Ultraman: Rising (2024)
June 27, 2024 10:25 AM - Subscribe
Ken Sato, a superstar baseball player who returns to Japan to become the latest hero to carry the mantle of Ultraman.
I found out about Ultraman:Rising from Ben Lindbergh on the Effectively Wild podcast, where Ben dug into the confounding statistics of Ken Sato's MLB career.
The film was catnip for Ben and it's catnip for me.
It was jointly produced by Netflix and Tsuburaya.
I found out about Ultraman:Rising from Ben Lindbergh on the Effectively Wild podcast, where Ben dug into the confounding statistics of Ken Sato's MLB career.
The film was catnip for Ben and it's catnip for me.
It was jointly produced by Netflix and Tsuburaya.
I imprinted on Ultraman '66 as a little kid watching it on WXON in Detroit. I really enjoyed this interpretation. It's still pretty divergent, but those seem clearly to have been choices made deliberately and that work. The original show did often have compassion for kaiju, but it wouldn't stop Ultraman from killing them. It's definitely a lot more interesting than the cookie cutter Ultra series that have been coming out for the past 20 years.
Adding the baseball element was pretty great, too. So many of the human hosts for Ultra beings end up being pretty bland and indistinguishable. Nice to see Ken Sato having a real life outside of kaiju battles.
And the family element was very well done. Emi is indeed, adorable! I actually found the execution of that to be really well done. She absolutely comes across as a toddler and is so expressive! Zero uncanny valley.
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:53 AM on June 27
Adding the baseball element was pretty great, too. So many of the human hosts for Ultra beings end up being pretty bland and indistinguishable. Nice to see Ken Sato having a real life outside of kaiju battles.
And the family element was very well done. Emi is indeed, adorable! I actually found the execution of that to be really well done. She absolutely comes across as a toddler and is so expressive! Zero uncanny valley.
posted by ursus_comiter at 10:53 AM on June 27
I had no background on Ultraman before this film other than knowing he existed as a property. This film really didn't care how much Ultraman I knew, so much as simply going, "This guy is ultraman and taking over for his dad, who was also Ultraman." It didn't try to explain why or where the money came to support Ultraman, or even how or what made Ultraman's powers work.
And the best part, that didn't make a difference in how much I enjoyed the movie. It worked without having any prior knowledge. The film starts a little slow, but picks up momentum in the second act when the main character, Ken Sato, finds himself taking on parenting duties. It has wonderful animation and direction. Don't have time to say much other than it was worth the watch!
posted by Atreides at 10:57 AM on June 28
And the best part, that didn't make a difference in how much I enjoyed the movie. It worked without having any prior knowledge. The film starts a little slow, but picks up momentum in the second act when the main character, Ken Sato, finds himself taking on parenting duties. It has wonderful animation and direction. Don't have time to say much other than it was worth the watch!
posted by Atreides at 10:57 AM on June 28
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posted by Countess Elena at 10:33 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]