hero 6 is hands down the funniest, mirth-inducing, thigh-slappingly hilarious thing I have watched in some time.
Watching Hiro do his best to fit his newly designed futuristic outfit onto Baymax, the ill-at-ease, comically-awkward robot he has created, is all kinds of heartwarming sweetness, dorky enthusiasm and sheer, teeth-gritting tenacity.
And very, VERY funny.
In common with just about all of Marvel’s properties, I haven’t had much exposure to Big Hero 6 up to this point – I wasn’t much of a superhero nerd as a child save for mainly for Marvel’s rival DC’s properties like Batman, Superman, Aquaman and the Justice League – but it does look like it possesses, in stupendous measure, the gleeful sense of humour that percolates through some of its other creations like Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man.
And, not to take sides here, but that could be why I love the Marvel properties so much more than DC now.
Don’t get me wrong – I love the intensity and grittiness of Christopher Nolan’s Batman or the hand on his heart gee whiz goodness of Superman but there’s something about the impish streak running through all of Marvel’s films, and yes even their TV offerings Agents of SHIELD, that draws me in.
I think because it’s more realistic, if you can say that about alien god-like beings from another realm (Thor) or pumped-up musclemen who can leap from planes with just a shield and no parachute (Captain America), to have moments of levity in amongst all the intense dramatic action and Marvel recognises that and makes it work.
Of course, long before they acquired Marvel, Disney had a well-established penchant for imbuing their characters with mischievous leanings with pretty much all of their movies having at least one character who provided comic relief, or came armed intensity-leavening quips, or a propensity for goofy tension-reducing antics.
Think Olaf or Sven in Disney’s recent mega-hit Frozen, Genie in Aladdin or Sebastian in The Little Mermaid, and or indeed, the original goofiest one of them all, Goofy himself.
Disney has a gift for throwing humour in where it’s most needed and using it well so it stands to reason that Big Hero 6 would be allowed to go with its natural comedic DNA, much like they’re allowing with Guardians of the Galaxy.
Laughs aside though, what makes Big Hero 6 truly appealing is the friendship between sweet, awkward Baymax and his creator Hiro, something that Chris Williams, one of the directors of the film along with Don Hall, told Yahoo Movies is very much front and centre as well:
“Hiro wants to take the healing, loving, guileless nurse robot and turn it into a mechanized warrior. That’s sort of the backbone of the film.”
So there you have it – a beguiling mix of superhero derring-do action, delightful humour and friendship that stands a very good chance of being yet another gigantic (if squishy, cuddly and sweet) box office hit for Disney.
Big Hero 6 opens in USA on 7 November 2014 and Australia on 26 December 2014.
And here’s the original blink and you’ll miss it teaser trailer …