Big Hero 6 (2014)
You know, I'm starting to really hate this movie.
I seldom label films as "so great, that it's best if I don't watch it ever again". Hardly ever. But, I really don't want to not like this movie, because when I first saw it, I hated the dialogue, but was overall blown away by the beautiful animation and visuals.
Spoiler (click to read)
The scene where Baymax and Hiro fly is tremendously heartwarming, and is much more emotional than any death scene throughout the film, in my opinion.
The background music compliments the scene well, too. But, you know what would match the scene perfectly? The Greek Fire song that plays during the trailers.
I hate Fall Out Boy. I've hated them ever since they first started to come around. I don't care who listens to them, and I don't care about what they say in defense of the band, they're fake and I hate them. Ever since they ripped off a lick from the song "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega. That song was my lullaby as a toddler, and I loved how she would speak the lyrics, instead of sing them. And I don't care if the band did it as a "tribute", or some other bullcrap, because now, when I hear an "up-and-coming band" steal a bit from her song, it makes me want to throw something. Just like how "Glory", by John Legend & Common, the song from Selma, which was another aspect of the Academy Awards/Selma controversy, makes me want to throw something, because of the fact that it's a rap song about Ferguson playing at the end of a Civil Rights movie, that takes place in the 1960s. I like John Legend's work. "All of Me" is a beautiful piano solo set to genius lyrics. It's my favourite song by him, and is my favourite song of 2013. But, "Glory" tries to send a lot of mixed messages, often trying to force them down other people's throats. Giving Common and Legend the Academy Award for Best Original Song (and I use the term "song" lightly) is pretty much the equivalent of awarding the Oscar to the Chief of Police in Ferguson, Missouri, in my honest opinion.
Fall Out Boy wrote the song for the movie, and boy, are we fortunate that the song wasn't nominated for an Oscar, like "Glory" from Selma, or all the glass windows in my home might as well be broken, let alone a single wooden chair! It isn't even featured in the trailers, yet it is played throughout a lot of the movie. I don't feel like it fits the theme of the movie as well as "Top of the World" by Greek Fire does. And don't even get me started on "Light 'Em Up"! In addition to that, don't come telling me that both songs share the same message. According to the lyrics, "Immortals" sounds like they're talking about how they could practically live forever.
Spoiler (click to read)
The song's presence in the movie is one big lie to us, because the characters in the San Fransokyo universe are, in fact, not immortal, as evidenced by the [expository] deaths of Hiro's parents and Tadashi's death. Plus, I don't think all the characters would be so scared to die, if they really were "immortal", as the song claims. The song pretty much ruins entire the movie for me.
For the "tl;dr" crowd, "Immortals" is not the right song for Big Hero 6, thus rendering the movie as less enjoyable for me, than for others.
"Top of the World" fits the movie in question, particularly because of the "flying scene". Baymax and Hiro are practically on top of the world, as they fly high above the sleek, futuristic skyscrapers of San Fransokyo. The song is an emotional, heart-pounding rollercoaster ride. The music video is good too. So, why did Disney market the film with the song so heavily and not end up using the song in the movie? It's really a great song.
I've also started becoming increasingly annoyed by the [no matter how quotable] dialogue. There was just a lot of things that a lot of people I know found really funny, and I couldn't understand why. Maybe that's exactly it, because the more people quoted it, and laughed at it, the less humorous it got. I liked the first few minutes of the movie, but watching a movie in a room filled with mainly teenagers is an entirely different ballpark than watching a movie, for the first time, in an eight-story movie theater in downtown Houston, in surround sound.
Once again, I really enjoyed Big Hero 6 the first time around, but seeing it again really wrecked it for me. Still way better than Frozen--oh! Without a doubt!
Still, I'm lowering my original score of the movie.
ORIGINAL SCORE: 9.3/10
NEW SCORE: 7.2/10
Really surprising how a second viewing of a movie can have such a drastic change on the viewer's thoughts and opinions on the film.
However, I gotta give it to Big Hero 6, for being one of the only Marvel movies of recent memory to actually be able to win an Oscar. But, I must ask: where are the first five movies?
Fletch (1985)
A cheesy, yet high-paced, 80s thrill ride, with Chevy Chase as your guide. Hey, that actually rhymed. Still, not as funny as his Vacation movies.
8/10
McFarland USA (2015)
It actually makes sense that the "USA" is actually dropped from the title when the film is screened in other countries.
In Kevin Costner's umpteenth sports movie, a group of all-Mexican fieldworkers-turned-high-school-cross-country-runners make it to the first-ever California State Championships...or so the movie claims.
Like any movie--especially a Disney biopic movie--the screen edition tends to stretch the truth. And by "stretch", I mean, turning the story into silly putty. The movie treats the town of McFarland, California, like some unsightly ghetto. But, McFarland is not a hopeless case. There are some nice neighborhoods outside of downtown. And that's another thing. The movie makes it look like Kevin Costner and his family have to drive through a field to get to school, but that fact is total bullcrap. When he is at the cornerstore (which in reality, is right across the road from the high school), the store owner tells Costner the address of his store, which is actually the real-life address. But, Costner states the address of his new house as being located somewhere on Cliff Avenue, when in reality, Cliff Avenue is located directly behind the high school. Their house is nowhere to be found on the real-life Cliff Avenue, due to the fact that the camera crew actually filmed a lot of the movie in Camarillo, California, instead of the titular town from the movie, which I can understand. Still though, the field nonsense is really weird.
Other made-up movie fluff is how Jim White, Costner's character, came to McFarland to escape a pastime of abuse towards his fellow teachers and students. In reality, Jim was living in McFarland for quite sometime, and the McFarland High School's cross-country team existed long before 1987, the year in which the movie is set.
Despite a lot of inaccuracies, the movie is really good. Even though it's also a race relations movie, it hits a lot closer to home than Selma, considering I'm Hispanic, and living in the predominantly-Hispanic Southern United States. A great watch; I would totally recommend McFarland USA to all.
8.5/10
Last edited by Mickey (March 12, 2015 (08:36pm))
Have you seen a big-chinned boy?