Ultraman: Rising2024

89/100 This was my introduction to Ultraman, so maybe I'm a little biased, but I personally think this holds up as a great movie, as well as a good introduction for those unfamiliar with Ultraman, especially with the lack of required beforehand experience. Everyone who's seen the movie's already said it, but I'll say it again: the animation here is amazing. There's so much colour in every shot and each character has so much visual language to them. The Spider-verse animation style fits surprisingly well for Ultraman and I love it. The story here is pretty basic, it's just another "Mr. Mom" type deal, and it's easily my least favourite thing about the movie. However, the characters are so endearing in their dynamics and surprisingly complex that it somewhat saves the movie. The villain in particular is way better than I was expecting, and the father-son dynamic at the heart of the movie is heartwarming. Shoutout to Mina, by the way. I didn't expect to be actually sad at the death of the robot mom. The finale also goes way harder than necessary for a kid's film. The final battle with the two Ultramen, Gigantron and their shared child against a giant weapon-covered mech is just awesome in every way. I wasn't expecting the action to be both actually good and high-energy while still holding actual emotional weight, but it's great that it does. Overall, I don't have a lot to say about this movie. It's not perfect, and it definitely doesn't succeed at everything it attempts, but there's so much good here and so much passion for the franchise and the story they're telling that it elevates the film to sheer greatness.