Big Hero 6 (2014)

A treat for both Marvel and Disney fans, Big Hero 6 is great family fun, full to the brim with humour, in-jokes/references and gorgeous animation. It's got a big heart, and features a central character, Baymax, that should easily win a place in the heart of any child.

Hiro is a young boy with a fantastic brain for science and robotics, but no self-motivation. If he applied himself then he could do something truly great, and his brother, Tadashi, knows this. Tadashi takes Hiro to his place of work, a surprise visit that opens Hiro's eyes to the cool possibilities available to someone of his intellect. He also gets to meet Baymax, a health care robot that resembles a humanoid made from marshmallow (yes, he's a BIT like Mr. Stay Puft). It's not long, however, until tragedy strikes. Struggling to cope with his grief, Hiro ends up growing closer to Baymax, and eventually retooling the robot into something quite far removed from his original incarnation. This might help them to bring down a strange supervillain who has appeared in town, one wearing a Kabuki mask. However, Baymax encourages Hiro to contact, and receive support from, a number of friends, which allows a small team of potential heroes to be formed.

Although it's a bit too sweet and cutesy at times, I can't recommend Big Hero 6 highly enough to those who want to watch a superior animated movie aimed at a younger audience. From the city environment - San Fansokyo (a lush amalgamation of San Francisco and Tokyo architectural styles) - to the character design, and the tech on display, this is one of those movies that serves up a veritable feast in every scene.

Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams oversee everything with keen eyes, keeping those gorgeous visuals attached to a script (written by Jordan Roberts, Daniel Gerson and Robert L. Baird) that never shifts the focus away from the main characters. The voice cast includes quite a few famous names (Alan Tudyk, James Cromwell, Damon Wayans Jr, Maya Rudolph, Jaime Chung, T. J. Miller, Genesis Rodriguez), and every single performer does a great job, with highlights being Wayans Jr, Miller, and Rudolph. The two leads may not have name recognition, Ryan Potter voices Hiro and Scott Adsit voices Baymax, but the most important thing here is that their voices work, and work brilliantly.

You're never more than a few moments away from a good laugh, the action scenes are exhilarating, and any one of the main characters could make a cool role model. But be warned, the film also manages to explore loss and grief without sugar-coating the heartache. There may be one or two conversations being had between parents and children as they leave the cinema, and it's something worth being prepared for. Is there anything here on a par with the potential trauma many of us experienced when we first saw Bambi? Maybe not. But it's almost too close to call.

Based upon some comic material that I was formerly unaware of, this proves once again that you don't necessarily need brand recognition or a built-in fanbase to deliver a near-perfect blockbuster movie. You just need some TLC.

8/10

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Bonus Review: Let's Be Cops (2014)

It's not that hard to make a decent, mainstream comedy. I may not rave about them at every opportunity, but films like We're The Millers and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone are movies that do all that I require from them. They keep me happy, and often chuckling, for the duration. So why do so many movies get it wrong, either relying on the talent/charisma of some leading player who doesn't have the right stuff, or simply misfiring most of the gags? It's a mystery, especially when you get to enjoy a film like Let's Be Cops, a slice of fun that works so well mainly because of a fantastic premise, helped by the chemistry between the two leading men.

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. star as, respectively, Ryan and Justin. The two men aren't where they want to be in their lives. A blunt, cruel person might even simply refer to them as losers. But things take a turn for the better when they decide to go to a party one evening dressed as cops. They soon realise that a lot of people are looking at them differently, looking at them as if they are real cops. Caught up in the good feeling, the two decide to take things farther than they should, eventually landing themselves in some major hot water when they take on a criminal (James D'Arcy) who isn't afraid to threaten even officers of the law.

I could say that Let's Be Cops is a bit of an easy ride for everyone involved. It just seems impossible to screw up, but that's only something I can think now because it wasn't screwed up. You just need to watch the similar(-ish) Ride Along to see the material being twisted into something inferior for the sake of making it into a star vehicle. This movie isn't a star vehicle, yet Wayans Jr. and Johnson come out of it shining brightly.

The direction from Luke Greenfield, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Thomas, is solid. Everything moves from A to B quickly enough, and the only major complaint about the plotting is how predictable things become in the second half. But it's a predictability that, like everything else in the movie, simply enhances the fun. It's a comforting set of twists and turns showing that a plot HAS actually been wrapped around the comedic set-pieces without ever taking too much time away from the laughs.

As much as I'm tempted to, I won't go on and on about the two leading men any more. They're both brilliant, individually and when sharing their many scenes together. Nina Dobrev does as well as can be expected in the role of Josie AKA the love interest for Wayans Jr. It's a potentially thankless part to play, but Dobrev still manages to bring something more to the table than just her attractive looks. D'Arcy is a convincingly cold villain, and always feels like a viable threat, even before things really heat up for our two leads. Rob Riggle and Andy Garcia are both excellent as two very different law enforcement officers, with the former coming along at just the right time to save the movie from any potential lull in proceedings. And I can't forget to mention the scene-stealing turns from Natasha Leggero and Keegan-Michael Key. Leggero plays a woman turned on by the cops who need to use her home as a surveillance point, while Key is a helpful informant who just doesn't know when to keep inappropriate comments to himself.

It's not the most sophisticated comedy you'll ever see, and it's also far from the funniest, but Let's Be Cops proves to be surprisingly effective at mixing some big laughs with characters you end up actually caring about. Which makes it more deserving of your time than at least 80% of the mainstream comedies that have tried to take your money in the last few years.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Cops-Blu-ray-James-DArcy/dp/B00NQH5IBU/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1412116867&sr=1-2&keywords=let%27s+be+cops