Ultraman: Rising

My family and I recently watched Ultraman: Rising (2024) on Netflix. The storyline follows a successful baseball player in Japan who is chosen to become the next Ultraman. As he battles a surge of monsters, he encounters a baby monster that he must care for until he can find a home for it. Meanwhile, a sinister villain emerges with a plot that threatens all of humanity.

The film is co-directed by Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, who previously collaborated on Kubo and the Two Strings. The voice cast includes Christopher Sean (You), Tamlyn Tomita (The Day After Tomorrow), Gedde Watanabe (Sixteen Candles), and Hiro Nakamura.

This is one of those films with just enough good elements to make it worth watching, but not enough to be truly great. The animation and depiction of the universe are impressive, with both the monsters and Ultraman standing out. However, the characters were hit or miss. While I liked the hero and the villain, I wasn't as invested in the baby monster subplot. The villain's motivations were well-developed and justifiable. The "Gigantron" in the film reminded me of Rodan, and the final monster battle was solid, with a well-written resolution.

In conclusion, Ultraman: Rising features fantastic animation and enough elements of the monster universe to make it worth a watch. However, some aspects of the film, particularly the more child-oriented, cheesy moments, detract from its depth and quality. I would score this a 5.5-6/10 and only recommend it with the appropriate expectations.

I thought it was an alright movie. Its not very complicated and does a good job being an entertaining kids movie. It may not hold adults' attention the full way through, I personally only watched the first half before finishing the rest of the movie later while eating lunch. This was because the story is very predictable and the dialogue bland. However the animation is done well and the movie carries a good message for kids.

The main character as Ultraman didn't really intrigue me too much, but I get the sense the original Ultraman had a much different origin and I would've been interested in how the original came to be. The movie didn't really delve into that or how he got his powers. I'm assuming its all technology, but I could be wrong.

Giving this an 8/10 rating

This brilliant film is in the cinemas now, I watched it in one, this really caught me off guard, in a good way. Adapting these big Japanese characters is a very difficult task, and almost all fall, but thankfully, they decided to do this animated, and spend time on story and character. The animation, by ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) is best there is this year.

Three good animated films, this week, they are 'Inside Out 2, Deep Sea' and this. What a week for cinema! The directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima have done a clever looking film, some very good cinema photography and clean direction, makes things very pleasant. Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes write a family story with three points of view, and you can debate on who is the real evil is, in this, so you can agree on motives or not.

To be clear, you don't have to know anything about 'Ultraman' to enjoy this, the design is sharp and colourful, dialogue is not wishy washy, and a great cast is held together by a soundtrack that punches along. A great watch in the cinema.

First thing, I would rate this a 10/10 but giving I know nothing about the OG Ultraman it's a 9/10. All that said- it's amazing. In other reviews alot of people called the animation "good" but it's absolutely gorgeous. I can tell their are references to the OG Ultraman in it. Now a main part of the movie is "family". It's written many times very cringe in other movies but here it's actually written well without needing to become a meme. I would also say that this movie is also able to be appealing to all ages. I'm in the young adult age range (13-22) if that gives you any help. The animation did draw me in but I did stay for the story. I was able to watch it in one sitting without being bored or it just playing in the background. I extremely recommend watching it. Even the score and music in great (along with the OG references)

I originally was not enjoying this film. I thought it was going to be just a typical story about a hero getting humbled to beat a better hero. Then the baby kaiju was introduced and this film revealed what it really was, a story about parenthood and just how lovely it is. With the main character, Sato, starting off the most unlikable character I've ever seen, but throughout the film becoming infinitely more likable. The animation is drop dead gorgeous, every frame looks like a painting. The fight choreography is stellar in most fights. The score sounds pretty average mostly until some fights where they pull out the guitar and just start shredding. Overall I enjoyed the film and am looking forward to other projects to come out of this studio.