Shin Ultraman (2022) [Film Review]

Shin Ultraman; or, In the Tokuverse of Madness
     Some things are only clear when you are in between. I believe this is why I exist.
Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno, the creative duo behind Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) and Shin Godzilla (2016) return once again to the Tokusatsu genre. Supervised by the Toho Studios and Tsuburaya Productions, the Shin Ultraman movie is the latest instalment in Higuchi and Anno’s so-called Shin Japan Heroes Universe, a marketing project that aims to reinvent the most popular Kaiju heroes.

Release Info

Directed by: Shinji Higuchi Starring: Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima

Language: Japanese Original Title: シン・ウルトラマン Runtime: 112 min

Synopsis
Japan is known as the only country on Earth that is constantly plagued by kaiju monsters. For this reason, the government created a special team known as S-Class Species Suppression Protocol, so they could analyse the giant monsters and help the military in fighting them off. However, the recent attacks render the team helpless. All of a sudden, an extraterrestrial being called Ultraman appears and saves the day. Who is Ultraman? Is he a friend or a foe? The arrival of a mysterious alien sets in motion a chain of events that may lead to the annihilation of Earth.

Nostalgia Service
Allow me to start my review by saying that I am not a massive fan of Ultraman. It is not that I dislike the franchise, but I never felt the need to check it out in full apart from bits and pieces on YouTube. As a result, Shin Ultraman is my first proper interaction with this series that has been around for over 50 years now.

At first, I was a bit weary of the movie given the fact that it was cooked up by Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno. As I have stated in my review of Shin Godzilla, I did not greatly enjoy their NGE-charged take at the Godzilla mythos. I was afraid that the directors will repeat their fanboy mojo concerned with fatalism, depression, and bureaucracy in Ultraman, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Shin Ultraman is, for all accounts and purposes, a love letter to the original series that started it, Ultra Q (1966), and to the general spirit of good old Tokusatsu shows from the Showa era. When handing over his script for the film in 2019, Hideaki Anno stated that his intention was not to introduce Ultraman for a new generation of young spectators, but to adults who used to watch the show in their childhood (source). Shinji Higuchi also added that they purposely avoided repeating the bleak style of Shin Godzilla to avoid blandness.

In consequence, Shin Ultraman is light-hearted, special-effects charged spectacle that can be enjoyed by Toku fans across the globe, even those who are unfamiliar with Ultraman. In fact, I dare to say, the movie feels more like a miniseries rather than a feature due to its narrative structure. Every 20 minutes or so, we get new monsters, new threats, and action set pieces thrown at us. Brisk pacing of the film coupled with top-notch cinematography, tight editing, and the soundtrack evocative of classic Tsuburaya TV shows amounts to a more than entertaining viewing experience.

Evidently, Higuchi and Anno couldn’t help themselves and had to throw in their critique of Japanese authority, but this is not a prevalent theme of the picture. More interesting is the examination of human capacity to become an apex predator ready to destroy other species. The resolution of this problem in the finale is done in a very thoughtful manner indeed.

Speaking about performances, Takumi Saitoh obviously shines as the lead, Shinji Kaminaga. Masami Nagasawa does great as the partner and (a sort of) Kaminaga’s love interest, Hiroko Asami; however, Higuchi and Anno just had to fetishise her character in certain scenes (cue giant Masami walking hypnotised across Tokyo in high heels).

The SSSP team is composed of the always charismatic Hidetoshi Nishijima, nerdy Daiki Arioka, and funny Akari Hayami. In contrast to the neurotic protagonists of Shin Godzilla, the SSSP experts seem likeable and cheerful, even in the face of grave danger. The supporting parts of grumpy old politicians were done by veteran actors such as Tetsushi Tanaka, Kyusaku Shimada, Ryo Iwamatsu, and Yutaka Takenouchi (he also appeared in Shin Godzilla). What is more, motion capture stand-ins for Ultraman were the original suitmation actor Bin Furuya and Hideaki Anno. In addition, the film features voice appearances by Issei Takahashi as Ultraman and Koichi Yamadera as Zoffy, Ultraman’s superior.

Recommendations
All things considered, Shin Ultraman is a wild, entertaining Tokusatsu ride. In the times of real-life hopelessness, people need more of this sort of light-hearted visual spectacle. Higuchi and Anno stated that the film is intended to be the first part of a new Ultraman trilogy of movies, but only time (and box office returns) will tell if we get the sequels. In the meantime, I look forward to Shin Kamen Rider which is due to come out next year. Shin Ultraman is going to debut on Amazon Prime in Japan next week on the 18th of November.Overall score: 8/10

Note: All the pictures used belong to Toho Co., Ltd. and Tsuburaya Productions.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»