Big Hero 6

There's been a mixture of concern and excitement ever since Marvel Comics was bought out by Walt Disney. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has alleviated most concerns, there have still been very few full-on collaborations between the two companies. Sure, Disney XD airs animated series based on Marvel characters, which in turn have crossed over with Disney Channel shows like Phineas & Ferb and Jessie (I have yet to see the latter). Big Hero 6 marks the first time Disney has made a movie on its own based on Marvel characters, who are obscure enough that they could be passed off as original Disney creations.

The film takes place in San Fransokyo, a unique blend of the two cities it's named after. It centers around Hiro Hamada, a teenage genius who graduated high school early, but hasn't found a constructive outlet for his abilities. He's into underground robot fighting, but this gets him in trouble. Hoping to straighten him out, his older brother Tadashi takes him to his school and shows him around. It's here in the robotics lab, which looks like something straight out of Disney's own Imagineer Laboratories, that we meet the rest of the main characters- GoGo Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. All of them are geniuses in their own way, each with their own unique inventions (except Fred, who's just the school mascot). Tadashi also introduces Hiro to his own project, a health care robot named Baymax. After seeing all of this and a chance meeting with their Professor Callaghan, Hiro is amazed and wants to apply.

The opportunity presents itself in the form of an annual exhibition held to gain admission. Hiro recreates his fighting robot in mass quantities on a smaller scale, resulting in microbots--tiny modules controlled by a headband that can link up together and create anything the wearer imagines. The display wows the audience and Callaghan, as well as attracting the attention of local businessman Alistair Krei. When offered the choice between the school and a job at Krei Tech, Hiro chooses the former.

Just as Aunt Cass (Tadashi and Hiro's guardian) is about to take everyone out to celebrate, a fire breaks out at the exhibition. Callaghan is still inside, so Tadashi runs in to save him. The building promptly explodes, resulting in Tadashi's death. The loss shakes Hiro to his core, and he no longer seems interested in the school. Then one day, he stubs his toe, triggering Baymax's activation. While struggling to avoid Baymax's nurturing, Hiro discovers that one of his microbots is still active and seems to be trying to go somewhere. Hoping finding the location will help Hiro's mental state, Baymax sets off with it, forcing Hiro to follow him.

The microbot leads them to a seemingly abandoned warehouse. The two look inside and find an assembly line where the microbots are being kept, and maybe even replicated. They run into a masked man (who is apparently called Yokai despite being unnamed in the film), who then attacks them using the microbots. They run, and just barely escape.

Hiro tries to go to the police, but the officer isn't really convinced. Baymax's battery is running low, so the two leave the station and head home. Back in his charging station, Baymax notices Tadashi's absense, and Hiro has to explain that he's dead. While Baymax makes attempts to comfort him, Hiro figures out Yokai must have been responsible for the fire so he could cover his tracks and steal the microbots.

Hiro upgrades Baymax with some karate skills and body armor, and they make another attempt to use the microbots to find Yokai. They arrive at a pier, and the microbot is lost. Suddenly Tadashi's friends all drive up. Baymax had called them, out of concern for Hiro. Yokai suddenly appears and attacks them, leading to a car chase as the six escape. At first their slowed by Wasabi's insistence on obeying traffic laws, but they finally get away when GoGo takes the wheel. Baymax managed to make record of Yokai's vital signs, so he would be easier to find later.

They end up at Fred's house, who is revealed to be a millionaire who's parents are away on business a lot. His house contains a lot of geek memorabilia, and contain a few nods to other Marvel characters if you look closely enough. As the characters interact, Fred reaches the same conclusion that the rest of the audience would have by this point; Yokai must be Alistair Krei. I was glad to see him make that realization, since the other characters are all genius science prodigies, while he was just the school's mascot.

Hiro then goes about creating super suits for himself and the others while upgrading Baymax's armor and capabilities, all based around their own inventions from their introductory scenes. Honey Lemon gets multi-colored balls that she can throw/shoot that provide smokescreens, adhesives, and other uses. GoGo Tomago's armor lets her skate on magnetic wheels, which she can also use as a weapon. Wasabi gets laser knives attached to his wrists, and Fred wears a fire-breathing dragon suit.

Baymax's own upgrades give him flight and rocket fists. Hiro can fasten himself aboard Baymax to fly around with him. The first flight is rough, but soon becomes a breathtaking bird's eye view of San Fransokyo. Baymax notices that Hiro's biochemistry indicates that Hiro's emotional state is improving during the flight. They take a rest on one of the several floating propellers over the city. (I'm assuming they're windmills for the city's power grid.) Because Baymax sees Hiro's getting better, he thinks he might be ready to deactivate. Before this could follow through, Baymax picks up Yokai's signature on an abandoned island. The six regroup and investigate.

They discover an abandoned Krei Tech facility, where a teleportation experiment went awry, resulting in the machine's destruction and the loss of a test pilot. Yokai has been using the microbots to salvage the gateways and attacks the six when he discover them. All of them aim for the mask to break his connection with the microbots. Hiro finally gets him down, but when the mask is off, it's not Krei. It's Professor Callaghan. He'd used the microbots to shield himself from the fire, and shows no signs of remorse that Tadashi lost his life going back for him. This revelation shatters Hiro, who removes Baymax's health care protocol chip and orders him to destroy Callaghan. Baymax's eyes turn red and he launches his entire arsenal against Callaghan. He retrieves his mask and escape, while the other heroes restrain Baymax long enough to put the health care chip back in. Hiro is furious, and takes off back home, abandoning his friends on the island. These and the scenes that follow are some of the most emotional to watch.

Baymax realizes that he had been tampered with. Despite not changing his friendly tone of voice, he just sounds like his feelings are hurt. Hiro makes another attempt to remove the chip, but is locked out this time. His fury breaks down into sadness, and everything he kept bottled up about his brother's death comes to the surface. Baymax then shows Hiro some recorded footage of Tadashi, which documented his own creation and the setbacks along the way. By the time he was complete, Tadashi was overjoyed at his creation and the difference he'll make in people's lives. This brings Hiro back down to earth, and he apologizes to Baymax.

The others find Hiro at his home, Fred's butler having picked them up. They found some additional footage from the accident, revealing that the pilot lost was Callaghan's daughter, and all of Yokai's actions are motivated by revenge for what happened to her. The six regroup and head to the opening of  a new Krei Tech facility, where Callaghan is set to use Krei's own gateway to destroy his new building and take him out. Attempts to talk him down fail, and the fighting resumes.

Realizing Yokai's supply of microbots is finite, the team then focuses on attacking them instead of going for the mask, each one figuring out a unique way to use their weapons. The microbots get sucked into the portal with everything else, until Yokai has run out of ammunition. Baymax picks up a life sign inside the portal, and they realize Callaghan's daughter must still be alive inside, albeit in stasis. Hiro hops on Baymax and they blast inside to retrieve her.

Inside what I can only assume is the Negative Zone, they find the shuttle and steer it towards the gateway. However, Baymax's armor is damaged and they seem trapped. Baymax attaches his rocket fist to the shuttle, and again requests deactivation. Hiro is, of course, resistant, but Baymax affirms that he is a health care companion, and Hiro is his patient, so his survival is his responsibility. Reluctantly, Hiro says he's satisfied with his care. Baymax begins to deflate as his armored fist propels Hiro and the shuttle to the portal. Callaghan's daughter is taken away in an ambulance while he is taken away in a police car. I thought he would smile at the sight of his daughter, but he never did, perhaps at the realization that because she's alive, his drive for revenge was meaningless.

Hiro returns home with Baymax's gauntlet, and discovers his health care chip inside the fist, giving him what he needs to rebuild his friend. In the wake of everything that happened, Hiro officially enrolls into the school (where Tadashi is given a memorial building), and the six continue their lives as superheroes.

After the credits, Fred is looking at his family portrait and discovers a secret room. His dad (portrayed by Stan Lee) then comes in behind him, revealing himself as a former superhero. They hug and seem to have a lot to talk about.

This movie really is the perfect blend of Marvel and Disney. The animation looks amazing, and the story has a lot of heart. It can really hit close to home if you've experienced the loss of a close friend or family member, and it handles that grief very realistically. Baymax is an adorable, wonderful character. It was really cool to see that each member of the team was smart in their own way. It was also great that there was very little conflict between them, aside from Hiro's own baggage about losing his brother. Honey Lemon and GoGo Tomago seem like characters who wouldn't like each other (or at least that GoGo would find Honey irritating). Their designs are complete opposites of one another. Honey's a tall blonde who loves bright colors, and GoGo's a shorter, black-haired girl with a bit more attitude. Nonetheless, they're still friends and it was a pleasant surprise they never argued once. Wasabi got the least exposure out of the group, but at least he has a distinct personality. Fred was another pleasant surprise, as he seemed like the one normal guy on a superhero team full of tech experts. But over time, he displays his own resourcefulness and is more than just the mascot.

I can definitely recommend this movie.

Feast

This cute little short precedes Big Hero 6. It's shown from the perspective of an adorable little dog named Winston after a man takes him in off the street. He loves food, as any dog would, and most of the short is a montage of him eating. Meal times, table scraps, and other things that happen to get spilled. Then suddenly his owner gets a girlfriend, and all of his meat, cheese and snacks are replaced by leafy greens, and Winston is none too happy about that. When she walks out on the man, the feasting resumes. However, one day, Winston notices how sad his owner has become, then runs out of the house with a piece of parsley to find the girl. What would seem like a chance encounter for these two gets them back together, and they get married. By the end, Winston is not only feasting on their table scraps, but the scraps dropped by their children as well.

Like Paperman, Feast uses 2.5D animation. It's made with a computer, but the cel-shading and character models mimic hand-drawn features. A few sounds aside, there's no dialogue, commonplace for this type of short, letting the visuals and actions tell the story, and does a wonderful job on all counts.

Arrow- The Secret Origin Of Felicity Smoak

Last week, she made a guest appearance on The Flash. This week, she gets a whole episode focused on her character and back story. Back in college, she was going through a hacktivist goth phase, tapping into government databases just to see if she could. However, when her boyfriend at the time attempts to her super-virus technique to erase a few student loans, it gets him arrested. He takes the wrap for creating her program, and seemingly commits suicide in prison before his sentencing.

Flash forward to present day, and her mother is paying a visit to Starling City. She's the typical embarrassing parent following her daughter wherever she goes, and given her absurdly youthful and well-endowed appearance, has probably has some work done. Apparently, Felicity's father, who was also very intelligent, abandoned them both when she was younger. Some of the drama feels a bit out of left field, especially since Felicity's interaction with her mother begins comically. However, this may have been intentional. She had won a free plane trip to Starling City, because the bad guy needed her there.

As for the bad guy, it turns out to be Felicity's dead boyfriend. He was recruited by the NSA after his arrest, and his death was a cover story. Years later, he's turned Felicity's super-virus into Brother Eye, the name of a sentient satellite in DC Comics which provides the power source for the superhuman OMAC. His master plan was to steal a bank shipment set to arrive thanks to Brother Eye cutting power to the city earlier in the episode, and when bank records go dark, standard procedure is to send them a shipment of cold hard cash to tide it over (something like that). Under duress, Felicity uses Brother Eye to change the destination on the armored car's GPS, sending the bank to their location. Things don't look good for them, but then she remembers the watch Ray Palmer gave to her mom at the start of the episode--a new invention of his, that replaces your computer and has wifi. She uses it to get in touch with Oliver, who promptly shows up to save the day.

Meanwhile, Laurel is still working though her sister's death. She's taken up training with a boxer, and even confides in him about Sara's murder. It's good to see her open up to someone about this, but I really wish she'd tell her father. Captain Lance knows something's up, and I can't imagine how mad he's going to be at her for keeping this from him. Also, Ollie and Thea are beginning to reconnect. She has a place of her own, now that she's back in Starling, but Oliver has some issues that she bought it with Malcolm Merlyn's money, especially now that they both know he's alive. In the end, she decides not to keep her "inheritance", and give it to some earthquake relief charity, and seems to invite Oliver to move in with her. It's nice to see the Queen siblings work things out, and I'm hoping one of these days, as he's trying to be more honest with her, tell her that he's the Arrow.

The plot really thickens at the end with Roy Harper, who's having trouble sleeping. His nightmare seems to reveal that he's the one who killed the Canary. Worth noting is that he wasn't in costume, and instead of using a bow, he threw the arrows into Sara's chest with his bare hands. Could his subconscious still be under the influence of Mirakuru? It's been months since he was cured before Deathstroke's siege on the city. If there were any victims before or since Sara, Oliver probably would have heard about it by now. So we have some questions answered, and some new ones to ponder until next time.

The Flash- Going Rogue

This episode gets a few bonus points thanks to the presence of Felicity Smoak making a guest appearance, taking a break from her work with the Arrow to catch up Barry. The "previously on" segment at the start was a nice reminder of Barry's appearances on Arrow, as well as Cisco and Caitlin's cameo later on.

There was a good amount of chemistry between Felicity and Barry, and it was nice to see them catch up. It's unfortunate that they're both crushing on somebody else they can't have. (Felicity on Oliver, Barry on Iris.) I don't think it's impossible for them to hook up again, but even if they gave up on their unrequited loves, we can't expect Felicity to leave Starling City every other week (even if it is just a quick jog for Barry).

Joe's been a little on edge since he found out Eddie was dating his daughter. He's trying to adjust, but they're both cops in a city where crime is just going to get dangerous. It makes sense after he lost his partner in the first episode, and the idea that one of them might get hurt and cause Iris grief is not something he wants to live with. Nonetheless, Eddie's still a good cop and has Joe's back, even after he tried to keep him on the sidelines.

We're also introduced to Leonard Snart, Captain Cold. He's the first villain in the series who isn't a metahuman. His cold gun was an invention of Cisco's that was stolen from STAR Labs. Since they didn't know who Barry was at the time, Cisco built it to counter Barry's super speed, since friction and heat are impossible at absolute zero. This episode's also a first in that the villain gets away, without being killed or captured. Snart noticed the Flash's concern for civilians and used that to keep him busy, leading to an amazing rescue as Barry pulls people out of a crashing train as it barrel rolls.

Harrison Wells was seemingly absent during the stinger in this episode, but it did show how Snart's henchman obtained the cold gun. This might mean there's another person in STAR Labs who's collaborating with Wells in his attempt to ensure the Flash's existence. There's still a lot of questions that need to be answered about him. I'm looking forward to finding out what those answers are.

George A. Romero's Night Of The Living Dead LIVE

This Halloween, Dayton Playhouse debuted a stage adaptation and affectionate parody of the classic movie that defined the zombie genre of today. The play is made to resemble the monochrome of the original film. All of the costumes, props, and makeup are shades of black, white, and gray. The sets and costumes all look great, but honestly the makeup is a bit odd, since they did the actor's faces more than anything else. As such, their less made-up arms and hands stick out a bit, but this is a minor detail and easy enough to look over.

The first act is a fairly straightforward (albeit tongue-in-cheek) re-telling of the movie. A woman named Barbara flees for her life as the dead begin to rise and gets cooped up in a house with several strangers, all scared for their own lives. We have Ben, a competent and resourceful black man who does the most to survive; Harry and Helen Cooper, an irrational man and his wife trying to look after their bitten daughter Karen in the cellar; and teenagers Tom and Judy. While Ben tries to fortify the house and formulate an escape, Harry insists on keeping everyone in the cellar (the "safest place"), and Helen and Judy (same actress) take turns looking after Karen.
There's some nice gags throughout this part of the show. A couple that stood out to me were the scary music stopping once Barbara reaches the house. She opens the front door again, we hear the music, and she closes the door to stop it again. Then, we have Ben fortifying the house while the radio gives instructions and advice, syncing up with his actions. As with the movie, Judy and Tom blow up trying to get the truck to the gas pump, Ben finally shoots Harry when he gets out of hand, and the house is overrun when Barbara sees her brother Johnny among the horde. Ben is forced into the cellar, finding that Karen has turned and is chowing down on her parents, and he has to put all three of them down. He lasts until morning, when he's shot and killed by Vince, mistaken for a zombie. As Police Chief McClelland speculates how things might have played out if they'd just gone into the cellar, the first act ends.

The second act goes off on a tangent from the movie, proposing scenario after scenario in which the characters might have been able to survive, all of them end in failure. They include:
-Everyone goes into the cellar, only for things to turn south after Karen reanimates. Harry shoots everyone dead (except Barbara, who attempts to leave the cellar and gets eaten.) Harry survives until morning, but gets shot just like Ben would have.
-Ben is an all-American white instead of a black man, switching actors with McClelland. Tom and Harry more readily listen to him, but the women are put off by his misogynistic tendencies. The house is still overrun, but Ben survives until morning. He gets shot by McClelland for not accepting his authority.
-Barbara, Judy and Helen take charge instead of the men. Things start off okay, but Tom runs out to Judy only to get himself and Judy set on fire. The men all end up outside and eaten, while it's implied that Karen ends up eating Helen and Barbara.
-One member of the group decides to sacrifice themself for the sake of the others, only for each of them to sacrifice themselves one after the other.
-The characters attempt to mimic the zombies in an effort to blend in with them. It falls apart when they balk while trying to eat someone. Barbara, however, goes full-on quisling and attacks Ben.
-Barbara attempts to teach her undead brother Johnny to be human again.
-The characters are armed with enough firepower to take out the undead easily, but don't have the training to use their weapons and only end up shooting themselves. Barbara survives unscathed, but accidentally pulls the pin out of a grenade.

Vince and McClellan finally conclude that there was no possible way for them to survive, because there was no way they could set their differences aside and just work together as a team since we just don't live in that kind of world. A final scenario plays out, set to a rousing musical number, where they do just that; banding together to take out the zombies and hold out until morning...only to still get shot by the anti-zombie cavalry.

This was an excellent send-up of the movie, and a fun way to spend the evening, especially if you're a fan of the zombie genre. While the original is still a classic horror film, it's still a very dated movie, and a product of its time in some ways. This play does a wonderful job celebrating what was good about it, while making fun of everything else.

This particular version can still be seen on the weekends until November 9, 2014 at Dayton Playhouse.