The beloved Japanese character Ultraman from the 1960s (“shin” means new) is reactivated in this film adaptation by the hands of Shin Godzilla’s creators, Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion), another successful adaptation of iconic Japanese characters. They took the aesthetics of past monster movies with a modern patina and inserted ruminations about politics and human existence, in a film that has merciless fun with the humanoid hero.
The second reboot helmed by Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) after Shin Godzilla in 2016. The Japanese film industry in the 50’s reinvented the monster movie with Godzilla created by Eiji Tsuburaya, these monsters are called kaiju and they are usually symbolic of the atomic power. In the 60’s, Eiji Tsuburaya created Ultraman, a human character capable of reaching the size of kaiju and fighting at their level. It’s hard to really be aware of the popularity of Ultraman when living outside of Japan but the Ultraman series already has 38 films and 34 TV shows and not counting the even bigger amount of video games. A new start for Ultraman and no expense was spared in making it a visual showpiece. An opportunity to meet this incredible and unknown hero in the west. (Rui Mendes)
