One of the best parts about living in today's society is the advanced graphics and animation featured in film. One of the most exciting animations to come out of 2014 was Big Hero 6 based on the comic series of the same name by Man of Action Entertainment. As a Disney production, the film was highly anticipated by myself and the masses. With there distinctive aesthetic, Disney animations continue to better themselves with each film produced.
The film opens in San Fransokyo, a futuristic city of advanced electronics with a heavy Japanese influence. We meet Hiro, an aspiring Robot Fighter, despite the activity being illegal, and his older brother Tadashi. In an attempt to persuade his younger brother to use his excellent intelligence in a more productive way, he takes Hiro to his University. It's here that Hiro meets his brothers friends and decides to enrol. During a tech conference, Hiro's brother is killed whist trying to save his professor and mentor Callaghan. Hiro, stricken by grief misses his classes at university but finds comfort in Baymax - a robot created by his brother to provide health care. The film explores Hiro's journey with grief and a heartfelt friendship between boy and robot. It's revealed that Callaghan is still alive and has a personal vendetta against a large robotics corporation leader, Alistair Krei of Krei Tech, whom he feels is behind the death of his daughter. Blaming him for his brothers death, Hiro attempts to use Baymax to kill the professor before being stopped at the last minute by Honey. Callaghan reveals his plan to use Hiro's micro robots to kill the Krei Tech President. Hiro and friends find themselves on a mission to protect Krei from Callaghan and to honour Tadashi's memory by providing care to those in San Fransokyo.
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The plot is simple yet touching which is necessary in films ultimately designed for children. There are several laugh out loud moments with Baymax and Hiro as they get to know each other. Including a prolonged scene involving Baymax deflating and a roll of sellotape. I particularly enjoyed the way in which this film explored grief. Whilst it's not uncommon for the death of a loved one to feature in a Disney production, it was interesting to see a character seek revenge and experience anger in the way that Hiro does as he tries to kill Callaghan. This shows an extreme version of very real emotions that can be felt after someone dies. And although this is resolved and Hiro decides to bring Callaghan to justice rather than killing him, it was an interesting scene in showing the complexities of the character.
The superhero element of the film was unexpected. Up until the half way point of this film, I thought that this would be entirely technical and would show the team bringing down their enemy with robots instead of taking him down themselves dressed in technologically advanced super suits. But it was sweet. It was reminiscent of childhood play when friends would get together and become superheroes for the day. This is what I imagine children are thinking when they don their home made superhero costumes and venture out into the backyard.
My final thoughts on this film are as follows: sweet, well executed and deep upon further inspection.
This film is just over two hours of tense military action with Bradley Cooper at the wheel. Based on Chris Kyle's autobiography, American Sniper follows the life of Kyle as he struggles to maintain his role as a father and husband whilst on tour of duty in Iraq. He becomes notorious for his sniping skills and throws himself into his military life, leaving his growing family to fend for themselves. The film takes an interesting look at the effect of military life on those left at home and resonates deeper than many war films because the story and characters are rooted in truth. The journey is touching at parts and is a seemingly honest interpretation of patriotism. And although I've never been completely comfortable with the idea of war and military invasions of middle eastern countries, I find these sorts of films fascinating to watch.
Bradley Cooper was a fantastic choice to play the lead and carried the film from the outset. There were no small surprise cameos which allowed for the films focus to be purely on the plot rather than big names to draw in audiences. Cooper and Sienna Miller, who plays his wife, were big enough themselves and I'm sure many people will flock to the cinema to see Cooper's new bulkier physique. Other notable names who made an appearance were Kyle Gallner, Eric Close and Jonathan Groff. It's rare these days that a cast works so fluidly together but that is certainly the case with American Sniper. In a strange way, the actors never distracted from the action on screen, which can so often happen in large blockbuster films. One thing I did notice was how different Sienna Miller looks in this film. I've never payed much attention to her but I'm pretty sure her face has changed. It could just as easily be age as anything else but I couldn't help but notice something was off. Needless to say, she's still beautiful.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, I think American Sniper will be a popular war films for years to come. It's heartbreaking at times but displays bold attempts of bravery and sheer determination from the American military. The most interesting choice on behalf of the film makers was the length of the scenes involving Kyle's family as the film progressed. I felt this showed how his priorities were changing and was a visual representation of how consuming war can be both mentally and physically. That's not to say that Kyle didn't love his family but instead I'm implying that as he spent more time involved in the military it started to play a larger role in his life and was no longer limited to the 6 months, 12 months or 24 months spent in the enemy's backyard. But the most heartbreaking moment of the film was the closing statement before the credits followed by actual footage and photographs of the real Chris Kyle. Kyle was killed by a veteran he was trying to help. It must have been devastating for his family and the film pays tribute in these closing scenes, showing how much of a hero the real Kyle was.
The last war film I enjoyed as much as American Sniper was Zero Dark Thirty in 2013 and I highly recommend both to anyone with a fascination with modern adaptation of true events. My next step now will likely be to research the real Chris Kyle to see how accurate the film truly is. There is no denying that the character is interesting, I'm just hoping the real deal had just as much to offer.
