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james0246 · 2014-11-17, 11:25

This was a very fun and almost wonderful film. Sadly, all the superhero nonsense ruined a perfectly good drama about a grief process for a young boy...

.

Joking aside, there is much to love about this film. The overwhelming diversity of the characters (as far as I can tell, there are only 4 Caucasians in the film), with the main cast being represented by two Caucasians, one Asian, one Black and the last Asian-American (and Baymax). There is something quite wonderful about how easily these characters are represented, and even more, how very little is ever made about their representation. And besides the phrase "Woman Up!" (which is fun all by itself) used by Tomago, even the presence of two women on the team has little bearing on the story (in a good way...though it is nice that all the female character sin the film are quite individual and overwhelmingly competent). This is a just a group of friends who come together do to a traumatic moment. That's not to say a Latino/Hispanic character couldn't have been thrown in (which is weird because the character of Honey Lemon is voiced by a Latino/Hispanic actress)

, and of course there is still the whole white-washing problem (why couldn't Hiro simply be the son of Japanese immigrants, why does he have to be half-white? etc), but overall this is a very nice change of pace from the constant barrage of white characters that generally fill animated screens.

Additionally, Baymax is a powerful character unto himself. Scott Adsit, best know for his roles on 30 Rock and his voice work on Moral Orel, does a superb job as the lovable and kind health care technician Baymax. It's such a change and departure from the comics that I wasn't sure how I would feel about the character, but the writers and Adsit managed to completely re-invent the character in a new and unique way that completely blew away any trepidation I might have had.

What's more, the film is awash in splendid sights and sounds. San Fransokyo may be an uninitially silly name, but there is a distinct combination of Tokyo and San Fransisco applied to this design (the hills and Bay area represent San Fran, but the basic cluttered city streets are clearly reminiscent of Tokyo) that greatly adds to the experience of the film. I still think the setting is a little silly, but there was at least an attempt to combine the two distinct cities into a new metropolis.

Sadly, what really pushes the film down are the super hero elements. The action sequences are certainly exciting, with one key sequence building up to a powerful dramatic moment, but overall it all felt perfunctory and seemingly of little interest to the writers (the fact that 3D printers can seemingly create any substance and technology Hiro invents in the film seem like an indicator that the writers simply didn't care how these superhero abilities came about so much as they cared how they affected the various team members). The heart and power of the film are Baymax and Hiro's relationship, and any time armour is applied to Baymax, there relationship takes a dip toward the uninteresting.

As a brief aside, the 3D is just okay. It's not bad, but the created world just doesn't pop as much as it could.

This is a very strong film well worth the price of admission. 82/100.

2014-11-17, 11:25	Link #15
james0246 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: East Cupcake	This was a very fun and almost wonderful film. Sadly, all the superhero nonsense ruined a perfectly good drama about a grief process for a young boy.... Joking aside, there is much to love about this film. The overwhelming diversity of the characters (as far as I can tell, there are only 4 Caucasians in the film), with the main cast being represented by two Caucasians, one Asian, one Black and the last Asian-American (and Baymax). There is something quite wonderful about how easily these characters are represented, and even more, how very little is ever made about their representation. And besides the phrase "Woman Up!" (which is fun all by itself) used by Tomago, even the presence of two women on the team has little bearing on the story (in a good way...though it is nice that all the female character sin the film are quite individual and overwhelmingly competent). This is a just a group of friends who come together do to a traumatic moment. That's not to say a Latino/Hispanic character couldn't have been thrown in (which is weird because the character of Honey Lemon is voiced by a Latino/Hispanic actress) , and of course there is still the whole white-washing problem (why couldn't Hiro simply be the son of Japanese immigrants, why does he have to be half-white? etc), but overall this is a very nice change of pace from the constant barrage of white characters that generally fill animated screens. Additionally, Baymax is a powerful character unto himself. Scott Adsit, best know for his roles on 30 Rock and his voice work on Moral Orel, does a superb job as the lovable and kind health care technician Baymax. It's such a change and departure from the comics that I wasn't sure how I would feel about the character, but the writers and Adsit managed to completely re-invent the character in a new and unique way that completely blew away any trepidation I might have had. What's more, the film is awash in splendid sights and sounds. San Fransokyo may be an uninitially silly name, but there is a distinct combination of Tokyo and San Fransisco applied to this design (the hills and Bay area represent San Fran, but the basic cluttered city streets are clearly reminiscent of Tokyo) that greatly adds to the experience of the film. I still think the setting is a little silly, but there was at least an attempt to combine the two distinct cities into a new metropolis. Sadly, what really pushes the film down are the super hero elements. The action sequences are certainly exciting, with one key sequence building up to a powerful dramatic moment, but overall it all felt perfunctory and seemingly of little interest to the writers (the fact that 3D printers can seemingly create any substance and technology Hiro invents in the film seem like an indicator that the writers simply didn't care how these superhero abilities came about so much as they cared how they affected the various team members). The heart and power of the film are Baymax and Hiro's relationship, and any time armour is applied to Baymax, there relationship takes a dip toward the uninteresting. As a brief aside, the 3D is just okay. It's not bad, but the created world just doesn't pop as much as it could. This is a very strong film well worth the price of admission. 82/100.