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Big Man Japan (Dai-Nipponjin) (2007)
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Big Man Flop.
A spoof on the monster genre that put Japanese film back on the map after World War two, it follows the life of Daisato, AKA Big Man Japan, the only superhero left to fend Tokyo from a long list of weird, giant creatures. His power? Growing enormous after exposure to large amounts of electricity. As he reflects on the golden days his celebrated super predecessors enjoyed (including his grandfather, who now battles dementia in a retirement home), we witness the lonely life he leads drudging away as a middle-aged defender way past his prime. He speaks directly to the film crew, answering questions about the seperation from his wife and young child, his legacy and the demands of his job.
I have never been so confused in my life as I was by this movie. I don't know if it's the differences in culture or if it was just badly written, but I just couldn't connect with this mocumentary from Japan.
The way the film plays on the conventions of superhero movies provides the few moments of humor, like Big Man having to wear company ads in on his body to make money, or the way they show how he manages to stay clothed through his growth transition. It's the move from his slow paced real life, complete with idle chit-chat and mundane activities, to the actual fight sequences with invading monsters that makes the whole thing so disorieinting. Though well animated, the confrontations are awkward and lack the action the movie needs to retain a viewer's interest. The end product is just depressing and bizarre, and not in an entertaining way. Plus, the conclusion is like a trippy episode of Power Rangers as imagined by Lars Von Trier. Cultural boundaries, or no cultural boundaires, this was a total disappointment.
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