40 / 64
APRIL 2015
JB Hi-Fi
www.jbhifi.co.nz40
Harry Potter
producer David
Heyman has brought Michael
Bond’s beloved children’s book
character – a Peruvian bear who
relocates to the London home
of the Brown family – to the big
screen with bucketloads of charm
and quintessential Englishness
intact. This fantastic-looking,
sweet-natured family film is the
cinematic equivalent of a hot cup
of Horlicks on a cold winter’s night,
and doesn’t clobber you with its central message: “the
greatest adventure is finding where you belong”. The best
of British cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters
and Jim Broadbent, alongside Nicole Kidman, who hams
it up as the Cruella de Vil-like taxidermist villain. Heyman’s
involvement ensures a Potter-like feel to the production,
and the numerous slapstick set-pieces showcase some
truly creative cinematography. Most importantly though, its
ursine star, with his signature red hat, duffel coat and love
of marmalade, is a cute and cuddly CGI creation (politely
voiced by Ben Wishaw) and definitely not the creepy
critter seen lurking in a series of Internet memes that
photoshopped him into famous horror movie scenes.
There’s a bear in there
PADDINGTON
The winner of this year’s Oscar
for best animated feature, this
colourful family blockbuster also
marks the first time that a Marvel
property has got the big bucks
animation treatment from its sister
Disney studio. Admittedly, this
particular band of superheroes
are not exactly household names.
However, by picking a relatively
obscure property the animation
team have been given greater rein
to deliver a more family-friendly comic book yarn. Set in a
sort of Japan/US hybrid city called San Fransokyo, the film
revolves around a child genius Hiro (voiced by Nickelodeon
star Ryan Potter) who sets out to avenge the death of his
brother by transforming his late sibling’s’ geeky classmates
– together with his brother’s final invention, a gentle,
healthcare robot called Baymax – into an unlikely band of
superheroes. As it is essentially an origin story,
Big Hero 6
takes a while to take shape but the whiz-bang pacing and
boisterous action means that there is still hardly any time
to draw breath. And in the sweet-natured Baymax, Disney
have created the cuddliest robot since Wall-E.
They could be heroes
BIG HERO 6
DVD & BD
Meet the Characters
When a Bear Comes to Stay
From Page to Screen
Gallery
101 Dalmatians
Despite being a keen animal
lover, Nicole Kidman took a
taxidermy class to prepare
herself for her role.
The character of Paddington
Bear is based on a lone
teddy bear, noticed by author
Michael Bond on a shelf in a
London store near Paddington
Station on Christmas Eve 1956.
Originally, author Michael Bond
was nervous about the project
of turning his character into a
live action feature. However,
he was convinced after seeing
half a minute of test footage.
EXTRAS
DID YOU KNOW...
FURTHER VIEWING
Release Date:
08/04/15
Format:
DVD & BD
Theatrical Short: Feast
BD ONLY
Hiro’s Journey: The Origin Story
Of
Big Hero 6
Big Animator 6: The Characters
Behind The Characters
Deleted Scenes
Big Hero 6
Theatrical Teaser
Mickey Mouse Short: Tokyo Go
Astro Boy
The Big Hero 6 animation
team topped 100 members –
103, to be exact.
Disney’s Denizen system
created 670 unique characters
for the crowd scenes compared
to 270 in
Frozen
.
EXTRAS
DID YOU KNOW...
FURTHER VIEWING
Release Date:
01/04/15
Format:
TOP
HITS
TOP
HITS
visit
www.stack.net.nzREVIEWS
DVD
&
BD
DOWNLOAD THE
FREE
STACK
APP FOR EXTRA CONTENT
stack.net.nz/stack-app
