Despite previews to the contrary, Big Hero 6 isn’t merely about a marshmallow-esque robot that acts drunk when it has a low battery. It, like Iron Man, Batman Begins, Thor, Captain America, and Spiderman, is a superhero origin story. In fact, it’s not just the genesis of one superhero, but six (thus the title). I, like many audience members I’m sure, was caught off guard. Sure, we see a couple shots of the “six” in gear; they’re in a couple seconds of the entirety of the entire marketing campaign. Instead of being pleasantly surprised at a story taking an unexpected direction, Big Hero 6 is both worse off and less interesting than the movie promised in the trailers. As I’m about to go on to explain, we’ve seen variations of Big Hero 6 more times than one (robotic) hand has fingers. It’s an unwanted bias, but one that was necessarily created by Walt Disney Studios, not me. To add insult to injury, if you’ve seen both U.S. trailers, you’ve already seen many of the funniest and most memorable moments. Big Hero 6 is a powerful example on the virtue of skipping the marketing.

We follow Hiro Hamada, a 14-year-old boy genius who spends his days hustling back alley robot fights. His battle bot, clearly less armed and formidable than those of his competition, wins via its creativity and cleverness. Hiro is a boy of unique potential, and when his watchful older brother, Tadashi, convinces him to join a top shelf university by inventing something wow worthy, he creates something that can change the world. His brother has invented a healthcare robot called Baymax, and he’s to Big Hero 6 what the Joker was to The Dark Knight. As the first act takes shape, including meeting a quirky cast of science nerds, we go through every trope of the superhero genre. There’s little in the way of narrative propulsion. A central mystery linked to the villain is stale and vague and isn’t investigated with an ounce of danger. It’s a formula nastily reminiscent of Divergent, which tries to plug into every story archetype for the sake of maximizing appeal. It’s uninspired, but at least Big Hero 6 tries to be a 21 Jump Street meta-fest for kids, only without being as smart, perceptive, or fun.