Big Man Japan [DVD] [2007]

This film is a mix of different types of humour. It starts off slow, with a character study of the depressed man in the titular role. Jokes are dry and situational. This, while enjoyable completely disarms you for the total absurdity of the ensuing monster battles. It's kind of like watching The Office interspersed with Monty Python. The design of the monsters, the way big man deals with his lot in life, and the total chaos of it all is a magical mix.

I went into this with low expectations, but I needn't of worried, it's a total corker and guaranteed cult classic.

The story centres on a documentary film crew that is folowing a man called Daisato as he goes about his daily life. The most remarkable thing thing you can say about him at this point is that he likes umbrellas.

Although Daisato is a slight oddball this is no reason for anyone to make a documentary about him. But, there is one thing that makes him stand head and shoulders (and the rest) above everyone else. Because when monsters are sighted and Japan is in danger then he is the man to call.
So it's off to power up, or 'bake' as he calls it and Big Man Japan goes into action.

This is an entertaining movie, that tells its story really well.
Hitoshi Matsumoto not only does a great job of writing and directing this movie but also plays the character of Daisato really well. He is quite a vulnerable sympathetic character who you can't help but feel sorry for. Despite how he is treated by the majority of people he still gets on with his job of fighting monsters even though it's pretty much a thankless task.
He gets rocks thrown through his windows and graffitti sprayed on his house. Most people dislike him as they say that he causes damage, is fat or that he has a big face.

The monsters themselves are very original with human features and in one case, even a comb over.
The fights between Big Man Japan are done with cgi and are handled well with each monster being very distinctive and having their own little fact file that introduces them.

In addition to all these plus points, the film is also very amusing. Although not laugh at loud funny initially it does have a quirky sense of humour running throughout. That is until the end of the film.
The ending is laugh out loud hilarious and one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.
I not going to spoil it (enough people have already done that in their reviews) but it is worth the price of the dvd just for the final fight sequence.

Part documentery with a different take on a Godzilla or Ultraman movie, the only thing that lets it down is the dvd itself which contains no extras at all.
Despite that it still gets 5 stars from me for just being a good enjoyable slice of Japanese entertainment.

Big Man Japan, Is a "reallife" type documentary of the living day to day of a monster hunter. It looks inot all aspects of the monster hunterrs life and explores some of his repressed feeligsa round what he is forced by fate to have to do. This film has been through the review mill but the subtle pointers to American / Japanese post war relatioships, the general state of sciety and global decay in popular Japanese pop culture. There are many comical elements in the monster genre, and Japan is the centre of monster buff culture. So what is ground-breaking here ? and why view this movie over and above other films of this genre. Our Central character - the big man opitimises the modern middle aged man who in society has lost his place / status due to sexual equality and globalisastion, huis particular skill is "monster bashing",. The movie attemps to make a paraody of his life in comparision to the old times / culture of respect heroes where in the time honoured tradition the great "warriors" would go out and defend the people and cities against hienious demonic invasion. The difference here is that the big man, is no longer a reveared hero of the people but a public nuisance. The general public are de-sensitised by the constant stream of monsters and have low expectation of the impact and damage they can cause on there lives. This desentisisation leads to all all out dispresect to the work of the "big man" in destroying demons to the point (in paraody fo the way in modern warfare we now respond to civilian death) where he is activly pursued by pressure groups and the public over various rights to live as well as the ensuing fallout from a monster battle - collateral damage. The relationship he has with the previous monster bashing her "the forth" as well leaves an impact on our big man. The forth represents he golden age of monster bashing due to his age and status and despite senile dementia still wields respect that the current big man cannot. the Big man lives a hand to mouth life of denial over his relationship breakdown and his lack of interst from his daughter. He is in fact a victim of society's expectation abd the failure of his family life being a result of this. Th egrand finale of the film is a quipsical influx of amiercan supeheroism where the role of the big man is thoroughly underminded. This symbolises the power of American over japanese pop media and trivialises the plight of a "real" man with a "real life" portraying him as a comic book type caption hero. The big man longs to be free of his responsabilities and in fact the ending does that. he , a symbol of janese popular utlure is untterly trivialised and uindermined by the american super hero family this is cleverly done by falsyfing the film set with cheap costumes and a joke city . its clever and makes an underlying point that at the end of it we care little about what is realy or not we just want to see a good show full of action without paying any attention to the emotional position of those in the key roles. You cannot help but feel sorry for the Big Man and his lot in life, in the way he tries to trivialise and push aside emotions through to accepting his fate and lot in life as someone who just cannot make it. not through his own action s mind you more to do with attitudes to who / what he is. It is a tease at discrimination and a poke at how society reacts against a handicap. there are hugh comical moments to be had but the underlying base of the film is about the impact of social change and discrimination.