Review: Disney's 'Big Hero 6'

It's been said many times, and even mocked by Saturday Night Live, that Marvel can basically turn anything into a box office smash. The top-grossing movie of the year is Guardians of the Galaxy, for chrissakes, based on a comic book practically nobody read and less had heard of.  When Marvel and Disney essentially merged, it brought on a new challenge in territory that had yet to be conquered: animation. Big Hero 6 is the first Disney animated feature based on a Marvel property, and it's both the strangest choice and the perfect one. Blending super-powered heroics with kid-friendly action and an ethnically-diverse cast, Big Hero 6 has something for everybody to love.

Big Hero 6 is based on a super obscure manga-influenced miniseries from years ago; so obscure it makes the Guardians of the Galaxy look like the X-men. While Disney has made some significant changes in the transition to the screen, honoring its Japanese roots certainly hasn't been lost. Shedding the typical Disney homogenization and honoring a merger of many different cultures, it's safe to say this is one of the best looking Disney animated films ever made, certainly unlike anything in their vast catalog of classics. Set in San Fransokyo, a futuristic combination of San Francisco and Tokyo, a gorgeous blend of new and old world charms, the story centers on robotics genius Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) and his equally brainy older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney). Orphaned at a young age, the two now live with their eager aunt (Maya Rudolph), using their intellect in very different ways. While Tadashi studies at a prestigious university, Hiro builds robots and earns money fighting them in underground tournaments. Sensing his little bro may be on the wrong path, Tadashi brings him to the school where Hiro is blown away by the awesome stuff being built by the other geeks: the spunky racer Go-Go (Jamie Chung) Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr) the laser enthusiast; Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) is a chemistry expert; and Fred (TJ Miller) is basically Shaggy minus his Scooby-Doo companion.

The character that is sure to become a phenomenon in his own right is the lovable, cherubic Baymax (Scott Adsit). Basically a giant stuffed balloon robot, Baymax is pretty much impossible to resist. Designed by Tadashi as a nurse robot, Baymax is clumsy, lumbering, and helpful to a fault. When tragedy strikes the university and Tadashi is killed, he becomes an outlet for Hiro's grief and a willing companion. Somebody out there caused the explosion that got Tadashi killed, it’s up to Hiro, Baymax, and his newly souped-up nerd pals to uncover the truth.  Basically, Big Hero 6 is a classic superhero origin story, one alive with energy, humor, and even a few dark turns. It actually works best as Hiro and his pals are hanging out, joking, and using their intellect to design their wondrous powers, and it's so much fun that we almost forget there's a bad guy out there to be caught.

While there are plenty of laughs to be found, mostly through the constantly-bumbling Baymax, there's also a serious journey of self-discovery that Hiro must endure. Learning to cope with loss, making new friends, and using his genius for good are all lessons Hiro must learn, but there are plenty more that the story merely touches upon. In fact there are too many messages the screenplay wants to get across, throwing them at us a mile a minute. It's a distraction from what we truly want to see more of and that's the relationship between Hiro and Baymax. Threatening for a while to become a pet/master situation, Baymax's ever-present connection to Tadashi becomes an emotional touchstone, one that never fades away through the robot's silly antics. As a healing robot it's his programming to help Hiro through his brother's death, but in a way he becomes a surrogate sibling. Its touching stuff, some of the most emotional Disney has ever dared in a film geared at young audiences. I dare you not to shed a tear when Baymax asks if Hiro is satisfied with his care.

Directed by Don Hall, who gave us the excellent Winnie the Pooh a couple of years ago, and Chris Williams (Bolt), Big Hero 6 looks amazing. A merging of Eastern and Western influences, San Fransokyo is both fascinating and a little bit scary, with new wondrous discoveries to be made around every corner. When Baymax gets his new winged battle armor, he and Hiro embark on a soaring test flight that actually surpasses anything we saw in How to Train Your Dragon. Unfortunately, his new armor also signals a turn away from the character work that was so enjoyable and an emphasis on standard superhero action. There's nothing technically wrong with any of it, but nor is it especially inspired. We just really want to watch Baymax try to squeeze his fat body in and out of tight spaces, or patch up holes with duct tape, or learn how to fist bump. Can we get more of that please? No seriously, can we get more of Big Hero 6? There's so much to adore here that a sequel is an absolute must.  It's another big victory for Disney and Marvel, and to think this is just scratching the surface of their potential. Yes, Big Hero 6, I am more than satisfied with my care.

 Rating: 4 out of 5

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Check Out Baymax's Tragic Origin in New Trailer for Disney's 'Big Hero 6'

Disney is going to be pulling at your heartstrings later this year with Big Hero 6, the animated film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team. Most of the trailers we've seen for it up to this point have focuses on the mix of action and comedy, highlighting the bond between between boy genius Hiro Hamada and his inflatable robot pal, Baymax. But now we get a look at why Hiro feels such a connection with Baymax and it may have you shedding a few tears.

Presented as a team of nerds, Big Hero 6 consists of Hiro, Baymax, Honey Lemon, Fred, Wasabi, and Gogo Tomago who come together to defend the futuristic city of San Fransokyo from a kabuki-masked villain. It's our first real look at the entire team in action, but the focus is squarely on the clumsy Baymax who Disney clearly see big merchandising dollars in. The Baymax action figures were flying off the shelves at Comic-Con earlier this year.

Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Damon Wayans Jr., Jamie Chung, Alan Tudyk, T.J. Miller, Maya Rudolph, Ryan Potter, and Scott Adsit lend their voices to Big Hero 6, which opens on November 7th.


Big Hero 6 - Trailer #2 [VO|HD] by addictomovie

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Review: Kevin Smith's 'Tusk' Starring Justin Long and Michael Parks

Kevin Smith is both a director whose work is both easy to love and easy to dislike. He cultivated a large and extremely loyal following telling personal and very funny stories about his life growing in New Jersey. Whether you cared about hockey or the Quik Stop, they were films that were easy to relate to. But then Smith got famous, grew disenfranchised with the movies he was making and the Hollywood system, and set out on a different path; one that sees him making fewer movies for his fans but more for him....or somebody. There's an audience out there for his latest, the creepy crawly body horror Tusk, but it's not this Smith fan.

Tusk was inspired by an episode of Smith's podcast, and if that sounds like one flimsy-ass basis for a movie then you are so right. It's a one-note gag stretched to the limit, but worse it's devoid of Smith's razor sharp wit and personal insights. It's not for lack of trying, but every attempt comes off as limp, Smith-lite. For instance, the protagonist is Wallace (Justin Long), a smartass with a podcast that got popular for making fun of people. Wallace and his buddy Teddy (Haley Joel Osment, looking...uhh, unlike Haley Joel Osment) call their show the Not-See Party, for reasons hardly worth explaining. But you see the obvious gag in it, right? Say it and it sounds like Nazi Party, a joke we're steamrolled with far too often.

When a pseudo-Star Wars Kid chops off a limb (some awful special effects there, by the way)  in a stunt gone wrong, Wallace books it to Canada to interview him. But when the meeting goes awry in strangely downbeat fashion, Wallace must find something else to do in the great white north. A couple of dusted-off Canada jokes later (people say "aboot" there!!) and Wallace is invited to Manitoba and the estate of Howard Howe (Michael Parks), a recluse with a ton of stories at his disposal and the unending desire to tell them. If the "Most Interesting Man in the World" were a little more sing-songy and awkward, he'd be Howe. Over tea he tells Wallace about his storming the beach at Normandy, meeting famous people, and most amazingly the one time he was rescued from death by a Walrus. He's particularly fond of that story. Disturbingly so. That tea wasn't so innocent, after all. Wallace is conked out, waking up to discover that he's Howard's captive and soon to be fitted for his own Walrus suit made out of human flesh. It just needs some alterations to fit a pencil neck like Wallace.

The first encounter between Howard and Wallace is disturbing in the way the best body horrors should be. We already know what's coming but the buildup is truly intense, helped by yet another phenomenally creepy performance by Parks. He worked wonders as the violently fundamentalist preacher in Smith's religious horror Red State, and he brings many of the same commanding qualities to Tusk. Smith has always had trouble editing down his scripts but being overly wordy is a benefit when Parks is regaling us with one wacky story after another. He's terrific here, making grounding Howard in reality by making him the twisted result of some terrible trauma, not just some freak with a fetish for animals. Strangely enough, the less of Justin Long you see the better he is. Maybe he should wear a walrus suit in all of his movies.

It's after we've seen Wallace in the suit that the film loses steam, as if Smith has totally shot his wad (he'll probably appreciate that turn of phrase) with the reveal. Basically it's a one trick walrus. From there it becomes a goofy, unfocused rescue mission as Wallace's longtime girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) teams up with Teddy and detective Guy Lapointe (better to leave whose playing him a secret) to find him. The introduction of Lapointe is a total disaster as it basically forces Smith to spend inordinate amounts of time with the huge star playing him. One can hardly blame him for that, but it would help if Lapointe was a character we could believe. Instead he's this total Pepe Le Pew stereotype, a cartoonish buffoon in a fake nose and accent. Whatever point Smith is trying to make about humans and their baser, animalistic urgings are lost every time Lapointe opens his mouth. Smith has never been the most visually inventive director but he was always able to get by because the script and characters are usually so endearing. That's certainly the case when Parks is doing his thing but the rest of the way it's not, and Smith's stagnant camera work becomes a real chore. It's also not clear what tone he's going for. Tusk is hardly gruesome in a Human Centipede sort of way, but it's not especially funny, either.

The first of a proposed trilogy, which unfortunately will include the Lapointe character in each, Tusk is undoubtedly Smith's strangest film in more ways than one. It's hard to tell exactly what he was going for. Was it just to do something different? There's no shame in that, but there's also something to be said for doing what one does best, and Tusk is not Smith at his best.

 Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Comic-Con: Bizarre Trailer for Kevin Smith's Horror, 'Tusk'

The Kevin Smith movies of today are very different from early in his career, at least on the surface. It's been awhile since his last New Jersey comedy featuring his View Askew characters, and lately Smith has been trying out a number of different filmmaking styles. A few years ago he released Red State, a politically-charged thriller/horror about a fanatical religious cult. But his latest film Tusk promises to be the weirdest and perhaps the scariest thing he's ever done, and now the first trailer is here.

Smith revealed the Tusk trailer during his annual Comic-Con show, and to say this stuff is strange is an understatement. Starring Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, and Genesis Rodriguez (with a Johnny Depp cameo), the film centers on a podcaster who becomes the unwilling victim of a man with an unhealthy obsession with walruses. Tonally this is unlike Smith has ever done but when you hear the Canadian "aboot" jokes you know his comedic voice is still there.

This is going to be a tricky film to pull off but clearly Smith has been fired up by it with a spinoff already in the works. Tusk hits theaters September 19th.

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First TV Spot, New Trailer, and Full Voice Cast for Disney's 'Big Hero 6'

Although we've seen trailers and promos for Disney's animated Marvel Comics film, Big Hero 6, very little of the characters' voices have been heard. The only confirmed voice casting up until now had been TJ Miller (currently seen in Transformers: Age of Extinction), Maya Rudolph, and Jamie Chung (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), but now we have the full rundown along with a new trailer and TV spot for the superhero 'toon.

Teenaged martial artist Ryan Potter of Nickelodeon's Supah Ninjas will voice robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada; his robotic pal Baymax will be played by 30 Rock's Scott Adsit; Damon Wayans Jr. (New Girl) voices Wasabi No-Ginger; and Genesis Rodriguez (Casa De Mi Padre) is Honey Lemon. Miller is voicing Fred aka Fredzilla, Chung is Go Go Tomago, while Rudolph is Aunt Cass. Also coming aboard are James Cromwell, Firefly's Alan Tudyk, and Daniel Henney (Shanghai Calling)  in supporting roles.

Big Hero 6 opens November 7th. Check out the new TV spot, a Baymax promo, and some new images below.

Big Hero 6 Trailer #3 by itsartmag

Big Hero 6 - Spot TV #1 [VO|HD] by Team Lyricis


Big Hero 6 Official Viral Video - Meet Baymax! (2014) by Teaser-Trailer.com

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Kevin Smith Enlists 'Tusk' Cast to Star in Christmas Horror 'Anti-Claus'

It wasn't that long ago that Kevin Smith seemed to be on the verge of hanging up his camera for good. Tired of haggling with studios, especially after the whole Cop Out fiasco, he went in a different direction with Red State and decided to become even more of an indie filmmaker than before. It invigorated him, sparking plans for the hockey comedy Hit Somebody, Clerks III, and the upcoming horror film, Tusk. And now he's adding one more to the mix, and it's going to be Christmas horror with a lot of familiar faces on board.

According to The Wrap, Smith will next direct Anti-Claus, about " a devil-like creature known around the world as the Krampus" that emerges during the holidays to eat naughty children. Starring in it will be Justin Long, Genesis Rodriguez, Michael Parks, and Haley Joel Osment, all of whom worked with Smith on Tusk.

Filming is set to begin this fall, which likely means that Clerks III won't shoot next month as Smith previously stated. Hit Somebody went from a two-part movie to a miniseries to nothing, and who knows what this means for that Helena Handbag project Smith recently talked about. 

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Genesis Rodriguez goes 'Home'; Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson Join 'Suffragette'

 
* Genesis Rodriguez, who was last seen in Hours opposite Paul Walker, has joined Topher Grace in the Blumhouse thriller, Home. Co-starring Patricia Clarkson and directed by Dennis Illiadis (the underrated Plus One),  the story has Grace as a former mental patient who moves into a newly-inherited mansion. Soon after he begins to think the home is possessed by a supernatural force. I think I see where this one is going. Besides the horror geniuses at Blumhouse Productions, the film will also be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio through his Appian Way banner. [TheWrap]

* The increasingly awesome cast of women's rights drama, Suffragette, just got a little bit better with the additions of Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson. They join Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter, Romola Garai, Anne-Marie Duff and Samuel West in a story focusing on the early days of the suffrage movement as women fought for the right to vote. Whishaw worked with director Sarah Gavron on the BBC series, The Hour, and will play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic. Gleeson was, unfortunately, last seen in The Smurfs 2 and hit Sundance last month for the dark comedy, Calvary. Filming on Suffragette begins next week. [ScreenDaily]

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New trailer for 'Identity Thief' with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy

"She's like a hobbit. I'm going after Bilbo". Well, I guess it can't hurt to tie-in to the top grossing movie of the week, but everything else about the trailer for Identity Thief looks pretty average. Melissa McCarthy doing Kelis' 'Milkshake' in the passenger seat? Meh. She deserves better, and since she didn't get hardly anything to do in Judd Apatow's This is 40, hopefully Identity Thief's best gags are being held back.

Sporting a huge head of hair, McCarthy plays Diana, a criminal down in Florida who has stolen the identity of Sandy Bigelow Patterson, using his accounts to go on a whirlwind shopping spree. To save his good name and credit, Sandy travels across country to track her down, only to run into trouble trying to drag her all the way back to Denver. There are a couple of decent laughs and zingers, like when McCarthy tries unsuccessfully to run away only to be chased down easily, but in general this looks like a conventional road trip comedy. Ok, the bit with her and Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet is kinda great.

Directed by Seth Gordon(Horrible Bosses) and co-starring Amanda Peet, T.I. Harris, Genesis Rodriguez, Morris Chestnut, John Cho, and Robert Patrick, Identity Thief opens on February 8th 2013.

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Genesis Rodriguez joins Paul Walker in the Hurricane Katrina thriller, 'Hours'

Having learned to make quite an impression with limited amounts of screentime, a talent she no doubt learned during her days on Spanish soap operas, Genesis Rodriguez has been making quite the impact lately. She was one of the few redeeming aspects of Man On A Ledge, as Jamie Bell's feisty girlfriend. She'll also appear opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand, with Will Ferrell in Casa de mi Padre, and everybody on the planet in What to Expect When You're Expecting.

Next on her list is Hours, an upcoming thriller starring Mr. Fast and the Furious himself, Paul Walker.  This is one of a number of movies Walker has recently attached himself to, including Vehicle 19 and a remake of District B13(noooo!!!). Rodriguez's role is unclear, but the film has Walker as a father trying to protect his newborn daughter in a New Orleans hospital as it's ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. So maybe she'll play the kid's mommy? Just a guess.

Eric Heisserer(Final Destination 5) wrote the script and will direct.  [Deadline]

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