More iRobot than Big Hero 6 with all the Gen 6 being like NS5s in iRobot, and Aries like the mainframe in iRobot (I forget it's name) splashed with "people bad, robots perfect" just like SO many plots from the last 60 years. I actually like the main character as angry and unruly since most children do not process anger fully. My beef was the soccer team that beats up Mai and bullies her, only to be all "I never meant to hurt you, what did I do?" If anyone had NO turning point it was her and the team.
What I saw as stand out was the way Mai learned to deal with memories and loss by working it out with 77 and his memories. When a child sees a parent leave or realizes one passes away it leaves an impact that is hard for the child to rationalize. Here, Mai knows she has unfocued anger but realizes it is more focused than she imagined. By seeing into the memories of 77 she realised she had the power to correct her view even if we don't see much of her growing since the actio. took center stage. The rest of the plots and content were too common to stand out, however.
There was great humor laced through an intriguing story that seemed a mix of Wall-E, BH6, iRobot, and Inside Out. I like it when a movie makes me dislike a protagonist too. We get far too many sappy flicks that overdo the likeable loser scenario.
I was also frustrated with 77 ditching his memories to get his weapons back, since destroying Aries without weapons would have been more powerful and connect with the bully theme better. Major opportunity lost to the "boss battle" paradigm.
Review of Next Gen
