Ultraman: El ascenso

Giving this an 8/10 rating

This brilliant film is in the cinemas now, I watched it in one, this really caught me off guard, in a good way. Adapting these big Japanese characters is a very difficult task, and almost all fall, but thankfully, they decided to do this animated, and spend time on story and character. The animation, by ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) is best there is this year.

Three good animated films, this week, they are 'Inside Out 2, Deep Sea' and this. What a week for cinema! The directors Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima have done a clever looking film, some very good cinema photography and clean direction, makes things very pleasant. Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes write a family story with three points of view, and you can debate on who is the real evil is, in this, so you can agree on motives or not.

To be clear, you don't have to know anything about 'Ultraman' to enjoy this, the design is sharp and colourful, dialogue is not wishy washy, and a great cast is held together by a soundtrack that punches along. A great watch in the cinema.

My family and I recently watched Ultraman: Rising (2024) on Netflix. The storyline follows a successful baseball player in Japan who is chosen to become the next Ultraman. As he battles a surge of monsters, he encounters a baby monster that he must care for until he can find a home for it. Meanwhile, a sinister villain emerges with a plot that threatens all of humanity.

The film is co-directed by Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, who previously collaborated on Kubo and the Two Strings. The voice cast includes Christopher Sean (You), Tamlyn Tomita (The Day After Tomorrow), Gedde Watanabe (Sixteen Candles), and Hiro Nakamura.

This is one of those films with just enough good elements to make it worth watching, but not enough to be truly great. The animation and depiction of the universe are impressive, with both the monsters and Ultraman standing out. However, the characters were hit or miss. While I liked the hero and the villain, I wasn't as invested in the baby monster subplot. The villain's motivations were well-developed and justifiable. The "Gigantron" in the film reminded me of Rodan, and the final monster battle was solid, with a well-written resolution.

In conclusion, Ultraman: Rising features fantastic animation and enough elements of the monster universe to make it worth a watch. However, some aspects of the film, particularly the more child-oriented, cheesy moments, detract from its depth and quality. I would score this a 5.5-6/10 and only recommend it with the appropriate expectations.

I don't know anything about Ultraman, but I was curious about this movie as superhero film, since this genre becomes stale and I wanted to see what else there is.

I wasn't blown away, but there's a lot of interesting ideas and choices and all of it comes down to how good it all blends together.

The biggest deal for me is a main character. Rich baseball hothead is just not that interesting for me and setting up main story takes quite some time so we are left to look at arrogant young adult who meets first big problems in his life, or so it seems. We don't know much about Ultraman origins and I find it refreshing, since all important story beats are here and so we don't know how he became "super" but we see how he becomes "hero".

Action and animation in general is quite exiting, new trand on hybrid of 2D and 3D makes most of new animated features absolute joy to watch and this one is no exception.

By the end I wasn't completely satisfied since we got a happinest of happy ends which is quite strange considering how horrible things go in the third act. I think it's a perfect movie to watch with family or younger people, but not much besides that.

So it's a Netflix movie, keep that in mind.

But overall, this hits all the right boxes and even a few surprises. The emotional aspect is really well done and they make you care about the characters along the way.

Make sure you have seen the first one it'll be a little confusing. I appreciated the they didn't force any romance and they didn't make everything perfect for the character.

As a parent I thought they did a good job of displaying some of the difficulties that come with raising kids, especially if they sometimes act like monsters.

If you have Netflix, give this movie a shot. I think you'll like it.

I am not really familiar with the Ultraman lore. I know he's a guy who can grow to the size of a monster and often fights against kaijus. There is some sort of Kaiju Defense Force that also fights kaijus. Somehow, this film becomes the story of Ultraman defending a kaiju baby from the KDF, which is ironic, but kind of fun.

However, the true strength (and weakness) of the movie is not in the monster battles, but in the story of a young man trying to juggle career, family, child raising and personal life at the same time. Did I want this in a Kaiju movie? Maybe not, but at the same time it was what gave the characters depth and the story emotional power.

Also, this is a kiddie film, designed to appeal to small children and their parents who, probably, try to juggle a lot of things too, so technically it was good product.