Done on the fortieth anniversary of the birth of the Ultraman franchise, I wonder if Eiji Tsubaraya knew how big a phenomenon he'd created. Maybe so.
Retro is cool, old is new, and nostalgia rules. That's what we get in this film. The film literally starts off with a bang as Ultraman, Ace, Jack, and Taro, fight Yapool, one of the worst of the worst monsters around, on the moon, and they pursue him to Earth where they imprison him under the sea, but they also sacrifice part of their powers in doing so.
Jump forward a number of years. Ultraman Mebius in the guise of Mirai Hibino is now Earth's protector, but Yapool (eventually called U-Killersaurus) emerges from his prison and sends his minions--Knuckle Seijin, Zarab Seijin, among others--to test Mebius' powers and take him down.
They do, but the original four Ultramen, now much older and pretty much retired, come back to do battle. Will they save Mebius, will they survive, and, most importantly, will they save the Earth? Tune in, and have a blast while watching.
Now, the good and the bad. The good is that the movie moves fast. I mean...fast. There's hardly a dull moment. The action is what you'd expect from an Ultraman flick, lots of wrestling, throwing, exaggerated martial arts gestures, but that's part of the charm.
Additionally, the music is excellent. Whoever had the idea of using classical instruments for some of the battle scenes really nailed it. Nothing like strings to get the emotions flowing.
And the editing is superb. For days after I saw the movie with my wife and our two sons--three and seven, then--I couldn't figure out why I liked the movie so much, but then I realized that every scene was cut and flowed neatly into the next. Oh, and the miniaturized sets were beautifully set up. I live in Osaka, and Kobe never looked so good!
As for the negatives, well, the CGI is somewhat cheap looking, and the acting is okay but nothing more--although it was great seeing the four OG again.
Additionally, the characters themselves are not fully fleshed out, not really, and the love interest (or maybe love interest) isn't played out that well.
But this movie is for kids--mainly--and they're not expecting Oscar-worthy material or anything deep. They want action, and this flick delivers on all counts.
I have to talk about the ending. Yes, it's a cliche, and here's the spoiler, when all the Ultramen--Zoffy, Taro, and others--come to help the original gang plus Mebius, and they combine into a new type of Ultraman to beat the upgraded U-Killersaurus.
Composite Ultraman comes down like an avenging angel, and the girl captured by U-Killersaurus sees him. Her mouth opens in wonder, we see him reflected in her eyes, and then he smashes into the monster, rescues the girl, and sends the monster to hell where it belongs. What could be better than that?
This was a fun flick. Don't take it seriously. Laugh at the monsters if you want, but realize that Ultraman spawned one of the world's longest-running franchises, and that is legendary in and of itself.
Retro is cool, old is new, and nostalgia rules. That's what we get in this film. The film literally starts off with a bang as Ultraman, Ace, Jack, and Taro, fight Yapool, one of the worst of the worst monsters around, on the moon, and they pursue him to Earth where they imprison him under the sea, but they also sacrifice part of their powers in doing so.
Jump forward a number of years. Ultraman Mebius in the guise of Mirai Hibino is now Earth's protector, but Yapool (eventually called U-Killersaurus) emerges from his prison and sends his minions--Knuckle Seijin, Zarab Seijin, among others--to test Mebius' powers and take him down.
They do, but the original four Ultramen, now much older and pretty much retired, come back to do battle. Will they save Mebius, will they survive, and, most importantly, will they save the Earth? Tune in, and have a blast while watching.
Now, the good and the bad. The good is that the movie moves fast. I mean...fast. There's hardly a dull moment. The action is what you'd expect from an Ultraman flick, lots of wrestling, throwing, exaggerated martial arts gestures, but that's part of the charm.
Additionally, the music is excellent. Whoever had the idea of using classical instruments for some of the battle scenes really nailed it. Nothing like strings to get the emotions flowing.
And the editing is superb. For days after I saw the movie with my wife and our two sons--three and seven, then--I couldn't figure out why I liked the movie so much, but then I realized that every scene was cut and flowed neatly into the next. Oh, and the miniaturized sets were beautifully set up. I live in Osaka, and Kobe never looked so good!
As for the negatives, well, the CGI is somewhat cheap looking, and the acting is okay but nothing more--although it was great seeing the four OG again.
Additionally, the characters themselves are not fully fleshed out, not really, and the love interest (or maybe love interest) isn't played out that well.
But this movie is for kids--mainly--and they're not expecting Oscar-worthy material or anything deep. They want action, and this flick delivers on all counts.
I have to talk about the ending. Yes, it's a cliche, and here's the spoiler, when all the Ultramen--Zoffy, Taro, and others--come to help the original gang plus Mebius, and they combine into a new type of Ultraman to beat the upgraded U-Killersaurus.
Composite Ultraman comes down like an avenging angel, and the girl captured by U-Killersaurus sees him. Her mouth opens in wonder, we see him reflected in her eyes, and then he smashes into the monster, rescues the girl, and sends the monster to hell where it belongs. What could be better than that?
This was a fun flick. Don't take it seriously. Laugh at the monsters if you want, but realize that Ultraman spawned one of the world's longest-running franchises, and that is legendary in and of itself.
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