Review by C.J. Bunce
If you’re waiting for the next Marvel superhero movie, and you loved the action and beautiful animation of The Incredibles and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, consider the 44th film in a long-running sci-fi franchise from Japan. Long before Pacific Rim and The Transformers, there was Ultraman. Ultraman: Rising is an exciting step for Western audiences into a franchise built over 40 years, filled with sci-fi giant kaiju characters kids of all ages will love.
A Japanese Iron Man/Giant Man? An Enemy Mine-inspired sci-fi plot? A life of the superhero, The Incredibles-inspired family? A blend of fantasy and scifi? Unlikely dads, a Baby Yoda-esque giant kaiju baby, and the 2024 Dodgers MVP Shohei Ohtahni as Bruce Wayne? And it’s a bit of a tear-jerker? Yeah, that sounds like a lot to unpack, but it is all that and more. Plus Industrial Light & Magic worked on those eye-popping visuals. If any movie should have had a wide U.S. theatrical release this year, it’s Ultraman: Rising, the year’s biggest kaiju movie.
When you think of long-running pop culture franchises, you probably think of one or all of James Bond, Doctor Who, Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, and Star Trek. If you were in Japan you may first think of Ultraman, the alien from another world (Nebula M78) who found himself chasing an escaped monster called Bemular across the cosmos. That was nearly 60 years ago, but since then the studios behind Ultraman have brought a whopping 43 movies featuring their hero to the big screen. U.S. audiences are more familiar with the live-action series from the 1960s, and last year we reviewed a new book from the franchise set in the 21st century: Ultraman: The Official Novel of the Series (reviewed here).
The challenge for franchises like this is always the same: How do you make characters and situations fresh to appeal to 21st century audiences? Part of it is updating the technology, which includes everything from the Internet to modern scientific principles, especially considering the source material dates back to 1966.
The plot for the 2024 movie updates the character himself: When baseball superstar Ken Sato returns home to Japan to pick up the mantle of Earth-defending superhero Ultraman, he quickly finds more than he bargained for as he’s forced to raise the offspring of his greatest foe, Gigantron.
Ken Sato really is a good guy stuck in an overwhelming situation. The center of it all is helping people, complete with a floating robotic orb like Iron Man and Spider-Man’s E.D.I.T.H. from the MCU movies. She is the angel on his shoulder, an advisor like Batman’s Alfred, and a good friend. He’s also this great baseball player, who couldn’t be more like the Dodgers’ real-life world champ Shohei Ohtani–it’s like Netflix knew Ohtani was going to have his big rookie season this year. Do you love baseball movies? This is for you. When Ken Sato hits his grand slam, those visuals look like we all feel.
The movie is from director Shannon Tindle (Kubo and the Two Strings) and co-director John Aoshima (Gravity Falls), and based on characters by Eiji Tsuburaya. Voice actors include Hawaii Five-O’s Christopher Sean as Ultraman, Gedde Watanabe (Sixteen Candles, Gung Ho, Mulan) as Ken’s dad, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Man in the High Castle, and Star Trek Picard’s Tamlyn Tomita as Ken’s mom.
The next cutting-edge animation, with what may be the year’s best digital effects sequences, and a must for kaiju fans, anime fans, and fans of Ultraman. Ultraman: Rising is streaming now on Netflix. You can also pre-order The Art and Making of Ultraman: Rising now here at Amazon (review coming to borg soon!).
