Discuss and Rate the Last Film You Watched
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Are you some kind of robotic policeman? A Robo-cop, perhaps?
Nope, but I guess the premises are pretty similar. In Upgrade's case, the AI makes him less a superhero and more a Neo from The Matrix.
Just watched the 1990 miniseries version of It. Surprisingly solid overall, especially given the made-for-TV part. That said, the childhood portions of the film were easily the stronger parts of the film, driven by solid acting from the child actors (Seth Green among them in one of his earliest roles), and most of the rest of the movie was carried on the shoulders of Tim Curry, who actually managed to make Pennywise the Clown intimidating when he needed to be, but funny in a dark way when necessary.
The rest of the movie was...acceptable, but nothing really special. The adult actors definitely came off as TV actors, in that they tended to be over-the-top dramatic when they needed to be. There were still some neat moments, like the "joker" of the group as an adult having to psych himself up in the bathroom before coming out to meet the group in his usual irreverent manner, but the adult portions of the film were definitely the weaker points, and the climax was especially disappointing. Overall, a decent watch, and better than I expected it to be, but still had some serious flaws that can't be dismissed as just "well, it's a miniseries".
The rest of the movie was...acceptable, but nothing really special. The adult actors definitely came off as TV actors, in that they tended to be over-the-top dramatic when they needed to be. There were still some neat moments, like the "joker" of the group as an adult having to psych himself up in the bathroom before coming out to meet the group in his usual irreverent manner, but the adult portions of the film were definitely the weaker points, and the climax was especially disappointing. Overall, a decent watch, and better than I expected it to be, but still had some serious flaws that can't be dismissed as just "well, it's a miniseries".
Forgotten.
Excellent Korean drama that throws one curveball after another. Two brothers share a room in a new house when they are told not to enter a closed room down the hall. One of the brothers get kidnapped after which a week of radio silence follows. Then suddenly the brother returns again, seemingly ok but something isn't quite right. The story twists and turns from there and just when you think you figured it out it takes another turn. There is so much to unpack but even the slightest hint spoils it. I love the intensity in the emotions. Korean actors don't hold back. I also really like the filming style. No weird edits, quick cuts or glossy filters that take me out of the experience. Just a fantastic movie.
Excellent Korean drama that throws one curveball after another. Two brothers share a room in a new house when they are told not to enter a closed room down the hall. One of the brothers get kidnapped after which a week of radio silence follows. Then suddenly the brother returns again, seemingly ok but something isn't quite right. The story twists and turns from there and just when you think you figured it out it takes another turn. There is so much to unpack but even the slightest hint spoils it. I love the intensity in the emotions. Korean actors don't hold back. I also really like the filming style. No weird edits, quick cuts or glossy filters that take me out of the experience. Just a fantastic movie.
Archive:
This is an indie movie. It was released onto streaming services to buy in 2020 to very little fanfare. I only found out about it due to a random youtube trailer showing me it and I added it to my google play wishlist and has sat on it since it's about November release. I finally bought it now.
I'm putting the trailer there so people know what I saw and what made me curious enough to go into the film.
The basic synopsis is that after an accident Robotics and AI research engineer George loses his wife. Her consciousness lives on through the use of archive technology the problem being it's a technology that uses analogue methods to retain a consciousness and they have an expected lifespan before failing completely. At just over 2 years Jules archive is starting to fail, already George can't call to talk to her when he wants but has to wait for her consciousness to call through to him on the video chat system. They have set it up so they have agreed to talk at certain times so he can be ready. The idea of the system is so when she's ready to move on the archive box storing her consciousness will be dismantled. Before the accident George was offered a research opportunity at an old abandoned research base where he now lives along with the archive containing Jules consciousness and two robots J1 and J2. His contract was to get the base up and running again and build viable prototypes of his proposed AI robots. George however is using his research as a chance to build a way to bring a version of his wife back using consciousness patterns he's managed to extract from the archive. J1 his first prototype is very basic and he determined it's AI research the equivalent capacity of a 5 year old child. J2 is more advanced both in terms of the robotic housing and AI with it being determined to have research the level of thought complexity and capacity of a 15 / 16 year old and physically looks kinda of like a more clunky Asimo. J3 is his new project is his most advanced yet.
The story follows the events around George trying to get the base back up dealing with the faults that develop or he finds while working to complete J3 and eventually download his wife consciousness into it. With the added complication of J2 feeling like it's being replaced while he tests the range of consciousness of J3 using the AI algorithm derived from partially extracted archive data and having to deal with the archive company who suspect his work may be violating their IP and patents by using things derived from their technology.
Stylistically it seems to have a lot of elements that look straight out of Blade Runner with sleek black sports cars, people with cybernetic implants and big blaster pistols. Also though it has a lot of elements that feel right out of Ex Machina with the isolated location and surrounding wilderness.
Effects wise, for the most part it's pretty damn impressive with the only real bit that doesn't quite work being when J3 is upgraded to a more humanoid form where it looks far more like just makeup on an actress than an actual robot (think maybe slightly better than Commander Data in terms of the end result)
Before I put more here I'll say it feels like Ex Machina but while Ex Machina's ending felt somewhat mean spirited and spiteful like a warning from an episode of Black Mirror, Archive doesn't. Archive feels like it earns it's ending. It isn't perfect it has the very indie movie issue of long panning shots of scenery every now and again to pad it's runtime, dunno why it clocks in at 1 hour 43 and cut down a bit could have been a leaner 1 hour 30 and some of the elements it focuses on feel like they should have had some pay off or symbolic purpose but don't and come off as filler or red herrings. It's well worth watching though to see more for yourself. For those who don't want to see more or chance it having some of it ruined for you, time for spoilers
This is an indie movie. It was released onto streaming services to buy in 2020 to very little fanfare. I only found out about it due to a random youtube trailer showing me it and I added it to my google play wishlist and has sat on it since it's about November release. I finally bought it now.
I'm putting the trailer there so people know what I saw and what made me curious enough to go into the film.
The basic synopsis is that after an accident Robotics and AI research engineer George loses his wife. Her consciousness lives on through the use of archive technology the problem being it's a technology that uses analogue methods to retain a consciousness and they have an expected lifespan before failing completely. At just over 2 years Jules archive is starting to fail, already George can't call to talk to her when he wants but has to wait for her consciousness to call through to him on the video chat system. They have set it up so they have agreed to talk at certain times so he can be ready. The idea of the system is so when she's ready to move on the archive box storing her consciousness will be dismantled. Before the accident George was offered a research opportunity at an old abandoned research base where he now lives along with the archive containing Jules consciousness and two robots J1 and J2. His contract was to get the base up and running again and build viable prototypes of his proposed AI robots. George however is using his research as a chance to build a way to bring a version of his wife back using consciousness patterns he's managed to extract from the archive. J1 his first prototype is very basic and he determined it's AI research the equivalent capacity of a 5 year old child. J2 is more advanced both in terms of the robotic housing and AI with it being determined to have research the level of thought complexity and capacity of a 15 / 16 year old and physically looks kinda of like a more clunky Asimo. J3 is his new project is his most advanced yet.
The story follows the events around George trying to get the base back up dealing with the faults that develop or he finds while working to complete J3 and eventually download his wife consciousness into it. With the added complication of J2 feeling like it's being replaced while he tests the range of consciousness of J3 using the AI algorithm derived from partially extracted archive data and having to deal with the archive company who suspect his work may be violating their IP and patents by using things derived from their technology.
Stylistically it seems to have a lot of elements that look straight out of Blade Runner with sleek black sports cars, people with cybernetic implants and big blaster pistols. Also though it has a lot of elements that feel right out of Ex Machina with the isolated location and surrounding wilderness.
Effects wise, for the most part it's pretty damn impressive with the only real bit that doesn't quite work being when J3 is upgraded to a more humanoid form where it looks far more like just makeup on an actress than an actual robot (think maybe slightly better than Commander Data in terms of the end result)
Before I put more here I'll say it feels like Ex Machina but while Ex Machina's ending felt somewhat mean spirited and spiteful like a warning from an episode of Black Mirror, Archive doesn't. Archive feels like it earns it's ending. It isn't perfect it has the very indie movie issue of long panning shots of scenery every now and again to pad it's runtime, dunno why it clocks in at 1 hour 43 and cut down a bit could have been a leaner 1 hour 30 and some of the elements it focuses on feel like they should have had some pay off or symbolic purpose but don't and come off as filler or red herrings. It's well worth watching though to see more for yourself. For those who don't want to see more or chance it having some of it ruined for you, time for spoilers
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Now for the spoilers for Archive:
Ok I'm going to open these spoilers by saying the following. These spoilers content content that relates to teenage suicide that's the content warning. I don't normally do content warnings on stuff but some issues are that sensitive I feel I must put in a turn back now thing.
So if you're still here reading this it's time to get into spoilers.
Throughout the film we see J2 being concerned about not being good enough and being replaced and is seemingly upset when J3 find the game of playing with a virtual dog to be silly and simplistic claiming she loved it. Eventually J2 takes J3 to meet Jules archive box and it's implied J2 reveals the truth in an attempt to get J3 to learn the truth thinking it's the right thing to do. J2 also constantly walks off to admire and think near a waterfall. J1 and J2 are meant to avoid getting wet due to not being fully water proof. After it's revealed that J2 too J3 to see Jules archive unit and smashed up parts of the house and then hid the partially finished J3 and starts acting out George sets J2 to charge in sleep mode for 2 days during which time he removes J2's legs to take components to make J3 a pair of legs due to limited components being available on the base meaning not being able to fully fabricate a new set. J2 is reawakened after the 2 days and us upset to find her legs are now different but still functional and doesn't believe George's claims when he says he will build her brand new legs soon.
After J2 sees the newly upgraded J3 and George dancing together she gets depressed and goes for a walk to think at the waterfall. Unfortunately her charge is low and she makes it back to the house but not the base before shutting down into an emergency power saving state. George and J3 find her and get her back into the charging dock. Once recharged George talks to her and say to talk to him when she feels better. J2 then walks to a nearby lake before dropping a toy robot doll and walking into the lake killing herself.
Throughout the film there's been talk of actions by the company behind archive technology and them being suspicious of George potentially tampering with the archive box and believing his research might be using their technology without authorisation (which it is). An initial visit has them suspicious and there's evidence George and the base are under surveillance including a drone being spotted at one point in the distance. J2's suicide in the lake and George being unable to find her results in the archive company finding her and finding out she was based on archive technology.
J3 develops with flashes of memory from Jules but not fully being her as her AI was base on a partial data extract. She starts to develop feelings for George based on memories of Jules and George together with her at one point climbing into bed with him but being upset when he wakes up and tells her to go.
The archive company sends a corporate retrieval squad to take George's prototypes and the archive unit containing Jules causing George to lock down the base. He opens his emergency corporate response box to fully seal the base only to be told by his superior he's on his own due to the damage to the company his work may do in court if they act to defend him further. He reveals to J3 that her AI was basically a test to make sure the body could handle consciousness to the level and complexity needed and he wants to download Jules actual consciousness from the archive into her. J3 objects to this seeing herself as her own being pointing the gun from the corporate response pack at George. J1 offers herself instead as a vessel for Jules consciousness but George says he can't download Jules into her because he didn't build J1 well enough and she's not advanced enough to be able to handle Jules.
Seeing how much George cares and with the Archive company unit inside the base attempting to breach the lab J3 lowers the gun . After one final call with Jules consciousness in the archive unit now reduced to audio only via a phone receiver George says he'll be with her soon. Seeing how much he cares J3 Tells George to do it. After downloading Jules consciousness into J3 and the archive box now having supposedly died J3 gets up and hugs George asking what's going on where is she. Then the phone attached to the Archive box begins to ring. J3 implores George not to answer but he does anyway. It's Jules and she's saying the archive is expiring and it will be the last time she can talk to him and he hears another voice a voice that of a young girl who says goodbye to him too. George turns to look back at J3 as the lab doors are breach and open to reveal there was no corporate retrieval squad at all. The film then cuts to a close up of the archive box and zooms out to show Jules and George's daughter (whom Jules was pregnant with before the crash) standing in front of an archive box with members of the Archive company staff standing by. As Jules and her daughter walk off the Archive staff member offers his condolences on her loss
Yes George died in the crash and the entire base and things that played out was his consciousness inside the archive. The reason he couldn't call Jules but she could call him was because of his Archive slowly failing. Throughout the film the strange flashes of dreams George has been having of him and Jules having a family family events and walking in the snow with her turn out to have been her connecting to his archive and to have been real things with him experiencing them (it's implied) via Archive connected cameras and Jules camera phone. The faults with the base that kept happening being implied to have be manifestations of his archive failing and his consciousness interpreting those things. Building J3 and her being independent was his consciousness working to try and move on from Jules and becoming ready to move on which ultimately he was unable to truly let her go before the end.
So if you're still here reading this it's time to get into spoilers.
Throughout the film we see J2 being concerned about not being good enough and being replaced and is seemingly upset when J3 find the game of playing with a virtual dog to be silly and simplistic claiming she loved it. Eventually J2 takes J3 to meet Jules archive box and it's implied J2 reveals the truth in an attempt to get J3 to learn the truth thinking it's the right thing to do. J2 also constantly walks off to admire and think near a waterfall. J1 and J2 are meant to avoid getting wet due to not being fully water proof. After it's revealed that J2 too J3 to see Jules archive unit and smashed up parts of the house and then hid the partially finished J3 and starts acting out George sets J2 to charge in sleep mode for 2 days during which time he removes J2's legs to take components to make J3 a pair of legs due to limited components being available on the base meaning not being able to fully fabricate a new set. J2 is reawakened after the 2 days and us upset to find her legs are now different but still functional and doesn't believe George's claims when he says he will build her brand new legs soon.
After J2 sees the newly upgraded J3 and George dancing together she gets depressed and goes for a walk to think at the waterfall. Unfortunately her charge is low and she makes it back to the house but not the base before shutting down into an emergency power saving state. George and J3 find her and get her back into the charging dock. Once recharged George talks to her and say to talk to him when she feels better. J2 then walks to a nearby lake before dropping a toy robot doll and walking into the lake killing herself.
Throughout the film there's been talk of actions by the company behind archive technology and them being suspicious of George potentially tampering with the archive box and believing his research might be using their technology without authorisation (which it is). An initial visit has them suspicious and there's evidence George and the base are under surveillance including a drone being spotted at one point in the distance. J2's suicide in the lake and George being unable to find her results in the archive company finding her and finding out she was based on archive technology.
J3 develops with flashes of memory from Jules but not fully being her as her AI was base on a partial data extract. She starts to develop feelings for George based on memories of Jules and George together with her at one point climbing into bed with him but being upset when he wakes up and tells her to go.
The archive company sends a corporate retrieval squad to take George's prototypes and the archive unit containing Jules causing George to lock down the base. He opens his emergency corporate response box to fully seal the base only to be told by his superior he's on his own due to the damage to the company his work may do in court if they act to defend him further. He reveals to J3 that her AI was basically a test to make sure the body could handle consciousness to the level and complexity needed and he wants to download Jules actual consciousness from the archive into her. J3 objects to this seeing herself as her own being pointing the gun from the corporate response pack at George. J1 offers herself instead as a vessel for Jules consciousness but George says he can't download Jules into her because he didn't build J1 well enough and she's not advanced enough to be able to handle Jules.
Seeing how much George cares and with the Archive company unit inside the base attempting to breach the lab J3 lowers the gun . After one final call with Jules consciousness in the archive unit now reduced to audio only via a phone receiver George says he'll be with her soon. Seeing how much he cares J3 Tells George to do it. After downloading Jules consciousness into J3 and the archive box now having supposedly died J3 gets up and hugs George asking what's going on where is she. Then the phone attached to the Archive box begins to ring. J3 implores George not to answer but he does anyway. It's Jules and she's saying the archive is expiring and it will be the last time she can talk to him and he hears another voice a voice that of a young girl who says goodbye to him too. George turns to look back at J3 as the lab doors are breach and open to reveal there was no corporate retrieval squad at all. The film then cuts to a close up of the archive box and zooms out to show Jules and George's daughter (whom Jules was pregnant with before the crash) standing in front of an archive box with members of the Archive company staff standing by. As Jules and her daughter walk off the Archive staff member offers his condolences on her loss
Yes George died in the crash and the entire base and things that played out was his consciousness inside the archive. The reason he couldn't call Jules but she could call him was because of his Archive slowly failing. Throughout the film the strange flashes of dreams George has been having of him and Jules having a family family events and walking in the snow with her turn out to have been her connecting to his archive and to have been real things with him experiencing them (it's implied) via Archive connected cameras and Jules camera phone. The faults with the base that kept happening being implied to have be manifestations of his archive failing and his consciousness interpreting those things. Building J3 and her being independent was his consciousness working to try and move on from Jules and becoming ready to move on which ultimately he was unable to truly let her go before the end.
Big Hero 6 (8/10)
This film is good. Really good. Considering that this was Disney's first attempt at a superhero film, in a genre that's saturated, and dominated by Marvel properties at that, it's frankly astounding that it's as good as it is. It's actually kind of frustrating that this movie isn't even better because it stumbles, IMO, in some key ways.
So, basically, if BH6 has a core theme/motif, it's the idea of dealing with grief, being able to move on, and arguably, the question of legacy. We see this in various characters, such as Hiro losing his brother, and Callaghan his daughter. Both lose their brother/daughter in an accident, and the motif is clear, that Callaghan is what Hiro could be if he allowed himself to be consumed with grief, and gave in to anger. I mean, yeah, sure, that's a well-worn trope, but it's a trope that's handled excellently, namely in the film's quieter moments, with Hiro suffering from depression, and later, before finally breaking down in front of Baymax, who shows him recordings of his brother. However, it drops the ball in that Callaghan's actions arguably works. He reconstructs the teleporter as part of his effort to get revenge on Krei, and yet, by doing so, that allows Hiro to go in, save his daughter, and, well...
Yeah, it doesn't really reflect well on the idea of moving on/not giving in to grief when Callaghan's inability to do so is what allows his daughter to return, however indirectly. Similarly, with Baymax. Yes, it's a tear-jerker, with Baymax and Hiro parting ways, but he's not really dead, and Hiro can construct a new body for Baymax's chip at the end. So, Callaghan gets his daughter back, Hiro gets his friend back, and, um...what was this about the themes of grief and loss? Because at the end of the day, only Takashi is the one that's still gone forever. I don't think this ruins the idea of the themes per se, but the more I think about it, the more I'm bugged by how the film kind of chickens out.
That said, the route to getting there is good, though part of what stops this from being an excellent film is that the superhero stuff is the least interesting stuff to me here. You could easily have had a slower, quieter, more introspective movie here, of the themes I mentioned above, but with less action, and more character development. This isn't a fault with the film per se, I mean, it's clearly advertised as a superhero film, but even so, character development and theme is more important to be than action. At least here, with the former two being as strong as they are.
Anyway, to list off some other stuff:
-I really like the aesthetic of San Fransokyo, but the film does nothing to explain why the city is the way it is. From what I've read, it's a case of San Francisco being destroyed by an earthquake, and Japanese migrants helping to rebuild it, hence the cultural fusion thing (I'm sure there's some people in the corners of the Internet that screamed cultural appropriation when this film came out), but if that's the case, the film doesn't explain any of it.
-I really like the STEM part of the film. Not just because I'm kind of a sucker for that stuff (even if I don't have a technical bone in my body), but that all of the devices of the main characters feel like they have at least one foot in reality. As in, lasers using magnetic containment, or Honey Lemon's satchel using the periodic table...yeah, it's far-fetched, but arguably more down to Earth than, say, Tony Stark whipping out elements for plot convenience. The geek/STEM stuff is part of why I feel this film could have been even better as a drama piece.
-All of the said Six are...well, maybe not developed, but all have defined personality traits, so that works. All are pleasent to be around. That said, what's up with Fred? He's clearly the odd one out, and his 'thing' is that he's...um...genre savy? Yeah, I don't really know why Fred is here, and I was expecting that to come up as a plot point, that he's the only member of the team who isn't a tech genius, but it never comes up.
This film is good. Really good. Considering that this was Disney's first attempt at a superhero film, in a genre that's saturated, and dominated by Marvel properties at that, it's frankly astounding that it's as good as it is. It's actually kind of frustrating that this movie isn't even better because it stumbles, IMO, in some key ways.
So, basically, if BH6 has a core theme/motif, it's the idea of dealing with grief, being able to move on, and arguably, the question of legacy. We see this in various characters, such as Hiro losing his brother, and Callaghan his daughter. Both lose their brother/daughter in an accident, and the motif is clear, that Callaghan is what Hiro could be if he allowed himself to be consumed with grief, and gave in to anger. I mean, yeah, sure, that's a well-worn trope, but it's a trope that's handled excellently, namely in the film's quieter moments, with Hiro suffering from depression, and later, before finally breaking down in front of Baymax, who shows him recordings of his brother. However, it drops the ball in that Callaghan's actions arguably works. He reconstructs the teleporter as part of his effort to get revenge on Krei, and yet, by doing so, that allows Hiro to go in, save his daughter, and, well...
Yeah, it doesn't really reflect well on the idea of moving on/not giving in to grief when Callaghan's inability to do so is what allows his daughter to return, however indirectly. Similarly, with Baymax. Yes, it's a tear-jerker, with Baymax and Hiro parting ways, but he's not really dead, and Hiro can construct a new body for Baymax's chip at the end. So, Callaghan gets his daughter back, Hiro gets his friend back, and, um...what was this about the themes of grief and loss? Because at the end of the day, only Takashi is the one that's still gone forever. I don't think this ruins the idea of the themes per se, but the more I think about it, the more I'm bugged by how the film kind of chickens out.
That said, the route to getting there is good, though part of what stops this from being an excellent film is that the superhero stuff is the least interesting stuff to me here. You could easily have had a slower, quieter, more introspective movie here, of the themes I mentioned above, but with less action, and more character development. This isn't a fault with the film per se, I mean, it's clearly advertised as a superhero film, but even so, character development and theme is more important to be than action. At least here, with the former two being as strong as they are.
Anyway, to list off some other stuff:
-I really like the aesthetic of San Fransokyo, but the film does nothing to explain why the city is the way it is. From what I've read, it's a case of San Francisco being destroyed by an earthquake, and Japanese migrants helping to rebuild it, hence the cultural fusion thing (I'm sure there's some people in the corners of the Internet that screamed cultural appropriation when this film came out), but if that's the case, the film doesn't explain any of it.
-I really like the STEM part of the film. Not just because I'm kind of a sucker for that stuff (even if I don't have a technical bone in my body), but that all of the devices of the main characters feel like they have at least one foot in reality. As in, lasers using magnetic containment, or Honey Lemon's satchel using the periodic table...yeah, it's far-fetched, but arguably more down to Earth than, say, Tony Stark whipping out elements for plot convenience. The geek/STEM stuff is part of why I feel this film could have been even better as a drama piece.
-All of the said Six are...well, maybe not developed, but all have defined personality traits, so that works. All are pleasent to be around. That said, what's up with Fred? He's clearly the odd one out, and his 'thing' is that he's...um...genre savy? Yeah, I don't really know why Fred is here, and I was expecting that to come up as a plot point, that he's the only member of the team who isn't a tech genius, but it never comes up.
-Also, Baymax. Baymax is great. He could have been irritating, but nup, great. Still, Baymax does kind of irritate me in a different way, I mean, Takashi built him to be a nursing robot (I don't know why the world needs nursing robots, since clearly a real nurse is better than Baymax), and Hiro turns Baymax into a superhero. It's like...I dunno, I guess I'm not fond of the message that you have to be a superhero in this world to do good, when in reality, medicine saves more lives than any fictional hero ever could. I've had similar problems in the genre (see The Flash and Supergirl), but it kind of bugs me here. There's the question of honouring legacy, so while Baymax is helping people at the end, it's not in the way his designer intended.
-Going to comment on the twist with Krei/Callaghan, as...well, I'll post my thoughts here:
1: "Welp, Callaghan is going to be the bad guy, because Krei's much too obvious."
2: "Holy shit, they're actually going to make Krei the bad guy. Sigh..."
3: "Hah, Callaghan WAS the bad guy. As I knew all along."
4: "...that's actually a pretty good twist as to why he's the bad guy, and why Krei is still involved, and in hindsight, nice name drop at the start."
So, yeah. That works as well.
-Much as they're some of the least interesting parts, the action scenes are well done, even if we have the trope of "first fight, team can't work together, fail" followed by "fight where team can now work together despite not having time to improve anything, but meh, super power of teamwork I guess."
Overall, very good film. Not perfect, but what it does, it does excellently.
-Going to comment on the twist with Krei/Callaghan, as...well, I'll post my thoughts here:
1: "Welp, Callaghan is going to be the bad guy, because Krei's much too obvious."
2: "Holy shit, they're actually going to make Krei the bad guy. Sigh..."
3: "Hah, Callaghan WAS the bad guy. As I knew all along."
4: "...that's actually a pretty good twist as to why he's the bad guy, and why Krei is still involved, and in hindsight, nice name drop at the start."
So, yeah. That works as well.
-Much as they're some of the least interesting parts, the action scenes are well done, even if we have the trope of "first fight, team can't work together, fail" followed by "fight where team can now work together despite not having time to improve anything, but meh, super power of teamwork I guess."
Overall, very good film. Not perfect, but what it does, it does excellently.
Fred's there because he's rich. Everyone else got into the college by being super smart with tech, he just bought the school a wing. 
I'd also argue that having Callaghan's daughter return doesn't completely undo the idea of not moving on past grief. Remember, she returns just in time to see her dad get arrested for all the crap he did in the name of avenging her death. Meanwhile, he has to live with the knowledge that everything he did was completely pointless, because even what little justification he had for himself was gone as soon as he saw his daughter was still alive.
That said, I agree with most of your review. I loved the scene that showed how many times Tadashi had to tweak/improve Baymax before actually getting him to work.
I'd also argue that having Callaghan's daughter return doesn't completely undo the idea of not moving on past grief. Remember, she returns just in time to see her dad get arrested for all the crap he did in the name of avenging her death. Meanwhile, he has to live with the knowledge that everything he did was completely pointless, because even what little justification he had for himself was gone as soon as he saw his daughter was still alive.
That said, I agree with most of your review. I loved the scene that showed how many times Tadashi had to tweak/improve Baymax before actually getting him to work.
Two things:
I suspect the bringing back of Baymax was to facilitate the television series - which I thought was really, really good personally. If you have DisneyPlus, check it out.
Big Hero 6 is a Marvel property, one done deliberately in a manga style. And boy oh boy, is there very little resemblance between those comics and this movie. And thank fuck for that says I.
Yeah that's always a problem with an ensemble cast in a feature length film. If you take time away from the main plot to flesh them out further, you run the risk of shortchanging the main plot. Those definitely work better in an ongoing format, like a tv show, or a serial comic. I still think they did a good job of differentiating them all enough to be enjoyable.
He's mostly the comic relief/goof character, and the one that is meant to push them towards the idea of being a super hero team. The rest of them, at first, are all like "pssh, that's crazy! we're just students and kids! we can't be super heroes! You're nuts!" But then he starts pointing out how they are already exhibiting the various tropes and traits, because of his genre savviness. So, it makes them warm up to the idea, via his laid back enthusiasm about it. He makes them overcome their hesitation about taking that risk, and embrace the idea of going out and being heroes, through sheeer, stoner dude excitement.
There's certainly an element of cynicism there, if the reason for Baymax returning being "we need him for the TV series." Like, I dunno, maybe if Hiro programmed his own Baymax it would lessen things (like, take GoTG - the films won't remind you of it, but the Groot we see from the second film onwards is separate from the first), but nup, it goes with the same Baymax thing.
As for Disney Plus, my subscription is about to expire. I've started playing Phantasy Star, and that's going to take up of 'electronic time' for me.")
Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the original comics?
I read a few after the movie. I just didn't care for them and preferred the way the movie did the characters. A big difference though is that Tadashi is NOT in the comic. He is an invention of the film. Like outside the names and a few visual items, there's not a lot the two versions share in common. I mean, if you're interested give a few of them a read. Might click with you better than they did me.
I don't think it's at all cynical that they brought Baymax back. It was painfully clear that he was housed in the actual hardware/software, not a balloon body. When I saw that movie in the theater I remember saying "Why are they acting like this is goodbye? Just take the memory stick with his coding. You're a computer genius, reboot him." and oh look! They did that!
Seen a few things since I last posted.
12 Monkeys
It's pretty good. Years of immersion in sci-fi mean I've seen basically everything it does before, and sometimes better, but it's not a bad execution of the concept.
Falling Down
I liked this quite a bit. The scenes with Michael Douglas are carefully balanced between being empathetic with his degrading mental state while also making sure his violence remains unsettling. Robert Duvall's performance as Prendergast is often overlooked but I think it's a really important part of the film, they had to contrast D-Fens' collapse with someone who manages to keep it together.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
This is a silent romantic drama from 1927. I quite enjoyed it. It's about a man trying to kill his wife and then gradually reconciling with her over the course of a day. Being a silent film gives it a level of inherent artifice that lets it get away with a premise that silly, although I think the section where they spend a nice day out in the city goes on for a bit too long. I think it's important to engage with cinema from many periods and this was an interesting experience even if it didn't completely work for me.
12 Monkeys
It's pretty good. Years of immersion in sci-fi mean I've seen basically everything it does before, and sometimes better, but it's not a bad execution of the concept.
Falling Down
I liked this quite a bit. The scenes with Michael Douglas are carefully balanced between being empathetic with his degrading mental state while also making sure his violence remains unsettling. Robert Duvall's performance as Prendergast is often overlooked but I think it's a really important part of the film, they had to contrast D-Fens' collapse with someone who manages to keep it together.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
This is a silent romantic drama from 1927. I quite enjoyed it. It's about a man trying to kill his wife and then gradually reconciling with her over the course of a day. Being a silent film gives it a level of inherent artifice that lets it get away with a premise that silly, although I think the section where they spend a nice day out in the city goes on for a bit too long. I think it's important to engage with cinema from many periods and this was an interesting experience even if it didn't completely work for me.
St Maud.
When I heard someone call religious belief a mental illness for the first time, it didn't quite gel, perhaps due to the stigma attached to the phrase "mental illness" and other reasons considered. But after seeing this laser-focused direction of a contemporary nurse with a frightening intensity of repressed catholic evangelicalism, it can be difficult to argue that religion doesn't at least enable and foster mental illness to a concerning degree. Brilliant direction with an astounding balance between keeping the viewer directly empathizing with her state of mind while maintaining just how unsettling and dangerous it all is. In some sense it reminded me of the unforgettable Under The Skin, even to the point of having a jarring use of CGI in one scene, but with less of a memorable soundtrack.
In Fabric.
People who I incorrectly assumed were cast straight out of EastEnders get haunted by a dress that may or may not be involved with an ongoing metaphor for our lovely capitalist systems of indirect oppression. Took me far longer than I'd like to admit to realise it was a dark comedy, as it was quite low-key for a bit. Unusual pacing, but not in a way that detracts. Overall, very interesting experience, with more to give on a second watch too. Saw the phrase "gothic capitalism" thrown around for this, and I'd say that isn't a bad descriptor to go with.
When I heard someone call religious belief a mental illness for the first time, it didn't quite gel, perhaps due to the stigma attached to the phrase "mental illness" and other reasons considered. But after seeing this laser-focused direction of a contemporary nurse with a frightening intensity of repressed catholic evangelicalism, it can be difficult to argue that religion doesn't at least enable and foster mental illness to a concerning degree. Brilliant direction with an astounding balance between keeping the viewer directly empathizing with her state of mind while maintaining just how unsettling and dangerous it all is. In some sense it reminded me of the unforgettable Under The Skin, even to the point of having a jarring use of CGI in one scene, but with less of a memorable soundtrack.
In Fabric.
People who I incorrectly assumed were cast straight out of EastEnders get haunted by a dress that may or may not be involved with an ongoing metaphor for our lovely capitalist systems of indirect oppression. Took me far longer than I'd like to admit to realise it was a dark comedy, as it was quite low-key for a bit. Unusual pacing, but not in a way that detracts. Overall, very interesting experience, with more to give on a second watch too. Saw the phrase "gothic capitalism" thrown around for this, and I'd say that isn't a bad descriptor to go with.
It's great to hear an opinion that's not an echo chamber from the film critics. I'm glad you bothered to go against the grain and stick out. Like I said before, Upgrade is a good movie, but one I'm not going to watch again for a long time.
There are those who watch films expecting perfection in every aspect, and those who watch films expecting to be entertained for a couple of hours; I'm of the latter camp. Upgrade entertained me, so it was "good."