Big Hero 6 review

BIG HERO 6:

A CLEVER AND ENGAGING BLEND OF DISNEY ANIMATION AND MARVEL EXCITEMENT!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

DISNEY

Hiro and Baymax off to save the world in Disney’s Big Hero 6

            From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the studio that brought us unforgettable films like Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, and Frozen return with their latest animated family adventure, Big Hero 6, based on the Marvel comic book of the same name. We all know most Marvel films like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy are more geared towards tweens and older audiences, but this film captures the excitement and humor of the live-action Marvel films but with animation and offers something for the kids to enjoy as well.

            The film is about a young boy named Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) who is the younger brother of inventor and student at San Fransokyo Tech, Tadashi (voiced by Daniel Henney-X-Men Origins: Wolverine) who has been working on a project that can help humans, a huggable walking balloon robot named Baymax (voiced by Scott Adsit-30 Rock, St. Vincent) designed to heal the sick and injured.

            Basically whenever someone gets hurt, literally the minute someone says “Ow!” he’ll inflate out of his suitcase and help the person out. Tadashi introduces Hiro to Baymax and the rest of his science crew, quirky Honey Lemon (voiced by Génesis Rodriguez-Entourage, Man on a Ledge, Casa de Mi Padre), tomboy girl GoGo (voiced by Jamie Chung-The Real World: San Diego, Sucker Punch, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), laser cutting expert Wasabi (voiced by Damon Wayans, Jr.-The Other Guys, Let’s Be Cops), and comic book nerd Fred (voiced by T.J. Miller-How to Train Your Dragon, Transformers: Age of Extinction).

            Soon Hiro becomes interested in the things Tadashi and his tech crew does and decides to leave his past dream of winning Robot Fighting bets, which is apparently illegal in their world. Tadashi tells Hiro about an event happening at his school where people can come and show off something they invented, and if the professors are impressed they will be enrolled in the school.

            After long sleepless hours, Hiro creates little microscopic flying robots called Microbots, which can transform into anything, whether it’s a building or a giant hand. Unfortunately after Hiro presents the Microbots, Tadashi suddenly perishes in a fire in the school and dies.

            After some time has passed, Baymax makes his way into Hiro’s home and the two of them become best friends. Hiro and Baymax eventually realize that someone has stolen his Microbots and is copying them, an unknown supervillain wearing an intimidating mask known as Yokai.

            So Hiro gears Baymax and Tadashi’s old crew and the six of them become a superhero team like no other, to defeat Yokai and save the day before the Microbots are unleashed.

            Overall, Big Hero 6 is a very entertaining movie, whether you’re a kid, adult, or fan of Marvel comics or Disney. I for one am a fan of both, so I really got a kick out of this movie, the action felt like Marvel but the animation, humor, and characters felt like Disney.

            Besides the action, animation, and humor, the relationship Hiro has with Baymax is absolutely charming and sweet, the two of them are inseparable, quite similar to Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope Von Schweetz’s friendship, a big guy with a big heart and a child.

            I haven’t seen a Disney film this action packed in a while and it’s always great to see Disney tackle new things, which is exactly why I enjoyed Wreck-It Ralph so much, the same thing can be said with Big Hero 6. It’s action, comedy, animation, Disney, and Marvel put together, what could be better than that?

            The movie is up there with Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph as one of my favorite Disney CG animated films, the past few years have been great for Disney and I look forward to seeing what they will think of next, because this was a very satisfying animated feature. It’s The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy for young kids, but older audiences and fans of Marvel is certain to enjoy this film as well.

SPECIAL REVIEW: Sonic Boom review

SONIC BOOM:

A COLORFUL AND COMEDIC ADVENTURE WITH EVERYONE’S FAVORITE BLUE HEDGEHOG!

By Nico Beland

Show Review: *** out of 4

SEGA

(From left to right) Sticks the Badger, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, and Miles “Tails” Prower starting up a Sonic Boom

            Everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog from the popular Sega video game franchise returns to television in the new animated series on Cartoon Network, Sonic Boom. Like most of the previous Sonic cartoons like Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog SATAM, and Sonic Underground, the series is more of a spinoff of the games, the characters have a new look but still keep most of the iconic trademarks we all know, the Chaos Emeralds are nowhere to be found, and we have a paranoid badger and an even more cuckoo Amy Rose joining the crew.

            So far the only Sonic cartoon that had the most accuracy to the games was the 4Kids Saturday morning anime, Sonic X and while the setups and situations were familiar to people who grew up with the games (like me), the show’s editing was absolutely dreadful, but I still enjoyed it, because all I wanted to see was Sonic. Unlike Sonic X, Sonic Boom’s editing is much better, new redesigned characters who are extremely likable, and the writing is very witty and leads to some big laughs, everything Sonic X should have been.

            The first episode that aired on Saturday November 8^th, The Sidekick follows Sonic (voice reprised by Roger Craig Smith) on the evil genius, Dr. Eggman’s (voice reprised by Mike Pollock) tail, and this time he’s got a surprise for that blue hedgehog, his latest robot known as Burn-Bot, which is funny because he doesn’t burn but instead he has claws. After his two-tailed best friend Tails (voiced by Colleen Villard-Danny Phantom) crashes his plane, Sonic decides to “Fire” him from the duo, so he sets up tryouts and interviews for a lucky resident to become his new sidekick, so Tails can relax and enjoy retirement, the residents included the massive and heavy on fist-fighting echidna, Knuckles (voice reprised by Travis Willingham), quirky pink hedgehog who has the “Hots” for Sonic, Amy Rose (voice reprised by Cindy Robinson), a nerdy beaver…Don’t ask, and of course Eggman.

            Did Sonic do the right thing when he asked Tails to retire and does the mad doctor have an evil plot up his sleeve? Watch the episode and find out for yourself. 

            The second episode, Can an Evil Genius Crash on Your Couch for a Few Days? Is a more comedic episode of the series, the premise is on a cold rainy night, Dr. Eggman and his two robots, Cubot (voice reprised by Wally Wingert) and Orbot (voice reprised by Kirk Thornton) knock on Sonic and Tails’ door and asks them if he can crash for a few weeks because his lair was destroyed. Sonic and Tails agree to let him stay and it eventually turns into the worst time of their lives.

            Eggman is reckless and often very childish, knocking Sonic and Tails with a pillow every now and then and blowing an even more annoying kazoo. Sonic and Tails can’t take it anymore and asks for advice from their friends, Knuckles, Amy, and newcomer, Sticks the Badger (voiced by Nika Futterman-Kim Possible) and Amy suggests a roommate meeting with Sonic and Eggman to try and settle the bitter rivalry between them.

            However Sticks is certain that Eggman may have a secret plot to destroy them, but she is very paranoid and energetic, so maybe she’s just blurting nonsense…right?

            Overall, I’m glad I got up early this morning to experience this new Sonic cartoon; it’s probably my favorite Sonic cartoon, yes I might even think it’s better than SATAM. The setups are funny and exciting, the dialogue and writing itself is very humorous, the animation is very colorful and is sure to appeal to both kids and adults, and the characters still have all the likability we all enjoy from the games and previous cartoons.

            The editing and pacing is very solid and funny, no 4Kids fingerprints in sight, it’s a Sonic cartoon on Cartoon Network and you know what, I’m perfectly okay with that. I always felt Sonic would belong on Cartoon Network rather than 4Kids and now here he is with a Sonic Boom.

Interstellar review (100TH POST!)

INTERSTELLAR:

A BREATHTAKING ADVENTURE THROUGH SPACE AND TIME YOU WILL NEVER FORGET!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Matthew McConaughey and a group of astronauts saving the human race in Interstellar

            Complex filmmaker, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Memento) strikes back with his latest visually stunning character driven journey known as Interstellar. Now at first you’ll probably think it’s going to be like last year’s space adventure by Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity, but no, not exactly.

            The film isn’t entirely about astronauts in space but more about the survival of the human race and Albert Einstein’s relativity theory about how when humans are moving at the speed of light, time slows down. Nolan executes it perfectly with complex story arcs, incredibly strong character development, and gripping suspense and special effects that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

            The movie stars Matthew McConaughey (The Lincoln Lawyer, Fool’s Gold, Dazed and Confused) as Cooper, a widowed astronaut living on a farmland with his two children, son, Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and daughter, Murphy nicknamed Murph (Mackenzie Foy-The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2, The Conjuring). When Cooper realizes that the end of mankind is coming, he is recruited by Professor Brand (Michael Caine-The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, The Muppet Christmas Carol) to lead a group of astronauts into space to find a new home for human survival.

            So Cooper and his astronaut crew, Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway-The Dark Knight Rises, Alice in Wonderland, Les Miserables), Romilly (David Gyasi-Red Tails, Cloud Atlas), Doyle (Wes Bentley-American Beauty, The Hunger Games, Cesar Chavez), and a talking robot guide, TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin-How The Grinch Stole Christmas, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Adventures of Pete and Pete) fly into space in search for a new world that will save humanity from starvation and death and along the way they run into many surprises and twists.

            Overall, Interstellar is an amazing film, no scratch that, it’s an experience, especially if you’re watching it in IMAX. The visual effects and scenes where the astronauts are flying into wormholes and alternate dimensions are absolutely breathtaking, you feel like you’re flying with them.

            Besides the special effects and suspense, the character development is very strong, especially the chemistry behind McConaughey and his daughter, it’s really emotional and tragic when he has to leave his family to save the world but he does promise that he’s coming back, at least that’s what he says, but we don’t know. The film is full of surprises and twists and half the time you have no idea what’s going on, much like Inception and Memento, it’s one of those movies where you really have to pay attention to understand everything, but that’s part of the Nolan fun.

            It’s definitely one of Christopher Nolan’s best films and it’s always refreshing to see him direct a movie that doesn’t relate to Batman. The film isn’t too heavy on action or having an antagonist, but the characters, visuals, and suspense are enough to keep audiences thrilled, human extinction is the bad guy, which is a lot more interesting than a traditional villain, just as long as Roland Emmerich has nothing to do with it.

            If you enjoyed Christopher Nolan’s movies in the past and love movies heavy on character and story, chances are Interstellar is going to be a ride through space and time you will never forget, especially on the giant IMAX screen.

Nightcrawler review

NIGHTCRAWLER:

A GRITTY, STYLIZED, AND INTELLIGENTLY CRAFTED BEAST THAT RIDES IN THE NIGHT!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

OPEN ROAD FILMS

Jake Gyllenhaal uncovering the story as the Nightcrawler

            Screenwriter Dan Gilroy (The Fall, Chasers, Two for the Money), brother of The Bourne Legacy and Duplicity director, Tony Gilroy makes his directional debut with the new crime thriller, Nightcrawler, starring the Tobey Maguire look-alike himself, Jake Gyllenhaal (Zodiac, Prisoners, Donnie Darko). The film has a very unique style with camera work and set lighting, kind of a stylized art-house-ish gritty tone that’s very similar to films like End of Watch and Ryan Gosling’s Drive and it really adds a lot to the suspense and tone that the film goes for.

            For a directional debut, Nightcrawler is a very clever thriller, the film doesn’t focus completely on the heavy violence and murder scenes but more on Gyllenhaal’s character and his partner, almost like a buddy cop movie, except it’s not.

            Jake stars as a man in Los Angeles, California known as Lou Bloom, who is desperately searching for a job and always ends up around gruesome crime scenes. He eventually goes rogue and starts videotaping the incidents that occur and report them to the local TV news channel to see if he can make some money off it.

            In comes news veteran, Nina (Rene Russo-Thor, In the Line of Fire, Get Shorty) who is losing ratings on her channel and desires gritty and important news stories, who befriends Lou and offers him a job to videotape and report crime scenes. Lou also recruits Rick (Riz Ahmed-Closed Circuit), a young man desperate to make money and agrees to assist Lou on his quest for stories and stay ahead of his competition, a snooty Nightcrawler named Joe Loder (Bill Paxton-Twister, Edge of Tomorrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

            Overall, Nightcrawler is a very clever thriller, definitely has that Drive and End of Watch feel to it that definitely makes it more watchable, the driving scenes felt they were ripped right out of Drive and the chemistry between Gyllenhaal and his assistant almost feels like the buddy cops in End of Watch. The two of them have very remarkable chemistry and you always want to know what’s going to happen to them when something is about to go down.

            And of course the side characters like Rene Russo and Bill Paxton are a ton of fun to watch, especially the jerky and over the top Paxton. Although I would have to say Rene Russo’s character is developed better than Bill Paxton’s, she’s basically the love interest and tough boss, but she’s no “Bad Guy” or has a dark side, she’s just doing her job and it’s very believable when she talks to Jake Gyllenhaal about the footage he has.

            I guess my only problem with the film is that it doesn’t dive entirely into what actually happens during the murder and crime scenes, it mostly takes place after the incidents occur, but I don’t know I love how the film takes its time with how everything unfolds and the suspense it builds along the way.

            If you’re a Jake Gyllenhaal fan, you’re probably going to love his performance in this movie; it might be him at his best. Also if you want a clever but not too over the top thriller, chances are you should take that ride with the Nightcrawler, you won’t regret it.