Ultraman: Rising Review: Standalone Ultraman Film Can Both Attack and Parent
Copyright © Netflix, Netflix Animation, Tsuburaya Productions
Title: Ultraman: Rising
Director: Shannon Tindle, John Aoshima
Release Date: June 14, 2024
This year, Netflix did not seem to be doing that well with their animated flicks for the most part. To put it, they were not that bad but they still did not give the streaming service any good luck. Their previous animated film, Thelma the Unicorn, did not perform the same as The Bad Guys did which is surprising because of how they are based on books by the same author, Aaron Blabey. Making things somewhat worse, their two original anime films, Maboroshi and My Oni Girl, both getting mixed receptions. However, Netflix's most recent animated film, Ultraman: Rising, finally gave Netflix much more luck. Both critics and audiences gave the movie positive reception for its animation, writing, and voice acting. On the site Rotten Tomatoes, it has a high critic score of 83% and a higher audience score of 93%. As for the others, its IMDb score is 7.0/10 and Metacritic scores of 66 for the critics reviews and 9.3 for the user ratings. The popping animation, likable characters, and fun action prove that Ultraman: Rising is a movie that knows about attacking as a superhero and parenting a baby kaiju.
Summary
When giant kaijus are taking over Tokyo, baseball player Kenji "Ken" Sato (Christopher Sean/Yuki Yamada) returns to his home to receive the title of Ultraman. After defeating a mother kaiju, he is tasked with taking care of the baby kaiju. However, it will be a challenge as he also needs to win in baseball and save all of Tokyo.
Reasons
As for its strongest strengths, Ultraman: Rising is embodied with majestic animation, endearing characters, and fun action. The movie is animated by Industrial Light & Magic which is a visual effects company that won awards for utilizing the best visual effects in the movie industry. To get the kaiju out of the room, it is animated in a unique art style blended with well-done lighting and a colorful palette. Many of the character designs are the spotlight of this because of how they look both artistic and cartoony, especially the kaijus, with pleasing designs for kids while they watch the movie. Another creative thing about it is that it looks both like a painting, along with some comic-book elements thrown, to make the movie pop out. Going over the colorful animation, the characters are sweet and interesting. Ken Sato was a unlikable jerk at first until he goes through solid character development when Mina guides him throughout his challenging tasks as a kaiju parent. The baby kaiju, Emi, would be the fan favorite for the kids. Why? She makes for an adorable kid for Ken Sato. Just like him, she goes through character development, except in the way babies would, and has a cute bond with her foster parent. Additionally, the voice acting is well done for both English and Japanese versions, mainly Christopher Sean's dubbing as Ken Sato in the English dubbed audio. Since this is Ultraman, this movie does not just have sweet foster parenting or colorful visuals. It has entertaining action for both the kids and adults to enjoy. In this movie, it slowly goes from solid to dramatic. To be honest, the climax's action was the most entertaining this movie can get which is good for ILU.
Some other strengths that Ultraman: Rising owns are the wholesome story, cute themes, and enjoyable soundtrack. Well, it is a basic story about a man taking care of a baby kaiju but in its own way. While attending to his little monster, Ken Sato tries to stop himself from struggling on doing many tasks at the same time, and it shows how most parents are in life. What makes this movie's story interesting is how it is mostly mature. Even though it is still a family movie, this story is mostly dramatic and down-to-earth instead of being whimsically comedic, something that makes the movie unique. Despite being a movie based on an action-packed franchise, the movie has cute themes that would resonate with both kids and adults, just like with the story. The main theme is family as judged from the synopsis of a man adopting a baby kaiju. Some other themes that it makes use of are identity (Ken Sato having both a superhero life and a career life) and responsibility (the need to attend to Emi with solid parenting and care). Finally, the soundtrack is solid to listen to, as it uses rock songs to fit with the consistent rough tone. At some point, it just made the parenting scenes a lift by playing the electric guitar bops in the background. Likewise, there is a solid song in the end credits, "No Better" by Alicia Creti, to fit with the down-to-earth tone of the story.
If any, Ultraman Rising seems to have some flaws, despite being a great movie overall. Firstly, even though this is a sci-fi movie with basic logic, are some mistakes in the lore that make the movie confusing at times. To put it, barely anything explains how this works or why something happened, even if the story is trying to make an implication. Another flaw would be how Sato was unlikable and cocky in the first half of the movie. While it may be understandable because of how tired he became, he still freaks out with no explanation. If the movie really wanted to make him a jerk, then it would have been justified until he goes through his character development. As a final thing, the movie can get the wrong ideas about parenting here and there. One example is its idea on how babies can learn sports, a physical activity, which babies are not supposed to learn yet because they are still developing. Honestly, if they do learn baseball or the like, then they would cry because they might get an injury.
Conclusion
Yes, Ultraman: Rising may not be an award-worthy flick but it knows how to attack as a superhero while raising a baby kaiju! Again, the animation is the biggest highlight of the movie, thanks to Industrial Light & Magic providing a beautiful art style and a vibrant palette. Plus, ILU animated the action really well. Its characters are interesting to learn about, mainly Ken Sato (albeit being a jerk at first) and Emi, as their bond is well-developed foster family. For an action movie, a superhero having double lives while raising a kaiju is a unique concept, even if it has perplexing lore elements or some wrong ideas about raising a child. Since this is a down-to-earth family movie, the story mainly uses cute themes of family, identity, and responsibility, to make the movie more wholesome. To top it all off, the soundtrack is well-composed, as there are rock bops in the background and only a few pop tunes. Right now, Netflix does not have the best library of originally-made animated movies of this year, but this one lights up the best!
Comments
Post a Comment