Ultraman: Rising, 2024.
Directed by Shannon Tindle and Josh Aoshima.
Featuring the voice talents of Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young, Julia Harriman, Hiro Nakamura, Artt Butler, Karen Maruyama, Mila O’Malley, Brittany Ishibashi, Veronica Lapke, Lee Shorten, François Chau, and Jonathan Groff.
SYNOPSIS:
Ken Sato, a superstar baseball player who returns to Japan to become the latest hero to carry the mantle of Ultraman. However, he is compelled to raise a newborn kaiju monster, the offspring of his greatest enemy as his own child.
Full disclosure: this critic has no prior exposure to Japan’s Ultraman franchise (which encompasses the full spectrum of entertainment, including television, film, toys, video games, and comic books) but found director Shannon Tindle’s (making his feature-length narrative debut after working in the art department for several animated movies, including gems such as Kubo and the Two Strings and trash like The Emoji Movie, proving that real talent will always inevitably emerge from a dumpster fire) and co-director John Aoshima’s (also with a background in the art department, even working on some of the same projects as his collaborator) Ultraman: Rising to be not only a thoroughly enjoyable gateway into this animated sci-fi world of gargantuan Iron-Man colored aliens neutralizing Kaiju monsters but also a thoughtful and emotional take on the sacrifices parents make.
The 44th film in the franchise, Ultraman: Rising is a standalone story about Ken Sato (voiced by Christopher Sean), unwillingly following in his father’s Professor Sato’s (voiced by Gedde Watanabe) footsteps as Ultraman (or in his case, Ultradad), defending the planet from Kaiju attacks with empathy and an understanding that the destruction they cause is on instinct, and doesn’t necessarily require cruel, murderous retaliation such as the official Kaiju Defense Force (led by Keone Young’s Dr. Onda) would have people believe. When not protecting civilians (these superheroes have both normal human and towering alien forms), Ken Sato is a professional baseball player, seemingly picking up on the passion from his father and has gone on to become a global superstar athlete.
Following a childhood prologue, Ultraman: Rising sees Ken returning to his roots in Japan, signing a contract to play for the Giants (there are also some nods to players with the names Matsui and Ichiro, which I can only assume are MLB references for the baseball fans watching this), and also morning the disappearance/likely death of his mother Emiko (voiced by Tamlyn Tomita.) Ken also holds his father partially responsible, especially since he and his mother were largely abandoned for 20 years while his life was dedicated to protecting the world from monster threats.
This also means that Ken doesn’t have the same sympathy for these monsters when he is wrangling them up and is far more fixated on his individual stats playing baseball; a reporter (voiced by Julia Harriman) points out that despite his impressive career slash line, he has never been on a championship-winning team, which could speak to some selfishness on his part. During this press conference, it is also made clear that Ken has bottled up years of emotional baggage.
However, Ken’s perspectives on family, teamwork, and superheroism are in for a shift once he finds himself protecting and nurturing an adorably animated but still imposing and capable of causing mass destruction, baby Kaiju. An orb-shaped robot support companion clarifies that this baby counts on Ken for survival. He reluctantly agrees to do the right thing, keeping it contained whilst also doing everything possible to get the creature accustomed to his human and alien form. Unsurprisingly, Ken’s performance on the baseball field suffers, calling into question a different set of questions regarding his storied career. Meanwhile, he agrees to a formal interview with the aforementioned journalist in exchange for an off-the-record conversation that he uses to get some parental advice from the exhausted single mom.
Admittedly, some of the humor feels like a familiar riff on every other story about parenting out there (complete with jokes about puke), but the character work here is palpable as one senses Ken slowly grasping what his father was contending with and why he made the choices he made throughout his life. He comes to learn what it means to be a father and superhero, coming to terms with whatever flaws his father has as a person. Admirable, although less successful, the film also gives the villainous KDF leader a tragic backstory explaining his ruthless insistence on eradicating these monsters.
Of course, there is also plenty of spectacle in Ultraman: Rising, whether from the colorfully chaotic aesthetics or the explosive action (the KDF regularly deploys fighter ships to attack these monsters.) As the film goes on, Ken becomes more of a protector to the baby Kaiju (which also receives a familiar name, lining up with the grieving Ken is still undergoing), elevating the intensity. The film is a bit long and occasionally repetitive (or undercooked in the case of the villain) to make an emotional impact fully, but elements from baseball to Kaiju-action nicely fit into a puzzle touching upon reflection, responsibility, and family. It is a gorgeously animated blast of laser-powered action with heart and sincerity.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
