The most anticipated Japanese movie of the year is here -
"New Ultraman".
Originally, I had been looking forward to the introduction of theaters.
Unfortunately, nowadays it can only be watched on streaming.
But I never expected that this super IP, which has been popular for 55 years, has a polarized reputation this time.
Some people are full of praise.
Call it full of feelings, full of memories to kill.
Someone scoffed.
Pointing out that the film is full of male gaze, which is very uncomfortable.
Is it worth watching?
Today, Uncle Yu will come to talk to you about it -
"New Ultraman"
Shin Ultraman
Uncle Fish showdown, I believe in light.
Since the first trailer was revealed at the beginning of last year, I began to look forward to this masterpiece.
Because of the luxurious cast -
Ko Saito, Masami Nagasawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima...
Because make more elaborate monsters.
Because of the return of the original Ultraman.
Of course, it is also because of the planning and screenwriter of the film - "The Father of EVA", Hideaki Nuno.
Uncle Yu watched "New Ultraman" for the first time.
On the whole, it is still very satisfying.
As a commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the Ultraman series, this film is full of sincerity.
The film is less than 2 hours long, so that audiences familiar with Ultraman call "Ye Qing Hui".
From beginning to end, the tribute element is quite thick.
The plot is adapted from Eiji Tsubaya's "Ultra Q" in 1966 and the series' first tokusatsu series "Ultraman".
1966 Ultraman tokusatsu series
Even the opening title pays tribute to the classic opening of the previous work.
The background music is exactly the same.
The monsters that appear are all "childhood memories".
For example, the first monster, Gomez.
It is regarded as the "starting point" of the Round Valley Monster.
Just looking at the appearance will think that it is Godzilla.
In fact, due to lack of funds, Godzilla's holster was directly transformed into Gomez.
Another example is the flash of mammoth flowers.
It is also a classic monster in "Ultra Q".
By the time Ultraman officially appeared, there were more acquaintances.
There is a monster that eats electricity, Uchi Longga.
And the monster that eats nuclear waste, Gabra.
Then there is the real and false Ultraman War.
The Zarab Starman, who is good at demagogy, has become a fake Ultraman to confuse humans.
In this paragraph, even the combat action is almost exactly the same as in "The Original Ultraman".
In addition, the controversial scene of "Masami Nagasawa becomes bigger" is actually one of the famous scenes in "The Original Ultraman".
Because the alien Mephilas acted to make humans bigger by using β magic box.
A series of tributes reappeared, which can be described as a wave of emotions.
But don't forget, it has the word "new" in its title.
So New Ultraman is retro enough and trendy enough.
The two core creators of this film -
With the blessing of director Shinji Higuchi and screenwriter Hideaki Kono, the film also brings us a lot of freshness.
Shinji Sahiguchi, Hideaki Nakaanno
First of all, the fight burns more.
The most striking change is the "HD Remaster" of Ultraman's skills.
The representative skill of the original Ultraman, Spiethum Ray.
The front swing is elongated, the back swing is fast, the hands meet, and the light shoots out.
The special effects were also intentionally modeled after the original particle effects.
The chest sucks electricity and stands still.
Again, the eight-point light wheel.
Ultraman compresses the energy into a ring wheel and throws it directly at the cut.
Also, aerial sophistication.
Gravity manipulation, gyratory kicks.
There are not only hand-to-hand fights such punches and kicks.
There is also a late-night walk through the tall buildings that simulate the first view.
Playing while flying, the immersion is full.
Secondly, the monsters are stronger.
There are hand-to-hand combat, and there are also literary fights that are deceitful.
The Zalabs pretend to save humanity, but in fact, they take the opportunity to provoke human suspicion of Ultraman.
Then achieve the goal of eliminating Ultraman.
Monsters with brains and combat power, the perception brought by such a competition is naturally greatly improved.
Final boss, Zofie.
He discovers that Ultraman violates his fusion with humans and brings Ultraman back to the Star of Light for trial.
At the same time, in order to prevent the earth from becoming a space arsenal, Zofie, as the monitor, will completely destroy the earth.
He unleashed his ultimate weapon, Jetton.
From small blocks, ascend into space and gradually unfold.
Standing on the ground, you can clearly see the whole picture of Jetton.
It resembles an oversized giant, hanging high above the earth.
Ultraman is in the same frame as it, and the sense of threat is multiplied.
Ultraman, who is regarded as a giant by humans, is a small dot in front of Jetton.
Can you find Ultraman?
Those skill tricks to hang monsters are useless against Jetton.
The attack is ineffective, the defense is incompetent.
The savior of mankind, himself was shot down and fell into the earth.
Today's mature level of special effects has allowed Ultraman to carry forward the classic show of fighting monsters.
However, in "New Ultraman", the most striking thing is Ultraman himself.
Because this Ultraman is very different from the cosmic hero we remember.
As can be seen from the pattern, this is the original Ultraman.
But compared to the muscular and powerful body of the past.
This Ultraman is thin and has slender limbs.
More critically, the light in the chest is gone.
In fact, this Ultraman is the one who truly restores the image of the original Ultraman.
Ultraman was created by the famous Japanese art master, Hiroshi Narita.
He wanted to create an image of Ultraman with a minimalist look and balanced colors.
"A huge, beautiful and heroic silver giant representing justice."
Ultraman shape drawn by Hiroshi Narita in 1983
In the early Tsubaya productions, in order to render the tension of the battle and save costs.
With the setting of "only three minutes of battle", a color timer has been added.
In Narita's view, the design destroys Ultraman's oneness and balanced tone.
Therefore, the image of Ultraman in "New Ultraman" is closer to the "silver giant" originally envisioned by Hiroshi Narita.
Returning to the basics gives the film a return to pure meaning.
From the external image to the special effects design, the movie has made a qualitative leap in the look and feel of the Ultraman series.
But the biggest change, and the most controversial, is the innovation in lens language.
Audiences familiar with the two-dimensional will obviously find that the film uses a lot of exaggerated perspectives and editing methods of anime to make live-action movies.
The characters are often in very tricky picture compositions.
Moreover, a large area of occlusion is often used to make angles shot from gaps and angles, achieving a "scale deformation" effect.
So there are all kinds of strange shots.
There is a shot from the waist.
There are shots from the squeaky nest.
There is patting from the grocery bag.
Even the face is deformed.
This eccentric photography style gives people a very novel look.
It's reminiscent of the previous Shingodzilla.
It is also a variety of tricky shots, showing the director's paranoia and not taking an unusual path.
However, the pros and cons of such a shooting style are obvious.
On the upside, it breaks the conventional live-action perspective and is full of innovation.
It gives the film a comic book grid that makes it stand out from similar films.
Let the audience not only watch "Ultraman Fights Monsters", but also experience the fun of sub-shot and perspective sense.
At worst, this has become a kind of "voyeurism" in the eyes of some.
Some of the director's own bad tastes will become "confusing behavior".
It's like patting Masami Nagasawa's legs, the strange perspective of her patting her ass and pumping up, etc.
In addition, the problems in the play are difficult to ignore.
For example, the pace is too fast.
Unlike "New Godzilla" that focuses only on Godzilla throughout, "New Ultraman" is more like a movie with multiple short stories put together.
One monster follows another, and there is little respite between events.
This leads to a bit of a fragmentation of the film's perception and the dissolution of tension.
It makes people feel that they go high and low, and it ends before they are finished.
For example, the lines are too dense.
There are a lot of dense and fast explanatory lines in the film, and if you don't pay attention, you will lose some key information.
This is very unfriendly to non-Ultraman fans.
The biggest problem is the flattening of the characters.
The plot is too compressed, and it has to leave space for battle scenes, which will inevitably neglect the shaping of the characters.
Ultraman's human body god Yong Shinji is like a tool man.
The so-called personality change also depends on the dialogue of the lines, but does not give a more intuitive performance.
There is also Asano played by Masami Nagasawa.
She has always struggled with the "partner" relationship with Shenyong, but there has been no further development.
The most noteworthy interaction between the two is that when the rooftop says goodbye, he shouts "pat the ass" and then shoot the fart.
And several other members are even more pitiful, completely background.
However, if it is to watch Ultraman, this film is absolutely enjoyable.
Moreover, this film as a reboot is not the end.
It has been determined that there will be at least two Ultraman movies to be made after "New Guiman" and "New Ultra Severn".
The shortcomings of "New Ultraman" still have a chance to make up for them later.
At the beginning of this year, Hideaki Nuno unveiled a new project.
It links the four IPs of "Evangelion", "Ultraman", "Godzilla" and "Kamen Rider" to form SJHU (New Japanese Hero Universe).
Hideaki Nuno once stated his thoughts:
"I hope that this project will get rid of the "new·" in the future. However, being a "character" is not just a "hero" but a "character", and it becomes the basis for the development of other works in Japan and around the world."
These four IPs share many similarities.
The EVA series has just ended, but the future possibilities are not dead.
At present, Hideaki Nuno has put all his energy on creating the three major tokusatsu IPs.
The next "New Kamen Rider" will be released soon.
At that time, the territory of the new universe may complete the last piece of the puzzle.
Just like the original Ultraman design used in "New Ultraman", this full reboot plan is more like a revival of classic IP.
Just like the original "New Evangelion: Prologue", it tells familiar stories in a new format.
This is why from the story to the technique, it is breaking the shackles of the past typology.
will allow us to see a lot of "abnormal" shots in it.
With the revitalization of the new universe, several major IPs will surely shine in the new era.
This is the key to the continuation of the popularity of a 55-year super IP.
No breaking, no standing.
This is not only a reboot of IP, but also a revival of tokusatsu movies.
Although there are flaws.
But Uncle Yu still has more expectations for this series.