Reviews

Arigato, Ultraman

I genuinely couldn't wait for a second longer in viewing this, I've been so excited for its release for so long that when some heroes leaked it to the internet during October I was over the moon, yet equally annoyed due to the fact I was already dedicated to Spooky Season at the time. But finally, my time has come and Shin Ultraman is everything I hoped it would be and more.

As the threat of giant unidentified lifeforms known as "S-Class Species" worsens in Japan and just when the JSDF and SSSP are pushed to the breaking point, a silver giant appears from beyond Earth's atmosphere.

In this house, we do not stand for Shinji Higuchi erasure, dude had just as much input in the creation of this as Hideaki Anno so it feels morally wrong to completely exclude him from any and all credit he deserves. This film is fucking raw and equally gorgeous, with so many shots of note but the scene of "Ultraman" standing amongst the burning ruins of a city goes hard. Also worth noting is that if you only went to see this or Shin Godzilla due to Anno's name, maybe rethink how you are approaching these movies, just saying.

There's a conscious production design decision by the duo to make Shin Ultraman look as if it was in its genesis and absolutely not concerned with reaching the modern "standards" of polished reboot looks is such a refreshing take. Shin Ultraman looks the part of a brilliant piece of tokusatsu media, a fresh reboot for a new generation and a love letter for long-time fans as both Higuchi and Anno are themselves.

Like Shin Godzilla before it, the visual effects are fantastically stylised. There's a clear love for the original designs and a clever little riff on the reuse of the Shin Godzilla CG model if you know your Ultraman. Shirō Sagisu returns as the composer for the second time, beautifully enhancing the original works of Kunio Miyauchi while adding in works left unused from both Shin Godzilla and of course, fucking Evangelion.

There's so much to be said about the overwhelming success of this film, for a time the highest-grossing film of 2022 in Japan alone and currently sitting at the most commercially successful Ultraman film beating out my beloved Superior 8 Ultra Brothers. It stands tall as one of the finest examples of both a reboot and a piece of Ultraman media, although perhaps not as tall as Brave Love Tiga.

The film doesn't really want to spend time with the politics of its predecessor, as Higuchi has stated in interviews "if we just did the same thing, it's kind of pointless". More power to the man, but the film isn't without a small political commentary on the Japanese government and how they would delineate a situation like this.

There's a little commentary on humanity's place in the universe, and whether we've proven ourselves worthy of continuing as a species. This messaging isn't always elegantly executed but, like so much of the film, it's presented with such enthusiastic sincerity that it's hard to resist. The world may sometimes be a terrible, frightening place, but Shin Ultraman argues that a little decency can still go a long way. I fucking love it, roll on Shin Kamen Rider!

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Pulpy Comic Book fiction done right

While he left our beloved Shinji Higuchi to handle directing duties on Shin Ultraman, Anno focused his efforts on Shin Kamen Rider and it's very much cut from the same cloth as its predecessors. Fast, stylish, cartoony and oh-so-charming, it opens with action and never slows down, not even afraid to fully embrace the camp and horrific qualities of its source material.

I'll admit this is the tokusatsu property I am least familiar with (at the time of writing I've seen ZO, J, Shin Prologue and, more substantially, Den-O and Fuuto PI), but even to a more casual fan of the series, you can easily follow what is ultimately re-imaged episodes of the original show stitched together into a movie. I'm yet to watch the original but the number of side-by-sides I was seeing on Twitter after clips of it were leaked, shows that Anno really does take pride in his childhood influences.

Hyped stylised like the previous Shin movies, there's some very overbearing and pretty redundant CGI in places where practical effects would have been preferable and even cheaper, but it fits the same tone and energy of its predecessors. Anno's direction is great and features the same variety of angles and strange composition choices that make these so visually engaging. The hyper-choreographed fight scenes also help immensely, unafraid to go all the way to 11 with squishy violence.

With regular Anno collaborator Shirō Sagisu committed to Shin Ultraman, in steps Anime composer Taku Iwasaki and boy, does he do a stand-up job. I'm definitely gonna have to get the soundtrack to this the moment it's released, so many styles of music all coming together in a seamless blend of beauty.

While I ultimately feel that Shin Ultraman is the best of these Shin movies so far, Shin Kamen Rider is a very close second. Anno goes hell for leather here, amounting to a beautiful love letter to one of the grandfathers of Tokusatsu, having fun but not poking fun and fully embracing his inhuman worldview he's only ever touched upon in previous movies.

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The original Kamen Rider Shin

What could have been a great deconstruction of the Kamen Rider franchise sadly falters due to its bare-bones plot, wonky writing and unlikable stock character archetypes. It's one of the only Kamen Rider productions to feature direct creative input from the original creator, Shotaro Ishinomori, the film takes a large amount of influence from the original manga run as well as Kamen Rider BLACK's manga.

The film was intended as a treat for more adult fans of Ishinomori's original works by Ishinomori himself but due to his death in 1998, the series planned to continue the story of this prologue never developed leaving Shin in a weird limbo of existence. The problems presented in this film could have easily been ironed out had it been given the chance but the final product is extremely stiff and somewhat bland compared to the likes of ZO which would release the next year.

I'll be honest, I like a lot of this film's production aspects, the music is frankly brilliant and it is that nice transitional period between the synth-heavy 80s and hard rock 90s; the gore and practical effects are simply top-notch with a seriously gnarly transformation sequence almost like it was ripped from a Cronenberg film with a design of the titular character being equally Cronenberg-esque.

Overall, the film is a curious example of when early 90's visceral science fiction met a classic Tokusatsu franchise. Still worth watching but with tempered expectations.

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Love a bit of Amemiya

Given that Shin Kamen Rider is coming out next year, I really needed to dive into another of the big three Tokusatsu shows and this was usually the one pointed to as one of the best entry points of the franchise, Kamen Rider ZO is another fantastic film by Keita Amemiya that I can check off my watchlist. ZO feels like the by-product of what would happen if you threw Sam Raimi and Shinya Tsukamoto into a blender together, it's kinetic filmmaking and highly disturbing design that would give even someone like Guillermo del Toro nightmares. Brilliantly shot, written, scored, staged and acted, this is one of the best 48-minute-long films I've ever seen and has me eager to explore more.

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The missing link

Legend of the Stars feels like that missing link between Heisei Godzilla and Heisei Gamera, striking an otherworldly and transcendental balance in re-imagining Ultra Q for a whole new generation and who better to helm it than the franchise's most unique voice, Akio Jissoji. Legend of the Stars could realistically be considered the 2001 of the tokusatsu genre, mainly because this movie is pretty much a metaphysical examination of existence in a similar vein to Kubrick's film, just way more dialogue-heavy. It doesn't always hold together but Jissoji's visualisation is greater than the sum of its shakey parts, his direction and camera work are constantly engaging and ever-shifting with no two shots being the same. Combining aspects of Japanese mythology and a sci-fi mystery, Legend of the Stars is very much worthy of your attention even if you haven't seen the original show, it just drags its feet towards the end as if struggling to fill time and you'll have to put up with some substandard DVD mastering if you want to see it, it's crying out for an HD release. Come on Tsuburaya! Do it!

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So much hair

One of the better kaiju throwbacks I've seen in recent years, Geharha: The Dark and Long-Haired Monster owes a lot to the bigger name franchises containing a wealth of references and homages interspaced amidst its quirky camp. A short made-for-TV production by one of the more prolific modern Ultraman directors, Kiyotaka Taguchi, barely clocking in at 20 minutes in length, it's a fabulous little gem. The effects are a charming mix of old-school tokusatsu techniques and hilariously low-brow CGI which often add to the short's comedic value. While the stock library of music from the late Akira Ifukube fits quite nicely, Geharha is over just as it really starts to get going, leaving you wanting more and ripe for expansion in a feature-length presentation.

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unfortunately transmisogynist.

could have been good but it's unfortunately transmisogynist. the two mains tell a presumably closeted trans woman that she's in the wrong bathroom, they steal her wallet and hotel room key. they break into her hotel room and plunder her wardrobe. one of them says, "why does he want to be a woman? being a woman is boring." I missed this at first; it's a bit blink and you'll miss it if you don't know what to look for. but recognising the transmisogyny changed the entire context and it ruined the film for me.
on top of all this, one can argue that this film is also ableist by vilifying a deaf person...

see also: https://letterboxd.com/imuira/film/green-night/

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Rating

Similar enough to the anime, the movie adaption deals more with the swords past.

I rate the movie more as a 7.8 not lower and not higher.
The acting and plot was decent for a movie of this type but you don’t see anything about the anime in the movie that would rank the movie higher. You don’t see any of the sword summoning and the main character sword is the only high-grade sword that you actually see.

Besides this, the movie is actually pretty decent which is why I rate it at a 7.8. The effects are good and the plot fits and is new to Touken story line.

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Fun family comedy that is light-hearted even during survival

Survival Family was a fun and unexpected take on the post-apocalyptic world where everything doesn't immediately go to mayhem and last man standing. The Suzuki family is suddenly thrown into disarray when a mysterious blackout quickly starts to impact electrical systems that they are all attached to and finding themselves not able to live without. Seeing the panic in the city setting, the Suzukis decide to make way to Kagoshima on a journey of survival that is both entertaining and heartwarming adventure as they find themselves confronted with many challenges and discover newfound strengths within themselves. From scavenging for food to dealing with quirky characters along the way, each encounter gives amusement to the story.

The scenery in this movie shows the beauty even in a time of distress of Japanese landscape, making the backdrop on the family's journey pleasant to see even during a global pandemic (which is kind of weird but keeps you attentive haha). I personally think the director's decision to keep the tone of the movie light-hearted, even in the pressing situation, is refreshing and sets Survival Family apart from the more intense post-apocalyptic dramas where it's survival of the fittest and immediate chaos with trying to outlive the bad guys for the entire movie.

All in all Survival Family is a great watch that combines a family comedy with the urgency of survival, making it an entertaining and fun sit down when pandemic movies don't always ending up leading that way.

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SORPRENDENTEMENTE BUENA?!

Lo primero que tienes que entender sobre mí es que no me gusta el entretenimiento asiático que involucra mujeres la mayor parte del tiempo; No porque no me gusten ellas, no. Amo a las mujeres, amo los personajes femeninos...Pero los directores y guionistas asiáticos NUNCA parecen entender cuando se trata de escribir personajes femeninos. Incluso en programas o películas relacionados con la acción, siempre veo que las chicas necesitan el personaje masculino para salir adelante y DIOS, ODIO ESO, así que siempre termina sin gustarme las cosas que veo, la mayoría de las veces opto por ver solo películas de chicos porque me enfado menos. Esperaba que BAD LANDS fuera así, la protagonista era la chica, pero por experiencia solo había hecho clic para mirar únicamente el trasero de Ryosuke Yamada (literalmente, como he visto, gracias Jesús), pero la película en su conjunto cambió. El personaje femenino es fuerte desde el principio, lo cual es sorprendente, me encantó cómo el guionista la hizo fuerte desde niña y no por abuso, me encanta que sea discapacitada y sobre todo me encanta cómo se maneja todo sobre ella y la historia. Sin embargo, no vi venir el final, muy triste para mí como fan de Ryosuke, pero en general, ¡especialmente el apretón de manos entre las dos chicas fue TAN JODIDAMENTE PODEROSO! DIOS ASIA ¡DAME MÁS DE ESTO!

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Silly and more fun if not taken seriously. *Not a romantic story! The twist at the end was unexpected and somewhat humorous; it felt like a lot of build up for one big joke though. 29min. I was expecting a little more depth (with characters and emotions) in this longer short film since it's produced by Strongberry and they can do so much with 10 to 20 minutes. If you don't expect that, you may enjoy this more.

The comedic style didn't really work for me (didn't make me laugh) but it was consistantly applied throughout by the actors and director. There was a lot shown for the sex scene, but it’s also done in a comedic vein and I didn't find the way it was approached very enticing.

Edited: The Hangul that shows up by each person at the end are not speech bubbles (as I originally thought) but the names of the character / actor.

I won't rewatch.

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This is serious

Everyone who tried to buy or sell something on classified ads websites can relate to this movie. Personally I was scammed once when selling something, and almost when trying to buy a console but I can see and detect scammers on a daily basis whenever I scroll the adds online. There are too many scammers out there. Unfortunately they always use new tactics and we should all be careful when shopping and leaving our personal information online. This movie is a great warning for that.

"Target" is a very interesting and suspenseful triller. There are some typical Korean movie cliches inside but they didn't bother me because the story was very compelling and moved quickly. It kept my interest all the time and I would certainly recommend it to everyone.

Btw. anyone here want to buy my Sony MHC V13 Sound System? ㅎㅎ

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General Spoilers below. Bittersweet and open-ended but well done 11min short.
Very good acting and great nuances in the different tensions ebbing and flowing between the two leads. It was very believable that they had a history (though it's not explained in detail) and had complicated feelings.

I really want to go further into the story of these two. The ending is maybe, possibly, slightly hopeful- despite many years passing, they both seem to still be a bit stuck on each other. Just as the dish they made didn't "taste quite right" without the lemon, they are still missing each other in their lives.

I probably won't re-watch (unless they happened to film more of this story, then I would definitely keep watching).

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