Ultraman: The Next Review

Just to let all of you know, my bro and I have heard of and are familiar to Ultraman, I even own quite a few 4 inch figures of a couple of Ultramen and their villains – however, we actually haven’t seen ANY of the TV Shows or films of Japan’s answer to Superman. But, I have broken that barrier just recently and actually began watching the Ultraman films, and it all began with Ultraman: The Next.

I’ve heard of Ultraman: The Next back in 2004 before it was released in theatres in Japan, around the time I still managed the old Godzilla Planet website. I even planned to redesign the website based on the Ultraman: The Next movie website, that was when I decided to fold GP until further notice.

Anywho, the film pretty much starts out with the antagonist of the film, The One, escaping from a laboratory located along the Japanese coastlines, slaughtering soldiers. We’re then introduced to the main character of the film, 1st Lieutenant Shun’ichi Maki, who flies one of the prestigious F15 Eagle fighter jets. He collides with an unknown light object where he soon meets Ultraman, and uses Shun’ichi’s body in order to carry out his orders to defeat The One.

He was later captured by a scientist named Sara Mizuhara and a division of the Japanese Defense Force, called the BCST, an anti-bio terrorism organization which also worked with the United States Forces. They inform Shun’ichi that he was infected by a similar light that infected another person, who transformed into The One, and they believed that Shun’ichi could be a threat after Shun’ichi senses The One. They then take him into custody and place him in a highly secured cell.

Shun’ichi yells t be let out of the cell, but soon senses that The One is on his way to the base where he is captured, only to realize that The One is coming to kill him. As The One approaches the base and the cell where Shun’ichi is captive, Sara Mizuhara had a group of soldiers gathered and tried to take out The One, but managed to no avail. The One calls out to nearby salamanders and merged with the monster to where it transforms him to a much bigger, more menacing creature, and soon goes after Sara and the group of soldiers.

When The One was about to kill Sara, Shun’ichi breaks out from his cell with unusual strength, and soon transforms into Ultraman and battles it out. After the battle against The One ended, Shun’ichi finds out that he was captured on order  to lure The One. Sara explained the reason why they captured him and then wanted his help to defeat the monster. Shun’ichi was hesitant to help at first, but later decides to pitch in and destroy The One, as we’ll witness some emotional story and some cool battles throughout the film.

As my first Ultraman film, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect before watching the flick, but I hoped it would have some good battles and a decent story.

After the Ultraman: The Next experience, I came out of it satisfied and not disappointed, and thought that the film was a tad bit better than I expected. The story/plot was constructed fairly well and much more detailed than I imagined. The characters were thought up extremely well to where the audience can tie themselves with them. The battles were pretty awesome, creative and choreographed well to fit Ultraman and The One. The only thing that could have been improved on was the CGI. You could definitely tell the difference between the real Ultraman and the CGI Ultraman; however, that’s how Japanese visual effects are since the production and post-production on Japanese film are fast paced and don’t have a whole lot of time, where as the American films take there time doing their visual effects. So, I’ll let this slide.

Overall, Ultraman: The Next is a fantastic, enjoyable film that’s a must see. If you manage to find the movie on DVD or online, I recommend seeing it not only once, but for as much as you like.