Ultraman Rising (Netflix) 2024

Ultraman Rising may not be the first American Ultraman production, nor the first animated Ultraman production, nor the first English language Ultraman production, but it is on track to become its most successful in all 3 categories. It boasts a surprisingly emotional narrative full of heartfelt moments and a story that would be relatable to a wide spectrum of audiences.

 Ken Sato is a famous devil-may-care baseball player who moves back to native Japan. He has to juggle leading a new team with being the superhero Ultraman, a role he inherited from his father. Unfortunately Ken is estranged from his father and reporter Ami Wakita hopes to dig more into his suspected unresolved family issues. 

Following some disastrous matches, run ins with the Japanese Kaiju Defence Force and battles with giant monsters, Ken comes into possession of a baby giant monster. What follows is a heartwarming exploration of responsibility, maturity, and personal healing for Ken as this quirky father/child relationship between him and the giant monster baby, christened Ami, develops.  

In terms of tone, this movie rivals some of my favourite Pixar movies. It tugs on the heartstrings with themes rooted in family, child rearing, and parental bonds. I loved Ken’s development both as an individual and as the hero Ultraman. The movie is briskly paced with a good balance of levity and seriousness, even going into some darker territory at times but still remaining family friendly.

 The animation is done in 3D CGI by Industrial Lights & Magic (Rango, Strange Magic) which was adequate in my opinion. There were brilliant scenes fluid motion, dynamic framing and especially amazing were the use of lighting in the night scenes. However at the same time it became clear that while the story was on par with Pixar productions, the budget was not. 

The human characters tend to look a little wooden with hair in clumps and something about their facial expressions. I was personally not a fan of the character designs. Somehow everyone looks “stretched” with weirdly long necks and exaggerated proportions.

 Another thing I was not a fan of was how generic the movie felt in terms of its portrayal of Ultraman. Ultraman Rising was pushed as a new attempt to reintroduce Ultraman to a wider English speaking audience but the overall mythos seemed to have done away with anything that was unique to Ultraman. 

You could change a color or two on the titular hero and name him “Gigantus” or “Titanoid” and it would affect nothing. Ultraman is now a generic American superhero who happens to be a giant, complete with quippy banter, a snarky personal robot assistant and secret high tech base.  

All in all, I love Ultraman Rising and highly recommend it as a must watch. I hope to see sequels and maybe an expanded universe. My only beef is that it really should not have been an Ultraman movie, not pushed as this big reintroduction of the Ultraman brand to English speaking audiences outside of Japan.