GamesRadar+ Verdict
After Frozen, Disney delivers a heart-melter. The sweet, witty main pairing focuses a potentially busy, derivative super-group tale. Stay for the sting: Big Hero 7 is practically a given.
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How to train your nurse-bot…
Michael Bay’s Autobots have nothing on young inventor Hiro’s microbots. Once assembled into group formations by human braincontrol, beating bigger ’bots in back-alley fights isn’t all they’ve got. Treated with love, they can combine to assume any shape imaginable, building wondrous worlds.
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The cute care provider looks like merch potential on chubby legs, but he disarms even when Hiro weaponises him to tackle a supervillain wielding Hiro’s stolen bots. The heart and humour in Baymax is well sustained: as he gets tipsy (E.T. echoes), diagnoses Hiro’s moods and keeps his barbell eyes out for collateral damage during a car chase, Baymax brings klutzy, gentle touches to city-sized superhero carnage.
The fantasy city of San Fransokyo builds inventive bridges between East and West in nifty gags like the Golden Gate Bridge’s Japanese beams. Its population, a pioneer project for Disney’s ‘Denizen’ programme, easily matches 2014’s similarly bustling The Book Of Life.
That canny rendering extends to Hiro’s buddies, a nerd-pride Scooby gang comprising Jamie Chung’s cool kid, Damon Wayans Jr’s neurotic, Génesis Rodriguez’s brain-box and TJ Miller’s geek. The stereotypes sound simple but clarity is the pay-off at the cleanly characterised climax.
The Disney-dished life lessons (study is good, revenge is bad…) are navigated with brisk sincerity. And that’s fine: messages about nurturing potential are easy to swallow in a film so well-nurtured. “Are you satisfied with your care?” goes Baymax’s catchphrase. Guaranteed.
