Big Hero 6 (2014)

“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.”

            The other night I could not get to sleep. My ADHD riddled mind was running a mile an hour thinking of the most obscure things. One of the things I was thinking was how Peggy Carter from Captain America and the show Agent Carter is a superhero. I feel if Batman can be a superhero and he was not dumped in some chemicals or turned into a super soldier and was just a man who worked out a crap ton then why can’t Peggy Carter be considered a superhero? This is getting into territory I will fight people on and a conversation for another time but my point is that it also got me thinking about what kind of superhero I would want to be. Yes, a twenty-seven year old woman was pondering at 4am what kind of superhero I would be if I could be one. I would definitely want to be one like Batman and Peggy Carter (seriously, I will fight the crap outta you if you tell me she isn’t!) because, like I said, they were never given powers like Iron Man or Captain America and neither were they born with powers like Thor or Superman. They have to use their own body strength and intelligence to fight bad guys. They had to work on their fighting, their strength, and intelligence it was not given to them. I think I would like to feel that kind of pride of knowing I worked to be a bad ass superhero. It would make taking the bad guys all that more awesome. That is just me I am an odd duck I know.

            What was the point of that rambling and what on earth does it have to do with Big Hero 6? Plenty. Read on to find out.

            Hiro Hamada is a fourteen year old boy living in San Fransokyo. For fun he battles in robot fights he has mechanically altered. Hiro is very intelligent but he is not putting that intelligence to any practical use. One day he goes to visit his brother Tadashi at school. Tadashi is also super intelligent and goes to school for gifted scientists and engineers. His big school project is an inflatable robot he named Baymax. Baymax is a health care provider. The robot scans a person for any health issues such as a cut or a cold and provides help and assistance in treating the issue.

            After the visit Hiro desperately wants to go to the school. For days he sits and thinks about what his project will be that will get him into the school. He finally comes up with these small pellet-like things called Microbots. Hiro brings his Microbots to a convention where the head of the school will be. He demonstrates that the Microbots are connected to a sensor placed on a person’s head. That sensor acts like a mind reading device. Whatever the person is thinking the Microbots create. The demonstration is an instant success. Hiro is personally given an invitation to the school by the head professor Callaghan. He is also given an invitation to sell his product to a wealthy business owner and scientist named Alistar Krei. Callaghan and Krei obviously do not like each other. The Professor comes off as a nice man and Krei the evil business man. Hiro chooses the school over the money.

            Hiro, Tadashi, and Tadashi’s friends Fred, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Go Go walk out of the convention together all smiles and happy. All the sudden an explosion rocks the convention center. Everyone has gotten out except for Professor Callaghan. Tadashi feels he has to go in and save his beloved professor. Another explosion goes off after Tadashi runs in. For a long time Hiro is beside himself. He does not eat and has no intention of going to the school. One day he hurts himself and Baymax is activated. On the same day one of the Microbots is activated even though they were all thought to have been blown up in the explosion.

            Hiro and Baymax follow the one Microbot where it wants to go. They are lead to a warehouse and find a man wearing a mask controlling a mountain of Microbots. The man tries to attack them both. Hiro gathers Wasabi, Fred, Go Go, and Honey Lemon. They all figure that Krei is behind the new Microbots since he had wanted them so badly at the convention. Hiro now wants revenge for his brother and so do his friends.

            With some help from Fred and his revelation that his parents are millionaires, Hiro creates costumes and weapons for each one of them. Even Baymax gets some cool superhero gear and new program software to fight the bad guy. Baymax does not understand why he is being made to fight since he was created to be a health care provider not a fighter.

            Who the bad guy turns out to be is an interesting twist with a story that is not totally earth shattering. The rest of the story is a bit typical.

            So how does my rambling of wanting to be a superhero like Batman and Peggy Carter (I am so ready for you! I can take you!) who are normal people but super intelligent with bad ass fighting skills fit in with Big Hero 6? Hiro and his friends were freakishly intelligent and they created these incredible superhero outfits based off what their strengths were as people and their intelligence. I would love to be a superhero like Hiro, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Go Go. And come on who wouldn’t want to fly on an inflatable, lovable thing or roll around on awesome blades and throw a disc a la Captain America style?

            I liked Big Hero 6. I did not love it, it was not the greatest animated movie ever. I cannot believe Big Hero 6 beat out The Lego Movie at the Oscars there is no way it was better than The Lego Movie but yet again that is an argument for another day. Big Hero 6 is definitely worth watching. I liked how Hiro was so overcome by grief and his friends, including Baymax, were there for him and were willing to fight with him. Plus, there were two female characters who were “brainy” and intelligent and nothing was ever said to put them down or stop them from fighting rough with the guys and like them.  Stay for after the credits there is a scene that totally made the movie.