DVDumpster: Big Man Japan
By: Nik S
Japan is known for pumping out the most bizarre things on the planet earth, so imagine my surprise when looking through the bargain bin DVDs when I stumble across:
There's just so much that needed explaining, like what's with the big eyeball? The weird phallic shaped creature in the lower corner? Is there a reason why the big man on the cover looks like he goes to the same stylist as Paul Phoenix from Tekken? Needless to say, this had to be used for the first review for DVDumpster.
So Big Man Japan, or as it's known in its home country as Dai Nipponjin, is a mockumentary that is written, directed, and stars Hitoshi Matsumoto. Matsumoto is a popular comedian and TV personality over in Japan and decided to get into filmmaking with Dai Nipponjin/Big Man Japan. The film was produced by RealProduct and Yoshimoto Kogyo Company while being distributed by Phantom film theatrically back in 2007. It did have a limited theatrical run here in the states a year later thanks to Magnet (a name you should become familiar with for future DVDumpsters), as well as Magnolia Pictures.
The film is a mix of live action, CGI, and practical effects with live action taking up a majority of the screen time. Casio Entertainment, known for their short "The Package" in Halo Legends, handled the CGI visuals while Hyakutake Studio handled the special makeup effects.
The film opens up with our protagonist Masaru Daisato sitting on the bus being interviewed by a film crew. They just have a mundane conversation about Daisato's everyday life, and why he keeps an umbrella on hand; he really just likes how they start small and expand to get big (this is a reoccurring theme). He gets off at his stop and makes his way over to a noodle shop, a place he frequents weekly, and gets his usual. While the chef is interviewed about Daisato, we are informed that he is a hero known as Big Man Japan.
Now it was around this time I noticed that the sound quality for the first fifteen minutes had an inconsistent sound quality. There were times you could hear well, but for the most part, it sounded like everyone was mumbling to each other. I was uncertain if that was just how the movie was, or if it were my equipment, or if I should have changed the settings in the setup menu. The previews before the movie were just fine, but the movie itself just felt like every character was whispering to each other. Needless to say, I had to crank up the volume just to make sure they were actually talking instead of assuming so because there were subtitles.
He returns to his home, the Ministry of Monster Prevention, which is covered in graffiti of people mocking him. Daisato lives alone, is separated from his wife, and has a stray cat that lives with. We get a few sight gags of rocks being thrown through his window whenever he tries to tell the crew about his relationship with the public.
We get a little insight into Daisato's home life to where we basically see a broken man: a cluttered home, an overgrown lawn with children's toys, and pride that is hanging on by a thread. It was at this point I was questioning if this was either a comedy or drama. Matsumoto does well playing a tired man and makes you feel sympathetic towards him (at least towards the beginning).
The next day the interview continues at a park where Daisato used to take his daughter. I'm not entirely sure if it was intentional or not but the children in the background notice the camera and start posing, so my focus was off of Daisato and just giggling at the children being goofy. During his conversation with the unseen cameraman, he receives a phone call and asks if it's time for him to "bake" yet. The interview continues for barely a minute before he gets another call summoning him to an old building surrounded by electric transformers. Along the route up to the building are signs encouraging Daisato to kill himself, stop littering, and to just give up. The camera crew isn't allowed inside the building, but we jump cut to a 30 meter (98 feet) tall Daisato about to take on a large creature called "Strangling Monster".
Whenever Daisato turns into Big Man Japan is when your Uncanny Valley sensors are going to go off the chart. There is just something unnerving about Big Man and all the monsters he fights with their human faces on distorted bodies. The strangling monster is a large white creature with a giant loop for arms, and a... I'm just going to call it a 'cloaca' which spouts out a large spear.
I really don't even know what to call it, or if I should censor it.
So this guy will lasso his loop around buildings and straight up suplex them into the ground. If it wasn't for the face and the cloaca, I could almost see this design being used to go up against something like Ultraman or the Super Sentai.
So Big Man has a little trouble taking on this monster as it does suplex him, but it tries to rope a building a little too tall to take on. While it's distracted Big Man breaks apart its loop, and (trying to say this as PG as possible) rams his pole into its cloaca. This apparently kills the monster, as a beam of light shines down from the heavens and pulls up the creature's spirit.
The next scene introduces us to Big Man Japan/Daisato's manager, Kobori (played by singer Ua). She talks about how she has only been Daisato's manager for a few years, and that his ratings on TV are low (all his fights are televised, but get lower ratings than the weather reports). Big Man Japan is able to return to his normal state after a few days of rest, but he normally gets depressed each time.
The camera crew then take to the streets asking people's opinions on Big Man Japan and his most recent fight. Seems like no one watched it, and they believe that the big guy is just not right for the modern world.
After Daisato returns back to his normal state, he briefly goes over his family history. He is actually the sixth Big Man Japan, with his grandfather (the fourth) being the most successful.
His grandfather had several servants, had everyone pay for his things, and lived a very lush life. Though when we're shown the old footage of Big Man Japan they seem to be old stock footage with a large sore thumb of a CGI character plugged in. Daisato seems to be slightly jealous of his grandfather, especially since he was praised and loved by all. When television started to become popular, grandpa was at the top of the rating chart, so it just shows how much of a shadow Daisato lives in.
The next day Daisato has to go to another powerhouse to take on a monster they expect to arrive that night. Though the camera crew pokes a few holes in why he could just easily do it in the one he did last time, though he just brushes it off. This time the crew is allowed inside and we get to see a ceremonial ritual that Daisato goes through before he powers up to become Big Man Japan. A priest hits a giant drum, shouts a few words, points and yells a lot. The crew interview the gatekeep and the two representatives from the Ministry of Defense who say the ritual is pointless and doesn't help Daisato turn into Big Man Japan. Basically, they do it for tradition and it's something Daisato wants to do. Turns all Daisato needs to do is strip down, stand inside a gigantic purple speedo, have clamps put on his nipples, then switch on the high voltage.
The next Uncanny Valley abomination Big Man Japan takes on is the Leaping Monster; a creature with a human head on a reptilian leg. So Daisato, being down on his luck in need of some cash has an advertisement on his chest. He's told that he isn't allowed to cross his arms or hide the decal in any way. This fight doesn't last as long, but it gets a few good bounces off of the protagonist before he smacks it between two buildings. The Leaping Monster can't move so it just dies right there on the spot.
We're then treated to Daisato at a karaoke bar with three women, one of which is implied he has some feelings towards. This scene isn't that important as we never see her again so it honestly just feels like unneeded filler.
Jumpcut to the next season, spring, and Daisato is on his way to see his grandfather. The old man now has slight dementia and his grandson pays for him to be in a senior care facility. Despite him being a big asset to the country, once he got too old and frail all of his funding was cut off and it was left to Daisato to take care of him.
It was around this time that my wife, who sat through most of the movie with me, said "what if he zaps himself? Like, puts a fork in an electrical outlet. Wouldn't he just get big?" It was almost immediately after Daisato gets a call saying "your grandfather got big again." So a half-naked old man runs around Japan, plays with airplanes as if they were toys, and salutes the sun which makes headlines. Daisato's manager isn't too happy about this and sternly tells him that he needs to fix this and that an advertiser wants to put an ad on his hips. He's very hesitant and refuses to, as that's his only good part.
Immediately we are shown a giant tramp stamp of an ad on his lower back. Big Man Japan is taking on a monster with a giant eye it uses as a wrecking ball.
Insert male genitalia joke here
The creature gets debris in its eye after attacking Big Man Japan and cleanses its eye off in the nearby water. You would think this would be the prime time to get a few good hits in, but Big Man just watches. The monster chases Big Man through what I can only assume is an industrial park and gets its neck wrapped around some poles. Big Man beats the monster, but before he can celebrate a new red monster appears and beats the living crud out of him. Seeing no other option, Big Man Japan flees for his life.
Despite losing the fight, the ratings went from one all the way to seven percent. The citizens still think that Big Man Japan shouldn't be around, and they only watched it out of enjoyment of seeing him get beat. His manager seems to be raking in the money and bought herself a brand new car.
So after his nose heals up he's on his way for his monthly visit to see his daughter. This is one of the few times you will actually see Daisato happy, though he tries to brush it off like it's no big deal for the cameras. He bought his daughter a hat with bunny ears that says "USA Chan" on the front, due to her liking rabbits. He meets with her at a Big Boy restaurant, which Daisato points out isn't for the irony just a mere coincidence. Daisato's wife argues that she doesn't want their daughter's face shown on camera due to her being bullied at school already. Daisato fights this as much as he could but ultimately loses the debate as her face is blurred and her voice altered.
When his daughter is interviewed is honestly the saddest insight of his relationship with his daughter. He talks up how much he cares for her, but can't be there enough due to his job. When the crew asks her questions about her dad she just replies with "I don't know" or "I don't care", the latter of which she answers to the question if she would like her dad to be around more. The wife is later interviewed and she says that as long as she's concerned they are divorced. She has been seeing someone new and the selling point for him is that he's normal. The crew shows the interview for Daisato which just breaks him.
Another time-jump happens and it's summer. Daisato decides to cut his hair so that the heat is more tolerable. Then immediately we're introduced to the Stink Monster, a female creature that sends out a horrible odor to attract a mate.
This one I had to censor.
This monster, despite being female, has a masculine voice and yells at Big Man Japan to leave it alone. The Big Man yells back at it for slowing down traffic and stinking up the place, but it just gets more annoyed, kicks cars, and pokes holes in the building it's leaning on. Turns out she has been trying to avoid a younger male of her species, one that is a rather phallic shape.
It just stands there, jumps around, and makes weird laughs. Big Man Japan tries to get rid of her pursuer, but it turns out despite being creeped out by the monster decides to mate with it there and then. The young male knocks out Big Man Japan to mate with the older female (which thankfully we are not shown) and the tabloids start calling Daisato a monster pimp. Due to this, his home is now covered in litter and new graffiti urging him to give up.
We dive immediately into the next creature, the Child Monster, one that doesn't want to cause harm and just wants to go home. Big Man tries to cradle the child as he calls out for his mother, then turns his head to suck on his nipple. Big Man is rather confused, but in the heat of the moment the Child Monster chomps down on his nipple. As a reflex Big Man drops the child which kills him. A vigil is held in the monster's honor, and many of the people think Big Man did it on purpose for not showing up and giving a speech.
Daisato is instead at a bar getting tipsy and tells the backstory of his father. Big Man Japan the Fifth always wanted more and to be bigger. This was ultimately his downfall as he juiced himself up with too much electricity and died. Daisato recalls a story from his youth, when he was a chubby child, that his father tried to do it to him first. He clammed Daisato's nipples to a portable generator/transformer (bare with me, I'm not sure what to call the device) and turns it up as high as it can go. Daisato's grandfather bursts in and rescues him, but not before his nipples turn into what looks like giant volcanoes ready to erupt.
Daisato leaves the bar and heads home, only to have the Ministry of Defense ready to pounce on him. When he falls asleep a SWAT team swoops in, blowing the locks off of the gate and door, surrounding him. The bring in the priest who yells at him (probably just as a callback from earlier how pointless it is), they undress him, put the purple speedo around him, clamp his nipples, and turn on their portable electric machine. Daisato and his cat transform, destroying his house. Turns out the red monster from before has returned and they want Big Man Japan to go another round.
The monster has the upper hand on Big Man again, but not until the Fourth joins in on the battle. The monster gets one good kick and he's teetering between life and death (as his spirit goes in and out of him). Big Man tries to run away on foot, accidentally killing his grandpa in the process, but gets caught in front of the American embassy. We hear a distant voice scream "freeze" and then we cut to 'live footage'.
Here in the final moments is when the movie actually starts to get good. The CGI is done away with and we see Daisato in a large foam costume of Big Man Japan. The red monster is just a weird looking mascot with a red shirt and shorts, and a family of Ultraman and Sailor Moon knockoffs appear. Turns out they are Super Justice and his family (mom, dad, sister, baby brother).
They proceed to beat the ever-living crud out of the red monster. They smack him around with rolled up newspapers, push, kick and punch, tear his clothes off (which dad spends a literal two minutes trying to tear off the creature's underwear). The family even performs two special moves, one where they kick around the baby until it flies directly into the creature's mouth. The second they put their hands together in the middle, which they encourage Big Man Japan to join in on (of course, he's confused and hesitant), and shoot out a rainbow-colored laser. Big Man tests to see if he has any effect on the blast. With the monster defeated the family is getting ready to blast off, and again ask Big Man to join them.
During the credits is a dinner scene with the Justice family plus Big Man Japan, where they talk about the fight with the red monster. Super Justice is very hot-headed and criticizes each and every member, to which the mom tries to calm him down. Each time Super Justice speaks up, the dad pours some more wine into Big Man's glass. The conversation eventually leads to Big Man Japan and the father does step in, but it's to calmly critique him rather than just chew him out.
So the movie was supposed to be a comedy, though it often felt more like a drama with weird comedic elements. The CGI was done alright for the time, though the human faces and obvious motion capture visuals made for a very Uncanny Valley feel. Personally, if they would have done the kind of comedy they did in the last ten minutes of the film the rest of the film would have been more enjoyable.
The pacing of the story was just off, as it just focused way too much on Daisato as a person rather than his exploits and being overshadowed by his predecessors. Instead of having a good laugh at Big Man or Daisato, you instead just feel bad for the guy. Plus everything needs to have heavy dialogue for some reason, to which most of the outtakes are just more conversations to don't add much to the plot. Big Man Japan really suffers in the "show, don't tell" department, as everything is just told to the viewers rather than them piecing most of the information on their own.
The fighting scenes could have also been better. Sure slapstick comedy is all fine and dandy if done well, but in this, it was very minimal. Big Man Japan just stands there through most of the battles, and his movements are very clunky. If they maybe would have allowed for more actions to see what exactly Big Man Japan's fighting abilities were then it would be alright.
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Japan is known for pumping out the most bizarre things on the planet earth, so imagine my surprise when looking through the bargain bin DVDs when I stumble across:
There's just so much that needed explaining, like what's with the big eyeball? The weird phallic shaped creature in the lower corner? Is there a reason why the big man on the cover looks like he goes to the same stylist as Paul Phoenix from Tekken? Needless to say, this had to be used for the first review for DVDumpster.
So Big Man Japan, or as it's known in its home country as Dai Nipponjin, is a mockumentary that is written, directed, and stars Hitoshi Matsumoto. Matsumoto is a popular comedian and TV personality over in Japan and decided to get into filmmaking with Dai Nipponjin/Big Man Japan. The film was produced by RealProduct and Yoshimoto Kogyo Company while being distributed by Phantom film theatrically back in 2007. It did have a limited theatrical run here in the states a year later thanks to Magnet (a name you should become familiar with for future DVDumpsters), as well as Magnolia Pictures.
The film is a mix of live action, CGI, and practical effects with live action taking up a majority of the screen time. Casio Entertainment, known for their short "The Package" in Halo Legends, handled the CGI visuals while Hyakutake Studio handled the special makeup effects.
The film opens up with our protagonist Masaru Daisato sitting on the bus being interviewed by a film crew. They just have a mundane conversation about Daisato's everyday life, and why he keeps an umbrella on hand; he really just likes how they start small and expand to get big (this is a reoccurring theme). He gets off at his stop and makes his way over to a noodle shop, a place he frequents weekly, and gets his usual. While the chef is interviewed about Daisato, we are informed that he is a hero known as Big Man Japan.
Now it was around this time I noticed that the sound quality for the first fifteen minutes had an inconsistent sound quality. There were times you could hear well, but for the most part, it sounded like everyone was mumbling to each other. I was uncertain if that was just how the movie was, or if it were my equipment, or if I should have changed the settings in the setup menu. The previews before the movie were just fine, but the movie itself just felt like every character was whispering to each other. Needless to say, I had to crank up the volume just to make sure they were actually talking instead of assuming so because there were subtitles.
He returns to his home, the Ministry of Monster Prevention, which is covered in graffiti of people mocking him. Daisato lives alone, is separated from his wife, and has a stray cat that lives with. We get a few sight gags of rocks being thrown through his window whenever he tries to tell the crew about his relationship with the public.
We get a little insight into Daisato's home life to where we basically see a broken man: a cluttered home, an overgrown lawn with children's toys, and pride that is hanging on by a thread. It was at this point I was questioning if this was either a comedy or drama. Matsumoto does well playing a tired man and makes you feel sympathetic towards him (at least towards the beginning).
The next day the interview continues at a park where Daisato used to take his daughter. I'm not entirely sure if it was intentional or not but the children in the background notice the camera and start posing, so my focus was off of Daisato and just giggling at the children being goofy. During his conversation with the unseen cameraman, he receives a phone call and asks if it's time for him to "bake" yet. The interview continues for barely a minute before he gets another call summoning him to an old building surrounded by electric transformers. Along the route up to the building are signs encouraging Daisato to kill himself, stop littering, and to just give up. The camera crew isn't allowed inside the building, but we jump cut to a 30 meter (98 feet) tall Daisato about to take on a large creature called "Strangling Monster".
Whenever Daisato turns into Big Man Japan is when your Uncanny Valley sensors are going to go off the chart. There is just something unnerving about Big Man and all the monsters he fights with their human faces on distorted bodies. The strangling monster is a large white creature with a giant loop for arms, and a... I'm just going to call it a 'cloaca' which spouts out a large spear.
I really don't even know what to call it, or if I should censor it.
So this guy will lasso his loop around buildings and straight up suplex them into the ground. If it wasn't for the face and the cloaca, I could almost see this design being used to go up against something like Ultraman or the Super Sentai.
So Big Man has a little trouble taking on this monster as it does suplex him, but it tries to rope a building a little too tall to take on. While it's distracted Big Man breaks apart its loop, and (trying to say this as PG as possible) rams his pole into its cloaca. This apparently kills the monster, as a beam of light shines down from the heavens and pulls up the creature's spirit.
The next scene introduces us to Big Man Japan/Daisato's manager, Kobori (played by singer Ua). She talks about how she has only been Daisato's manager for a few years, and that his ratings on TV are low (all his fights are televised, but get lower ratings than the weather reports). Big Man Japan is able to return to his normal state after a few days of rest, but he normally gets depressed each time.
The camera crew then take to the streets asking people's opinions on Big Man Japan and his most recent fight. Seems like no one watched it, and they believe that the big guy is just not right for the modern world.
After Daisato returns back to his normal state, he briefly goes over his family history. He is actually the sixth Big Man Japan, with his grandfather (the fourth) being the most successful.
His grandfather had several servants, had everyone pay for his things, and lived a very lush life. Though when we're shown the old footage of Big Man Japan they seem to be old stock footage with a large sore thumb of a CGI character plugged in. Daisato seems to be slightly jealous of his grandfather, especially since he was praised and loved by all. When television started to become popular, grandpa was at the top of the rating chart, so it just shows how much of a shadow Daisato lives in.
The next day Daisato has to go to another powerhouse to take on a monster they expect to arrive that night. Though the camera crew pokes a few holes in why he could just easily do it in the one he did last time, though he just brushes it off. This time the crew is allowed inside and we get to see a ceremonial ritual that Daisato goes through before he powers up to become Big Man Japan. A priest hits a giant drum, shouts a few words, points and yells a lot. The crew interview the gatekeep and the two representatives from the Ministry of Defense who say the ritual is pointless and doesn't help Daisato turn into Big Man Japan. Basically, they do it for tradition and it's something Daisato wants to do. Turns all Daisato needs to do is strip down, stand inside a gigantic purple speedo, have clamps put on his nipples, then switch on the high voltage.
The next Uncanny Valley abomination Big Man Japan takes on is the Leaping Monster; a creature with a human head on a reptilian leg. So Daisato, being down on his luck in need of some cash has an advertisement on his chest. He's told that he isn't allowed to cross his arms or hide the decal in any way. This fight doesn't last as long, but it gets a few good bounces off of the protagonist before he smacks it between two buildings. The Leaping Monster can't move so it just dies right there on the spot.
We're then treated to Daisato at a karaoke bar with three women, one of which is implied he has some feelings towards. This scene isn't that important as we never see her again so it honestly just feels like unneeded filler.
Jumpcut to the next season, spring, and Daisato is on his way to see his grandfather. The old man now has slight dementia and his grandson pays for him to be in a senior care facility. Despite him being a big asset to the country, once he got too old and frail all of his funding was cut off and it was left to Daisato to take care of him.
It was around this time that my wife, who sat through most of the movie with me, said "what if he zaps himself? Like, puts a fork in an electrical outlet. Wouldn't he just get big?" It was almost immediately after Daisato gets a call saying "your grandfather got big again." So a half-naked old man runs around Japan, plays with airplanes as if they were toys, and salutes the sun which makes headlines. Daisato's manager isn't too happy about this and sternly tells him that he needs to fix this and that an advertiser wants to put an ad on his hips. He's very hesitant and refuses to, as that's his only good part.
Immediately we are shown a giant tramp stamp of an ad on his lower back. Big Man Japan is taking on a monster with a giant eye it uses as a wrecking ball.
Insert male genitalia joke here
The creature gets debris in its eye after attacking Big Man Japan and cleanses its eye off in the nearby water. You would think this would be the prime time to get a few good hits in, but Big Man just watches. The monster chases Big Man through what I can only assume is an industrial park and gets its neck wrapped around some poles. Big Man beats the monster, but before he can celebrate a new red monster appears and beats the living crud out of him. Seeing no other option, Big Man Japan flees for his life.
Despite losing the fight, the ratings went from one all the way to seven percent. The citizens still think that Big Man Japan shouldn't be around, and they only watched it out of enjoyment of seeing him get beat. His manager seems to be raking in the money and bought herself a brand new car.
So after his nose heals up he's on his way for his monthly visit to see his daughter. This is one of the few times you will actually see Daisato happy, though he tries to brush it off like it's no big deal for the cameras. He bought his daughter a hat with bunny ears that says "USA Chan" on the front, due to her liking rabbits. He meets with her at a Big Boy restaurant, which Daisato points out isn't for the irony just a mere coincidence. Daisato's wife argues that she doesn't want their daughter's face shown on camera due to her being bullied at school already. Daisato fights this as much as he could but ultimately loses the debate as her face is blurred and her voice altered.
When his daughter is interviewed is honestly the saddest insight of his relationship with his daughter. He talks up how much he cares for her, but can't be there enough due to his job. When the crew asks her questions about her dad she just replies with "I don't know" or "I don't care", the latter of which she answers to the question if she would like her dad to be around more. The wife is later interviewed and she says that as long as she's concerned they are divorced. She has been seeing someone new and the selling point for him is that he's normal. The crew shows the interview for Daisato which just breaks him.
Another time-jump happens and it's summer. Daisato decides to cut his hair so that the heat is more tolerable. Then immediately we're introduced to the Stink Monster, a female creature that sends out a horrible odor to attract a mate.
This one I had to censor.
This monster, despite being female, has a masculine voice and yells at Big Man Japan to leave it alone. The Big Man yells back at it for slowing down traffic and stinking up the place, but it just gets more annoyed, kicks cars, and pokes holes in the building it's leaning on. Turns out she has been trying to avoid a younger male of her species, one that is a rather phallic shape.
It just stands there, jumps around, and makes weird laughs. Big Man Japan tries to get rid of her pursuer, but it turns out despite being creeped out by the monster decides to mate with it there and then. The young male knocks out Big Man Japan to mate with the older female (which thankfully we are not shown) and the tabloids start calling Daisato a monster pimp. Due to this, his home is now covered in litter and new graffiti urging him to give up.
We dive immediately into the next creature, the Child Monster, one that doesn't want to cause harm and just wants to go home. Big Man tries to cradle the child as he calls out for his mother, then turns his head to suck on his nipple. Big Man is rather confused, but in the heat of the moment the Child Monster chomps down on his nipple. As a reflex Big Man drops the child which kills him. A vigil is held in the monster's honor, and many of the people think Big Man did it on purpose for not showing up and giving a speech.
Daisato is instead at a bar getting tipsy and tells the backstory of his father. Big Man Japan the Fifth always wanted more and to be bigger. This was ultimately his downfall as he juiced himself up with too much electricity and died. Daisato recalls a story from his youth, when he was a chubby child, that his father tried to do it to him first. He clammed Daisato's nipples to a portable generator/transformer (bare with me, I'm not sure what to call the device) and turns it up as high as it can go. Daisato's grandfather bursts in and rescues him, but not before his nipples turn into what looks like giant volcanoes ready to erupt.
Daisato leaves the bar and heads home, only to have the Ministry of Defense ready to pounce on him. When he falls asleep a SWAT team swoops in, blowing the locks off of the gate and door, surrounding him. The bring in the priest who yells at him (probably just as a callback from earlier how pointless it is), they undress him, put the purple speedo around him, clamp his nipples, and turn on their portable electric machine. Daisato and his cat transform, destroying his house. Turns out the red monster from before has returned and they want Big Man Japan to go another round.
The monster has the upper hand on Big Man again, but not until the Fourth joins in on the battle. The monster gets one good kick and he's teetering between life and death (as his spirit goes in and out of him). Big Man tries to run away on foot, accidentally killing his grandpa in the process, but gets caught in front of the American embassy. We hear a distant voice scream "freeze" and then we cut to 'live footage'.
Here in the final moments is when the movie actually starts to get good. The CGI is done away with and we see Daisato in a large foam costume of Big Man Japan. The red monster is just a weird looking mascot with a red shirt and shorts, and a family of Ultraman and Sailor Moon knockoffs appear. Turns out they are Super Justice and his family (mom, dad, sister, baby brother).
They proceed to beat the ever-living crud out of the red monster. They smack him around with rolled up newspapers, push, kick and punch, tear his clothes off (which dad spends a literal two minutes trying to tear off the creature's underwear). The family even performs two special moves, one where they kick around the baby until it flies directly into the creature's mouth. The second they put their hands together in the middle, which they encourage Big Man Japan to join in on (of course, he's confused and hesitant), and shoot out a rainbow-colored laser. Big Man tests to see if he has any effect on the blast. With the monster defeated the family is getting ready to blast off, and again ask Big Man to join them.
During the credits is a dinner scene with the Justice family plus Big Man Japan, where they talk about the fight with the red monster. Super Justice is very hot-headed and criticizes each and every member, to which the mom tries to calm him down. Each time Super Justice speaks up, the dad pours some more wine into Big Man's glass. The conversation eventually leads to Big Man Japan and the father does step in, but it's to calmly critique him rather than just chew him out.
So the movie was supposed to be a comedy, though it often felt more like a drama with weird comedic elements. The CGI was done alright for the time, though the human faces and obvious motion capture visuals made for a very Uncanny Valley feel. Personally, if they would have done the kind of comedy they did in the last ten minutes of the film the rest of the film would have been more enjoyable.
The pacing of the story was just off, as it just focused way too much on Daisato as a person rather than his exploits and being overshadowed by his predecessors. Instead of having a good laugh at Big Man or Daisato, you instead just feel bad for the guy. Plus everything needs to have heavy dialogue for some reason, to which most of the outtakes are just more conversations to don't add much to the plot. Big Man Japan really suffers in the "show, don't tell" department, as everything is just told to the viewers rather than them piecing most of the information on their own.
The fighting scenes could have also been better. Sure slapstick comedy is all fine and dandy if done well, but in this, it was very minimal. Big Man Japan just stands there through most of the battles, and his movements are very clunky. If they maybe would have allowed for more actions to see what exactly Big Man Japan's fighting abilities were then it would be alright.
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