Big Hero 6 PG
Following his older brother Tadashi’s untimely death, Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) becomes close to his brother’s invention—a puffy white robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit, pitch-perfect). The plot thickens when Hiro, himself a budding robot maker, discovers foul play in his brother’s death. Determined to catch the killer, Hiro outfits pudgy Baymax with an exoskeleton that can fly. Hiro is joined by his brother’s friends, thrill-seeking GoGo (Jamie Chung), OCD Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), chemist Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) and fanboy Fred (T.J. Miller). Technically ambitious, the setting beautifully blends Eastern design with Western, while comical Baymax effortlessly walks away with the show. (Lisa Miller)
Interstellar PG-13
In the near future, Earth’s atmosphere is becoming toxic. A wormhole, discovered near Saturn, appears capable of transporting a ship and its crew to potentially habitable planets. Former astronaut Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), leaves his young daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy) to join Amelia (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley), Romilly (David Gyasi) and a robot called TARS (voice of Bill Irwin) on a mission to find humanity a new home. One is found, but the crew calculates that differences in how time is experienced during their voyage and how it is experienced on Earth mean our planet is likely already dead. Meanwhile, Cooper’s daughter Murph has grown into an adult theoretical physicist (Jessica Chastain), and is charged with finding a way to save both the mission and humanity. Cutting-edge science converges with writer-director Christopher Nolan’s imaginative storytelling in what is perhaps his finest work thus far. (L.M.)
Laggies R
Keira Knightley is the best reason to see Laggies, a could-have-been-interesting look at millennial malaise, turned instead into uninspired romantic comedy. Knightley plays a 20-something college grad without a career but with a mopey long-term dead-end boyfriend and mounting pressure to do something with her life. The flat-line screenwriting sparks with the arrival of Sam Rockwell, father of a teenage girl she has befriended. The direction of the story is as obvious as it is improbable, but includes a few funny bits. (David Luhrssen)
