Customer Reviews

Big Man Japan

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Saw this at Facets in Chicago last night, and it was amazing. It's one of those movies that I want to show to all my friends.

Fair warning, DON'T WATCH THE US TRAILER. They should fire whoever was responsible for that. This is a CGI action movie the same way "This is Spinal Tap" is a 90-minute live recorded performance by U2. That is to say, it's not. 90% of Big Man Japan is shot in a documentary style and it has a hilarious "slow burn" style of humor that is just not evident from the trailer. If you're expecting slapstick and big monster fights, you'll get some of that but it's not what the movie is all about. It's very Christopher-Guest-ish, so think "Waiting for Guffman" or "Best in Show" (or again, "This is Spinal Tap").

I probably laughed harder at the ending to this movie than I did at anything all year, and I feel sorry for the people who didn't "get" it. Do yourselves a favor and watch some old tokusatsu like Ultraman or Spectreman before you see this. That is the genre that this movie is spoofing, so you should at the very least have a LITTLE familiarity with it. Beyond that, you don't need to be a huge Japanophile to love this, as the humor is pretty universal. This movie definitely earned its spot in my top 25 favorite comedies.

If you aren't fairly familiar with modern Japanese comedy then you are probably going to miss a lot of what "Big Man Japan" has to offer. For example, "Downtown" is not a name that is going to mean much to most Americans, but they are a phenomenal comedy-duo that are incredibly influential and whose style dominates much of modern Japanese comedy. Think Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Second City Theatre, or Saturday Night Live.

"Big Man Japan" (Japanese title "Dai-Nipponjin" or "Giant Japanese Person") is "Downtown" member Matsumoto Hitoshi's big screen debut as both a staring actor and a director. Much of the humor is in his trademark style, and he brought along plenty of famous friends for cameos, although noticeably missing is his "Downtown" partner Masatoshi Hamada.

The film is done in a mockumentary-style, following the life of slacker Daisatou Masaru who has inherited his power to grow to an enormous size from his father and his now-senile grandfather, both who previously served as "Big Man Japan." Masaru draws a government salary to protect Japan from the various Godzilla-like monsters that attack from time to time, but his heart isn't really in it. The public mocks him and complains about the property damage and environmental aspects of his battles. His manager sells advertising space on his giant body. Things just aren't going well.

Most of the first part of the film is just following Masaru around, looking in on his daily life, dingy apartment and how he looks after his senile grandfather. When duty calls, however, he swells up to battle the monster-of-the-week (many of whom are the aforementioned cameos of famous friends), sometimes managing to beat the monster away but sometimes getting it handed to him. The final sequence goes to even more left-field, as Big Man Japan gets to live his dream by joining the Ultraman squad, and all pretense of story goes out the window.

All of the monsters are CGI, and they are intentionally done in a cheesy manner. Like the bad special effects on shows like "Saturday Night Live," much of the humor comes from how terrible and unrealistic the special effects are, and from seeing famous comedians morphed into giant versions of themselves. Other than these big flashes, the humor is done in a deadpan-style, and it isn't a fast-paced movie until the final payoff in the end.

I really enjoyed "Big Man Japan," but I think this is because I lived over in Japan for several years and am a huge fan of "Downtown." Like the film Takeshis, which also was cameo-ridden, this just isn't something that was made for the overseas market, and I think if I was seeing it cold then I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Fans of pure absurdity will probably get a kick out of it, and people who enjoy a good man-in-suit giant monster movies like The Super Robot Red Baron and All Monsters Attack might find something good here too. Otherwise, it is probably going to be a snoozer for you.

As other reviewers here have stated, this is largely a satire on certain genres of Japanese film, and it helps to know those references. But even as one who's seen a pretty small amount of Japanese film (except Kurosawa, a true genius), I still found it slyly funny during the many slow character-driven parts, and incredibly stupidly hilarious during the fight scenes.

Even if you get bored with the satire of the superhero's daily life (it is indeed very dry wit and meant for those with enough intellect to not demand a new fight every two minues), simply fast forward to the half dozen fight scenes, which are among the most insanely goofy visual weirdness I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. They mock the monster genre while simultaneously glorying in the splendid silliness of the whole concept. Plus, the monsters are some of the weirdest creatures you will ever see. Just looking at them is funny, but watching them fight the bored superhero is a whole new type of laugh.

This comedy turns all sorts of ideas on their heads and exposes the idiocy of not only fanboys and cultists but also the selfishness of modern people, whatever culture they're from.

Highly recommended for those with imagination, and those who can laugh at their own preconceptions.
And remember, even if you get bored, make sure to ff to the fight scenes. They get better and better as they go, and the ending is a cracker.

This is Japanese wackiness at its best. Just imagine a mockumentary a la 'This is Spinal Tap' but on the subject of monster (kaiju) movies... and of course with a heaping spoonful of utterly unique and odd humor that Japan does best. If you're not into Japanese humor and offbeat stuff, you probably shouldn't even consider renting this, trust me you'll just sit there nodding your head while whispering 'wtf' to yourself. However if you're accustomed to more experimental Japanese films then you're probably a little more primed for what to expect. We follow a thirty something solitary guy who lives alone and just happens to defend Japan from an odd assortment of giant monsters. That's probably all I should say, getting too much more into it would be utterly confusing to articulate.

I absolutely love movies like this, mostly because seeing films play it safe gets old fast... having something jump in there and just be totally 100% unique is such a great breath of fresh air. Also, the cool thing is that even though this movie is wacky and off beat it still seems meaningful at times, and underneath all of the goofiness there is still plenty of meaningful symbolism to be found. If you do decide to watch this, just wait till the last twenty minutes or so... as it's one of the weirdest and funniest endings ever. This one gets a 4.25/5 stars. Adventurous and open minded viewers only.

Big Man Japan (Dai-Nipponjin): 4 out of 10: I had such high hopes for this one; really high hopes. I love monster movies and while the idea that a man turns into a giant to protect Tokyo from the various monsters that attack. This idea, which is kind of Jet Jaguar (Godzilla vs. Megalon) crossed with Apache Chief (Super Friends), seems like perfect Anime material.

Big Man Japan is a live action mockumentary however. Yes feel free to groan now. Look I loved this is Spinal Tap as much as the next bloke, but the reason Spinal Tap worked was not because it was a fake documentary but because Stonehenge statue was 6 inches tall and in danger of being crushed by dancing dwarfs.

If you fake a documentary and don't write jokes and funny bits it simply is a boring documentary that isn't true. This whole `the character and situations provide an inside laugh' does not work. You got to write some bloody jokes.

Eighty percent of Big Man Japan consists of our hero [who is a dead wringer for Neil (the hippie) from The Young Ones] sitting. Sometimes he sits and rambles on about how bad his life is and sometimes, as God as my witness, he just sits. In what possible universe is this entertainment?

The monster stuff tries too hard as well. Okay that is not completely accurate, since the city design is so lacking in detail and believability one must assume it looks that fake on purpose. It is the monsters themselves however that seem to strain to get a laugh. (Ooh a giant hairy scrotum with an extended eyeball.) But at least the monster bits were trying to be funny and in their own way were well done, which is more than can be said for the rest of the film.

I saw this film back in 2007 as a secret screening as Fantastic Fest in Austin, Tx. I've been wanting to rewatch this film for some time now simply because I haven't seen anything since that has given me such a WTF good time. This is something you should go in with as little knowledge of as possible, the audience I watched this with as well as myself found it hard to make it through the first 20 or so minutes of this film because its pacing is just not meant for a midnight movie audience...But it's after this 20-25 minute marker when you discover what this movie is about and damn if it isn't worth the wait. The fight scenes are simply over the top and a delight, each one being memorable in their own way, him vs his grandpa is fun for sure, and a flashback sequence to our hero as a kid and jumper cables on the nipples...Friggin classic. It's something to be watched with friends with either a drink or bong in hand and in my humble opinion this will find its audience and work its way to being a cult classic.

I missed this movie when it played in Atlanta, but was glad to get it on DVD. The comments by several people who have lived in Japan are enlightening, and made the movie even funnier for me. But you don't have to know the inside jokes to enjoy it.

Now the part everyone talks about...the ending. It made the movie have so many more levels of meaning, politically, historically and even as a comment on Kaiju films in general. To some extent it is a parody of a "coming of age" film as well, but in a twisted way, because sometimes the things we aspire to look great from the outside, but once you attain them, they seem false and lose their luster.

Therefore, like an exclamation point used on an expletive in writing, it is completely necessary for it to make such a drastic twist at the end to avoid becoming just another japanese giant monster movie. Though it is extremely entertaining, this is film more as an art form than the typical Hollywood big-studio dribble currently spoon fed to audiences. Whether you like it or not, it will probably make you stop and think, "What the heck was that?" ("Think" being the important word in the last sentence.)

BTW, don't buy the idea they ran out of money at the end. Movies usually aren't made in a linear fashion. We just watch them that way.


Ah. I'm probably just reading too much into it. Great movie anyway.

"Big Man Japan"
(Magnolia/Magnet Films, 2009)
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** Spoilers below **
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"Big Man Japan" ("Dainipponjin") is a feature-length sci-fi comedy directed by and starring comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto; it is a dry, laconic mockumentary about Japan's last superhero, a depressive, forlorn, middle-aged loser who is paid a small stipend by the Japanese government to keep him on a retainer as the nation's last monster slayer. The glory days of Godzilla and Rodan are decades past; now the only monsters that show up to menage Tokyo are bizarre, grotesque oddities -- a giant head on a single leg that jumps from building to building, a flatulent flower-pod monster that comes to the city just to hang out and blocks traffic.

The camera crew follows Big Man through his daily routine, peeling back the layers of his sorrow, as we discover how sad his private life has become and how bored he is with his mission. It's a pretty funny movie, although the humor is very dry and slow-moving. For the right audience, this is a real gut-buster, although many viewers might find it inaccessible. Some of the humor revolves around the casting -- many of Matsumoto's creative partners are cast as the monsters -- but the film itself isn't particularly "Japanese" in the sense that you don't need to have a specialized knowledge of modern Japanese culture to "get" the jokes. Just knowing about the tradition of low-budget monster movies in the 1950s and '60s, as well as superhero kid's shows such as "Ultraman" is really all you need. This is a very funny movie, destined to become a cult classic. (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue film review blog)

Shot like a Spinal Tap-ish documentary on this man who transforms into an extremely large man to fight Japan's various monsters (and we're not talking Gamera, Gozdilla and Mothra) who all are these funky artistic creations from the mind of Hitoshi Matsumoto who wrote, directed and starred in this.

The movie is let down mainly by its pacing which is far too slow and the lead actor. I think in better hands this would have been a hoot. Never been a huge fan of Matsumoto as a comedian in Japan anyway. He's no Tunnels, Tamori or Beat Takeshi. Then again who is?

The extras include a full one-hour making of. Are they serious? Edit that thing down!

Big Man Japan is a mockumentary following the life of a man who grows 20 stories tall to save Japan from giant monster attacks ala Godzilla.

The grand irony of all this, as other reviewers have pointed out, is that while he's called Big Man Japan, he's a very small person. He lives in poverty, the broadcasts of his fights air at 2am to low ratings, his wife left him and is embarassed to let thier daughter be around him, the people he protects find him more of a bother than a hero, and his agent takes advantage of him. Its an interesting commentary on how fame doesn't assure a person of glory or riches, as well as an interesting way of showing how people sometimes cling to dying tradtions because they don't know where else to turn to.

The humor in most of this film is found in the awkward and defeating circumstances BMJ is often in. In this respect it reminded me of the UK version of the Office, its very VERY dry. The situations were so awkward and depressing that I didn't really laugh out loud all that much, but upon thinking about it later it was funnier in retrospect. Your experience may vary, but that's about how it was for me with the UK Office too. Some of it is really funny looking back, but dry enough to be uncomfortable in the moment.

The monster fights, on the other hand, are completely absurd and insane. They are rendered in (I assume intentionally) cheesey, low budget CGI. Its used to excellent effect in just smacking you upside the head with their weirdness. I'd liken them to more of a sketch comedy styled parody of giant monster battles, and it makes for quite a contrast with the extremely dry humor found in the live action sequences.

Some have complained that they didn't get the movie and needed to be more "in the know" with what its making fun of. I disagree. I don't think a person has to have an intimate knowledge of the giant monster sub-genre of Japanese cinema, they just have to know that it exists; that for a period of time it was trendy to feature movies where men in rubber monster suits fought each other. Really, if you've seen more than one Godzilla or Gamera movie, or caught a few episodes of Ultra-Man or the Power Rangers as a kid, you'll have all you need to "get" what this movie is trying to do.


Overall, I liked the film, but there are two key areas where I thought it could've been better. First off, the pace. This movie could've been 20 minutes shorter and not have lost a single joke. As is, it drags quite a bit. Overall, the dryness of the humor and the slower pace makes the movie's puchline of an ending hit quite a bit harder, as it is a DRASTIC change in tone (I laughed myself silly the first time I saw it, and you will too, provided you've seen either Ultra-Man or the Power Rangers), but it could have been just as effective had they cut more of the dead space leading up to the good scenes.

Secondly, I thought BMJ himself could've been made a bit more sympathetic of a character. We feel like his life is sad, but there are a few times where he just flat-out lies to the camera crew or acts a little bit like a jerk to them, and it takes away from his likeability. Like the pacing issue, a few small edits were all we needed to change this, and he would've been a much more sympathetic character as a result, we would've had a much stronger desire to see him succeed.


THE BOTTOM LINE: An interesting, if somewhat flawed film. It was definitely an original concept, and I enjoyed it, even if it was a bit on the slow side.