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Reel Critics: A Disney ‘Hero’ with heart

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Disney’s new animated adventure delivers exactly what kids and parents expect. “Big Hero 6” offers action, humor and wild escapades with a major sci-fi touch. A new and very huggable robotic hero emerges in Baymax, who looks like a puffy cousin of the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Invented by science prodigy Tadashi, Baymax is programmed to be a high-tech healthcare provider. When Tadashi is killed, his younger brother Hiro engages the robot’s powers to expose the villains behind Tadashi’s death. Hiro’s attempt to make the gentle robot into a fighting machine creates snappy tension and a lot of laughter.

They join forces with four local nerds to become the six heroes of the title. Their search for justice leads to high-speed chases and spectacular stunts. But it’s Baymax who provides the moral compass and ethical lessons for the group.

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The action occurs in the dazzling fictional city of San Fransokyo, representing the future melding of East and West. The CGI effects are state-of-the-art and visually stunning. But Disney also creates enough emotional involvement to make the eccentric characters truly engaging to all ages.

—John Depko

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‘Interstellar’ shoots for the stars, hits

With planet Earth a virtual dust bowl, a team of astronauts makes a desperate attempt to find another world suitable for saving mankind.

“Interstellar” isn’t anything very new in the realm of sci-fi, but in the hands of director Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the film with his brother Jonathan, it is a spectacular experience. Clearly, “2001: A Space Odyssey” is a major influence blended with Nolan’s mind-bending visual style (“Inception,” “Batman Begins”) as well as the deeply affecting father-daughter relationship of “Contact.”

Cooper (a very good Matthew McConaughey), an astronaut turned farmer, makes the agonizing decision to leave his children behind in care of his father-in-law with assurances he will return for them.

Cooper is reminded by crew member Dr. Brand (Anne Hathaway) that their course takes them through a black hole, drastically changing perceptions of time: one hour on a distant star will equal 23 earth years. Who will be alive if and when they get back?

There’s a wrenching scene of Cooper watching a video from daughter Amelia (played as an adult by Jessica Chastain) when she bitterly accuses him of abandonment to an agonizing death.

At three hours, “Interstellar” lags from time to time with scientific jargon, lapses in logic and some comic-book dialogue. What makes the film eminently watchable are the dazzling effects and a nifty plot twist (with a Major Star Who Must Not Be Named Here) that shifts the film into overdrive and defies “Gravity” for suspense.

I wish Nolan had reigned in his impulse for a Spielberg-type ending. “Interstellar” would have had a deeper impact without it, even though it’s a definite crowd-pleaser.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.

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