Shin Ultraman2022

89/100 Once again, Hideaki Anno delivers a modern rendition of a tokusatsu classic. While not quite as strong as the original, this still proves great in its own way. I only really have one big critique of this movie, so I suppose I better get it out of the way: the characters. One of the biggest things I liked about the original Ultraman was its human cast, some of the best in any Kaiju media in terms of development and entertainment factor, something Anno wasn't able to replicate here. The human characters here, in contrast to the original, all feel rather undeveloped and stick to broad archetypes seen in multiple of the original shows. This is a big issue since one of the central tenets of the movie is Ultraman's connection to humanity through his team, the SSSP, and it really doesn't feel earned here. However, once you look past that, the film has a lot of good to offer. Right away, you can feel the passion here for the original series, with an amazing soundtrack which incorporates and updates several cues from the original while still allowing for some amazing originals. The Showa SFX were also great to hear, and the way the aliens have been designed in order with Tohl Narita's original vision, brought to life truer than the original through CGI, is great, especially Ultraman's look, devoid of the Color Timer and eyeholes added by the studio, and Zarab's, with the invisible back half originally intended for him. The action here is also great, proving a real highlight of the movie. From the fight scene early on with Gabora to my favourite, the refinery battle with Mefilas, there's not really a bad one here among any of the fight scenes. Along with this, as much as I've trashed the human characters, I feel the movie handled its alien characters very well. Both Ultraman and Alien Zarab were great characters, and while I mentioned earlier that Ultraman's connection to humanity doesn't feel earned, the writing here sells the destination, if not the journey to get there. My favourite character, however, is Alien Mefilas. He might be, bar none, my favourite villain in any Kaiju movie. Throughout every scene, he is in total control, and even when things go off-schedule, he quickly finds a way to reassert control. Even when he loses, it's purely because he chooses to leave, and this terrifying methodical approach combined with a charming outward personality, with a catchphrase to top it off, made him an easy favourite for me. Overall, this movie seems like it might be one where it's best to focus on the action and leave the story behind, but despite its undeveloped humans, the interesting political handling of the aliens makes its story a winner as well, and this combination helps it become a great film.