‘Ultraman: Rising’ Netflix Movie Review - For the Family

I hate those films that have all action and no story and this was my opinion of the Ultraman series before I watched it. The film has so simple yet beautifully shown the effect a family can have on your personality. Kenji used to be a self-absorbed baseball player and knew how to do things for himself. The ‘me’ factor in him was so strong that it got the best of him. Be it his role as Ultraman or a baseball player, he didn't earn much respect until someone came into his life and turned everything into good.

The movie starts with Ken Sato coming back to Japan to play baseball. Apart from being a player, he's also there to save the country from the attack by the creatures. One day while fighting a Gigantron, something strange happens. The creature was saving what seemed like a metal ball from the attack launched at her by the KDF. Kenji didn't know about that and tried to save the Gigantron instead what he got in return was missiles targeting him too.

After a lot of fighting, the Gigantron was killed, and what was left of her was the metal ball from which came an egg. After the egg hatched into a beautiful pink baby Kaiju, Kenji was taken aback, unaware of what to do with it. We've all seen those cartoons or movies in which when a baby hatches from the egg, the first person it comes across, considers her to be their mom. The same happened here as the baby Kaiju considered Ultraman her mother.

Mina, the robotic system helping Kenji in babysitting the Kaiju infant turns out to be more capable than just managing baby duties. Maybe Kenji didn't show his affection earlier, but after Emi’s (baby Kaiju) entry into his life, a lot changed. Juggling between the duties of a dad and then also playing the baseball season didn't balance off the way he thought would. He failed miserably at both and found his place only after his dad came to help him.

Kenji always had resentment towards his dad, the reason being that he didn't search for his mom after she went missing. There's a whole lot of story there, and also why the Dr. Onda of KDF wanted Emi. The hidden motive of the agency here was that they wanted to destroy the Kaiju Island and Emi was their ticket to this place whose location no one knew.

Apart from the plot which indeed is beautiful, the audience will also fall in love with the father-child dynamics being highlighted. The animated film definitely boasts some great animation and action scenes yet what caught my attention was the small details highlighted, like how when Emi used to burp, Ultraman carried her on his shoulders. The bond has been beautifully shown and your heart melts by seeing the things they do for each other.

In my opinion, Ultraman Rising is a wonderful film which you can watch by sitting with your family. Those who are new to the title don't need to watch the three seasons released earlier as they hardly have any link to the story. Thus, it can be watched as a standalone.

Final Score – [7.5/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times
Release Date: June 14, 2024, on Netflix.