Big Hero 6

This is the story of two brothers, Hiro and Tadashi. Hiro and Tadashi are not your average brothers. In fact, you might say they’re geniuses. Hiro and Tadashi are from a ficitional city called San Fransokyo (a blend of San Francisco and Tokyo). Hiro uses his intelligence (having graduated high school at the age of 13) to hustle competitors in Robot Wars. Tadashi, however, wants to use his profound knowledge to better society through his invention, Bayamax, a large, inflatable, robot nurse.

Tadashi notices the potential in Hiro and decides to bring him to his work place. After spending time with Tadashi’s coworkers and in the various labs, Hiro desperately asks his brother’s help in getting a job there. So, Tadashi and Hiro work together and participate in an inventor’s fair at the school, introducing the world to Hiro’s microbots (a tool that will revolutionize the way the world builds).

***SLIGHT SPOILER*** As Tadashi and Hiro are leaving though, a fire breaks out during the fair. Tadashi goes into the burning building to save someone but perishes in the fire. ***END SPOILER***

Time passes, and Hiro discovers his microbot (a remain from the fire) pulling somewhere. When he arrives, he notices a warehouse full of his microbots and uncovers a plot involving their use to destroy San Fransokyo. It will take Hiro, Bayamax, and all his friends to stop this mysterious villain before it’s too late.

You know how filmmakers tend to build up a lot of undeserved hype for a movie? “Big Hero 6” is not that kind of movie. “Big Hero 6” is worth the hype that has surrounded it. It has been so refreshing to see Disney return to its roots in creating family-friendly, humorous, children’s films again. For a while, I lost faith in the Disney company. My belief had been that in becoming the mega-billion dollar corporation they have become, they lost sight of what was important, their audience—what Walt himself had devoted his entire existence to achieve. But after seeing “Big Hero 6” (and other recent Disney films, like “Saving Mr. Banks”), my faith has been restored.

“Big Hero 6” is not geared toward children… it’s geared to EVERYONE. There’s a lot to take away from “Big Hero 6”: the importance of family, the power that lies in true friendships, bravery, self-sacrifice and love. Without giving TOO much away, there is one particular scene, shortly after Tadashi’s death, where Tadashi’s friends (who also become Hiro’s friends) send him a video chat, showing genuine concern about how he’s coping with the loss and that they miss him.

Violence: As you can imagine, “Big Hero 6” is an action movie, and so there are multiple sequences of action to contend with (none of them, though, requiring too much parental caution, in my opinon). There is a huge explosion that leads to a couple character’s deaths. Another scene involves Bayamax going into a frenzy.

Language: There are a couple references to underpants. One character exclaims, “holy mother of megazon,” and one mentions hugging Bayamax as “spooning a giant marshmallow.” One character also tells Hiro that his fly is down.

Sex: Bayamax, when trying to understand how Hiro is feeling, starts to make references to Hiro undergoing puberty.

Themes

One of the themes of “Big Hero 6” deals with grief. In times of grief, our natural response is to question our faith and our trust in God. If God is in control, why does he take the ones we love from us? Has he abandoned us?

No! He has not! To allow such thoughts to linger in our minds will poison our hearts and our spirit.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” –Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

This is when trusting God is at it’s hardest: when we suffer, when we don’t understand, when we want answers but receive none.

However, we have to trust Him, nonetheless. God requires our complete trust in Him for everything, in the good and in the bad. God is not a liar. If he has promised to never leave us, He never will. And if he never leaves us, that means he will always love us.

Even as I sit here writing, two hours after leaving the theater, I am still surprised how well made “Big Hero 6” is. All I can say is go… see…Big…Hero…6. This movie is as soft and as warm hearted as Bayamax himself. Take the kids, drag the teens. Spend the price of admission. I am glad I did.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Mild

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Young people