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 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.

I saw this movie with one of my best friends and we were commenting, pausing and rewinding the movie all the time, so many details to see, so many memorable scenes to repeat.

From the beginning the protagonist seemed charismatic to me, despite being egocentric. Although of course, later we see the reason for his attitude, and it is easy to empathize with him.

In fact, it is easy to empathize with ALL the characters.

AND THE BABY, OH MY GOD, THE BABY. SHE IS REALLY ADORABLE. Every time she appeared on the screen my heart melted.

We had a very good time watching the movie, so much so that we are now watching it a second time, to capture as many details as possible.

It has become one of my favorites. An excellent movie.

I am not really familiar with the Ultraman lore. I know he's a guy who can grow to the size of a monster and often fights against kaijus. There is some sort of Kaiju Defense Force that also fights kaijus. Somehow, this film becomes the story of Ultraman defending a kaiju baby from the KDF, which is ironic, but kind of fun.

However, the true strength (and weakness) of the movie is not in the monster battles, but in the story of a young man trying to juggle career, family, child raising and personal life at the same time. Did I want this in a Kaiju movie? Maybe not, but at the same time it was what gave the characters depth and the story emotional power.

Also, this is a kiddie film, designed to appeal to small children and their parents who, probably, try to juggle a lot of things too, so technically it was good product.

So it's a Netflix movie, keep that in mind.

But overall, this hits all the right boxes and even a few surprises. The emotional aspect is really well done and they make you care about the characters along the way.

Make sure you have seen the first one it'll be a little confusing. I appreciated the they didn't force any romance and they didn't make everything perfect for the character.

As a parent I thought they did a good job of displaying some of the difficulties that come with raising kids, especially if they sometimes act like monsters.

If you have Netflix, give this movie a shot. I think you'll like it.