Forum - View topic

REVIEW: Shin Ultraman

gonna have to watch this but something tells me it does have overarching themes lol

All in all, each distinct section of the film is handled well and gives a meaningful exploration of its themes. Unfortunately, the episodic structure of the film means that it has few overarching themes—and those that it does have largely fail because of that structure. One such theme is the ineptitude of the government—how it never seems to learn its lesson and is doomed to repeat its mistakes endlessly. Sadly, this theme is treated as little more than a repeated comedic beat rather than a greater analysis of the problem.

The main theme of the film, the power of friendship, fares little better. Centered around Ultraman and his SSSP partner Asami, their relationship is supposed to form the basis for the film's climax—and explain why Ultraman feels the need to protect humanity, no matter the consequences. The problem is that Ultraman and Asami actually share very little screen time. In fact, for more than half the film, he is no-contact with the SSSP in general—Asami included. They simply have no real opportunity to form such a plot-vital friendship—no matter how much Asami brings up the subject in passing. The number of conversations they have in the film can be counted on a single hand.

More like four separate episodes than a cohesive film

Quote:

More like four separate episodes than a cohesive film

I wouldn't be surprised if Anno eventually reveals that was the entire point of the movie: To essentially recreate the feel of Ultraman, right down to the episodic nature of it...

Not that I have seen the film to know how I'd take this format myself (if you tell people that Shin Godzilla was just all the human bureaucracy parts of a Godzilla story elevated to the main storyline, probably they'd go running away from rather than towards the theater...), and I'm still eager to see it, but I think I can see why this structure could be a point of criticism.

Lord Geo wrote:

Quote: More like four separate episodes than a cohesive film I wouldn't be surprised if Anno eventually reveals that was the entire point of the movie: To essentially recreate the feel of Ultraman, right down to the episodic nature of it...

Like, you can do an episodic film, with distinct stories in each segment ala Creepshow or specific slices of a life ala Moonlight, but it really helps to have a cohesion tying it together so that as the stories start and stop you are still invested to see what comes next before there's no more. If it feels too much just like four "episodes" of what could have been a whole season more but this was only be a 90-minute film, then it doesn't really work as a 90-minute film in and of itself and seems like it should have just been an episodic series.

And going by the reviewer's description of how the characters are not interlinked enough in the film, that feels like a missed opportunity to provide that needed glue.