BIG HERO 6 (PG)
4 stars
Fourteen-year-old Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter) idolises his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney), who is a star pupil of Professor Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell), head of the robotics programme at San Fransokyo University.
A fire on campus culminates in tragedy and shell-shocked Hiro is inconsolable until his brother’s greatest creation, a self-inflating personal healthcare robot called Baymax (Scott Adsit), helps the teenager to confront his loss.
As the boy discovers Baymax’s functionality, he also stumbles upon a secret: the fire might not have been an accident. Indeed, a greedy entrepreneur called Alistair Krei (Alan Tudyk) might have started the blaze.
Aided by Tadashi’s loyal friends GoGo (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans jun), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) and Fred (T.J. Miller), plus an upgraded Baymax, Hiro resolves to discover the truth about the deadly inferno.
Based on an obscure title from the Marvel Comics universe, Big Hero 6 is a rip-roaring animated romp, which embraces the old-fashioned family values of the Walt Disney brand alongside cutting-edge computer technology.
The inquisitive automaton Baymax is the stuff that sweet celluloid dreams are made of: tender, loving and unwittingly hilarious.
Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams orchestrate the thrilling action set-pieces with brio, including an unconventional dash through the undulating streets of San Fransokyo that knowingly flouts traffic laws.
The animators and script never lose sight of the central relationship of Hiro and Baymax, sketching that
bond in exquisitely deft strokes.
All formats include Patrick Osborne’s delightful Oscar-winning short Feast, which charts the relationship between a Boston terrier and his master.
WILD (15)
4 stars
In 1994, 26-year-old Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) decides to come to terms with the death of her mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern), by embarking on a gruelling 1,100-mile solo trek along the Pacific Crest Trail, passing through California, Oregon and Washington.
She is ill-prepared for her odyssey, weighed down by a cumbersome backpack overstuffed with useless items including the wrong gas canister for her cooking stove.
Alone in this unforgiving wilderness, Cheryl relies initially on the kindness of strangers to survive, but gradually nurtures her survival instincts to overcome her fears and the perilous terrain.
Her exhausting journey is punctuated by nightmarish memories of Cheryl’s descent into sex and alcohol-fuelled oblivion – a futile effort to salve the pain of Bobbi’s death, which sounds the death knell for her marriage to her husband, Paul (Thomas Sadoski).
“I’m going to walk myself back to the woman my mother thought I was,” Cheryl resolves.
Anchored by a tour de force Oscar-nominated performance from Witherspoon, Wild is an emotionally uplifting drama that celebrates the endurance of the human spirit and the restorative power of a mother’s love.
Strayed’s memoir has been elegantly adapted for the big screen by British novelist Nick Hornby. The fragmented timeline doesn’t impact greatly on dramatic momentum and Hornby distills some powerful scenes of threat and self-reflection.
Director Jean-Marc Vallee, who helmed yesteryear’s Oscar winner The Dallas Buyers Club, directs with flair, juxtaposing the picturesque splendour of Cheryl’s surroundings with the internal darkness that nudges her to the brink of self-destruction.