I love all things Ultraman. Since I was a kid I loved watching the silver hero take on Kaiju of all kinds in all his iterations with the classic original look being my favorite. Director Shinji Higuchi set out to create an all-new Shin Japan Heroes Universe with films Shin Godzilla, Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon Time and Shin Kamen Rider. As part of that new series he has also brought us a new reimagining of the famed Kaiju hero with Shin Ultraman starring Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka, Hidetoshi Nishijima, with Anno and original 1966 Ultraman actor Bin Furuya returning to the role.

 

Shin Ultraman follows the appearance of giant unidentified life forms known as “S-Class Species (Kaiju)” that has become commonplace in Japan. The Japanese Government formed a Kaiju defense taskforce known as the SSSP, led by Kimio Tamura. After a particularly challenging encounter, a silver giant descends from the sky to rescue the country, but this giant’s identity, dubbed Ultraman, and purpose are a mystery.

 

I was so excited to check out this latest version of Ultraman and got everything I had hopes for, but did have some issues. The film brings all the great elements of the Ultraman franchise to life without varying too far from the origins while still being something new. It brings a fun variety of Kaiju and Ultraman action from beginning to end which is the real reason to watch any of these films.

 

While I love all these elements at any time, I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the CGI versions of them all. I love the man in suit style that we all know and love, but I know they feel the need to update it for varying reasons. To me though it just loses some of the magic and depth of characters this way. It’s still fine to look at and works, I just prefer the old way and was hoping for