I went into Ultraman: Rising not really knowing what to expect. While cultural osmosis has given me a passing familiarity with Ultraman as a character, I’ve never actually watched any of the many shows and movies across various continuities to which Japan’s most famous superhero has given his name. I always figured it would be something I would enjoy given my love for kaiju and giant robots (Plus, my mom was a huge Ultraman fan as a kid. Shout-outs to her); but I just never got around to it until now.
So with Ultraman: Rising serving as yet another reboot for the franchise, the second produced for Netflix oddly enough, does it work as an entry point for newcomers and as a solid movie in its own right? I am happy to report that the answer to both of those questions is yes.
Ultraman: Rising Plot
Our story begins as baseball superstar Ken Sato steps away from a potential championship title with the LA Dodgers to return to his home country of Japan to play for the Yomuri Giants. But of course, that’s only a cover for the real reason he’s come to Japan: to take on the mantle of the superhero Ultraman from his father; who is no longer capable of performing his heroic duties due to an injury.
Balancing playing for a new team with superhero duties and not being particularly good at either is hard enough for Ken before a baby kaiju egg hatches in his base, forcing him to act as the creature’s father and raise her as his own. Now, Ken must learn how to be a superhero, a team player, and a parent to protect Japan, win the championship, and save the baby kaiju from sinister forces plotting to use her for their own ends.
Ultraman: Rising Critique
Ultraman: Rising is one part superhero action film and one part “struggles of parenthood” comedy and it does shockingly well on both fronts. The fights between Ultraman and the various creatures excel as action spectacle, showcasing strong design work, creative power usage, and even clever use of the environment. Though most fights take place in the city, the filmmakers managed to include a lot of location variety just within that space and figured out plenty of unique ways that giant creatures, particularly ones that want to minimize collateral damage, would navigate that space.
And as a parenthood comedy, it’s probably one of the funnier movies I’ve seen this year. While it is mostly reliant on the typical tropes of the genre like chaotic temper tantrums or cleaning up after gross messes, the sense of elevation from the baby being a kaiju genuinely makes these age-old concepts feel fresh again. Plus, it helps that the baby herself is incredibly adorable and I want a plushie of her right now.
And while some relationships and plot beats did feel slightly rushed, I overall really enjoyed the emotional arcs and surprisingly nuanced themes of the film. The growing bond between Ken and the baby kaiju, Ken reconnecting with his father, even the villain ends up having a sympathetic and relatively understandable reason for his actions, even if he is still very much in the wrong. Moreover, I really appreciated the way the film treats the kaiju themselves.
Most tokusatsu stories, a genre which the Ultraman franchise fits squarely into and arguably originated, treat giant monsters as little more than a faceless enemy causing trouble that must be defeated at all costs. But Ultraman: Rising treats them more as what they are: wild animals with their own thoughts, feelings, lives, and families. Yes, they can be dangerous, but they can also be beautiful and the danger they can potentially cause should not deny them a right to live. I genuinely did not expect a movie like this to put this much thought into how the monsters are treated and was very pleasantly surprised.
As for animation, the film opts for a stylized, semi-cartoony look. Slightly exaggerated though not entirely unrealistic proportions with big anime-style expressive faces; alongside the tokusatsu influence for Ultraman and the kaiju of course. Everything looks great in motion, the backgrounds are nice, and as I mentioned earlier, the fight scenes look spectacular. But it’s clear that the art style was developed more for the creatures than it was the regular humans.
The human characters don’t necessarily look bad and it never fully took me out of the movie, but the entire time I was watching I couldn’t escape the feeling that something was off about them and then it hit me: it’s the hair. Every human character’s hair is sculpted the way action figure hair typically is, a decision which may or may not have been made to accommodate the film’s accompanying toy line.
But said hair still moves with realistic hair physics despite not having realistic hair textures. Again, not a dealbreaker and it might not even be something you would’ve noticed without a nerd like me bringing it up; but when your main character has prominent bangs that look like they shouldn’t be able to move, it’s hard not to feel like something’s wrong when they start flopping around.
In Conclusion
I’m not sure how Ultraman: Rising is going to play to longtime fans or if any of its big revelations will ultimately pay off in future sequels, if there are any. But I can say that as a standalone movie, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. It may not be perfect, but the action is fun, the emotional beats land, the characters are charming, and the comedy hits more often than it doesn’t.
It’s a genuinely fun film that the whole family can enjoy so if you have kids and you’re looking for something new that both you and them can get a kick out of, you certainly can’t go wrong here. Just be prepared for Ultraman to become their new favorite thing ever.
9/10
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