Big Man Japan (2007)

Really Surprised!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Only in Japan......Would something as obscure and crazy like this see the light of day!"Big Man Japan" ("Dai-Nihonjin") is about a rather plain middle-aged man named Masaru Daisatô (played by Hitoshi Matsumoto) who is capable of turning into a giant in order to fight the monsters that threaten Japan. However, the giant, despite his efforts to help people, is disliked and openly ridiculed by the people he is supposed to be protecting and helping.The only thing more surreal than Masaru Daisatô's hair, were the monsters that he was fighting. I will say that the Japanese have a weird sense of imagination. These monsters were funny and actually well enough made. Some very bizarre creations here that you are guaranteed not to see anywhere else."Big Man Japan" has some good enough effects, although the CGI could be spotted a mile away. But still, it worked out well enough. And to bring the movie from strange and bizarre into being just downright absurd was the ending, where the superheroes showed up. And just when you thought you had seen it all...The good thing about "Big Man Japan" is that it is a spoof on the monster genre that has been making its way out of Japan. And not taking itself serious, in the regards as monster sightings have been less and less in recent years, as they said in the movie.I didn't really enjoy "Big Man Japan" and found it to be somewhat of a struggle to get through. But I am sure that a movie as odd and bizarre as this would have instantly found a following of fans, because the movie is unique, I will say that much. I have seen worse Japanese movies, and as such, then I am rating this a mediocre 5 out of 10 rating.

BIG MAN JAPAN is a very clever spoof on 'The Super Hero Genre'. Depressed and middle-aged Daisato plugs along as a second-rate protector of Japan. The film depicts an altered reality in which cartoon monsters sporadically appear to create mischief and mayhem. The Big Man does what he can, but ends up causing as much confusion and destruction as he prevents. Plagued by waning popularity, the erosion of his powers, and family problems, he stoically soldiers on. As a documentary, the film succeeds admirably. We see this man robbed of his destiny, and watch as he explains his half-hearted efforts to regain some sort of balance between what he was, and what he has become. However, the film's special effects are cheesy, but actually add to the representation of a man stuck firmly in a meager existence. Daisato's life is entirely devoid of any social support network. He visits a grandfather, but this man is suffering from dementia in a nursing home, and is in worse shape than our hero. Daisato is allowed visitation with his wife and daughter twice a year, and his 'friendships' are paid geisha girls with whom he drinks heavily. Although a comedy, BIG MAN JAPAN, is not as funny as it is poignant, and this fact makes it a cut above.

Here in the good old Second-Depression-Era United States, moviegoers have very little to look forward to: we get gussied-up video games masquerading as movies (or cgi cartoons all geared to the Special Needs kids), or an endless series of killbilly murder movies that beget yet more killbilly murder movies (because they makes money, and money talks), or alleged comedies (or romances) that elicit only groans, or big-budget movies based on creatively-worthless television shows or... Let me catch my breath. Whew. Where I was...? Oh, yeah: let's all clasp our hands and bow our heads and thank Japan for movies like BIG MAN JAPAN. Although most of us will only experience these gems on video, that's a relatively small price to pay for being able to see them at all. I haven't laughed this hard since I saw Knob Zombie's killbilly classic, HOLLERWEEN TWO. Sato-san goes from a figurative zero (a "loser" on a superhero TV show) to sixty (feet) in a matter of minutes once electricity has been applied to various "points" on his body. (We see him standing naked inside a giant pair of trunks strung between what amounts to a pair of telephone poles, waiting to be jolted into gigantism. It's at once hysterical, yet practical: once the change is effected, he needs SOME kind of... costume...) His toe-to-toe slugfests with a wide variety of kaiju have to be seen to be appreciated (and he's not averse to trying to avoid conflict by talking a giant monster into leaving town). The abrupt change from state-of-the-art cgi to live-action scenes near the end is gut-bustingly funny: the cheesy foam rubber appliances hark back to the rubber-wear sported by so many BEMs (Bug-Eyed Monsters) in so many kaiju classics (from the original GOJIRA to ULTRAMAN- and beyond). We even see the strings that haul our hero(oes) away (who are, of course, doubled by what are clearly dolls). All of this reminded me of a double feature I saw as a kid: GODZILLA (sic) VS. THE SMOG MONSTER and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS. At one point in one of these two movies (I don't remember which; they blur), a kaiju kicks a pile of toy cars out of his way. On the Big Screen, one could clearly read the name of the toy manufacturer on the bottom of one of the overturned vehicles: Tonka. BIG MAN JAPAN takes me back to them good ol' days, when movies was just plain fun. Domo arigato.

Big Man Japan is a film unlike no other. An homage to monster movies, a swift mockumentary, and a biting satire. The battle scene with the "Stink Monster" is hilarious, but all the other monsters just weren't funny, but borderline disturbing.I'm not giving a synopsis anymore with my reviews because that's just boring and you can find out for yourself. But, here's my opinion: this movie is so weird that it gets uncomfortable after a while. At first it was refreshing and awesome, but then, all of a sudden, it got slightly boring and just too weird.Like I said, the best part of the movie is the fight scene with the Stink Monster and the bizarre ending which has a subtle, but important message within it. I didn't exactly "love" the ending like many people do, but it's still a good ending (and an unexpected one).Definitely not for all tastes.