Big Man JapanHeroes never get appreciated. Big Man Japan is a kaiju comedy/mockumentary about a lowly Japanese man named Masaru Daisatō (Hitoshi Matsumoto) who is followed around by an (almost) unseen documentarian. The first act of the movie is as unassuming as Masaru, or "Satō-san", but it is evident that despite his disheveled appearance, he is something of a celebrity. And that is because his alter ego is that of a giant, monster battling titan called "Big Man Japan". But hard times have plagued Masaru and the monster fighting business, and he is viewed more as a pariah than a protector these days.
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Big Man Japan might look like a kaiju movie farce at first blush (which it is), but the mockumentary side of the film adds a new dimension, forcing a reevaluation of this entire subgenre of monster movies and the way that we view our "heroes". Masaru lives a humble life in a small, rundown house. His favorite things are to go out to the local noodle shop and order "Super Noodles" two or three times a week, although he claims that he also likes to cook and sprinkle seaweed flakes on his tofu. He takes care of a stray cat (who all but lives in his home anyway) and he has a fondness for expanding umbrellas, because "they get big when you need them to". And yet his home is vandalized with graffiti criticizing him and people throw rocks through his windows. Periodically, the mockumentary cuts to conversations with people on the street, asking them what they think of "Big Man Japan". Opinions are almost universally critical of him to match the news reports which does nothing but bash this simple hero. Masaru tells the documentarian that he is married but that he lives apart from his wife (Shion Machida) and their daughter; when we meet them, both seem to be ashamed of him. So for much of the first part of Big Man Japan, the audience is left to wonder just what it is that makes the titanic defender of Japan so reviled. Over the course of the film, it becomes clear that this attitude parallels the way that people constantly seek an escalation in the scale of their entertainment, even when it comes by way of catastrophes. Wonder what I mean by this? Just turn on the news or search for "news" (or what passes for it) online, and you'll see just how hot takes dominate everything, the more outrageous the better. In this kind of world, Big Man Japan just isn't "cool" anymore. Old black and white footage is used to show Masaru's grandfather (Daisuke Nagakura) during the period of Imperial Japan in and around World War II, where this giant precursor to Masaru was treated like a superstar. Masaru recalls how his grandfather--older now (played by Taichi Yazaki) and kept at an assisted living facility with dementia--was once surrounded by geishas and never had to carry a wallet because everybody else paid for him. Masaru sullenly adds that he has to pay for everything these days. Masaru resents that despite sharing the same gift his family has to grow to incredible size, that he is made into a scapegoat instead of a celebrity.
Big Man Japan has several scenes of kaiju monster fighting action set in the city, befitting the genre. The most bizarre creatures to ever see the light of day in a feature such as are Masaru's opponents, like the "Strangling Monster" (Haruka Unabara)--a creature who hugs buildings, delivers a suplex to them, then lays eggs via an ovipositor in the hole left behind, all while fighting its own combover. (Yes, really, and this isn't even the weirdest critter.) Masaru is always on call and gets "baked" via exposure to massive amounts of electricity at power stations (there used to be fifty-two), so he can expand to titanic size. This is paired with a phony Shinto ritual which no one can decide why it's performed in the first place. Oh, and to protect his modesty, a pair of gigantic purple briefs (clearly his favorite color) are suspended between two conductive poles so that he can fill them as he transforms. His weapon: an oversized taiko drumstick. (You'd think if these monsters were true threats to the nation's defense, he would be better equipped.) Masaru has an ambivalent agent named Kobori (Ua), who insists on putting product placement on Masaru's giant body--a humiliating experience which actually compromises his ability to fight. Each kaiju encounter is played for laughs, because of how utterly absurd the creatures are but also because of Masaru's ways of dealing with them, which always manage to disappoint at best, outrage at worst. The only time he gains any remote modicum of interest is after he runs away from an ambushing red monster who stomps him mercilessly. The irony of all of these monster encounters is that the Japan in Big Man Japan seems utterly indifferent to a constant barrage of giant critters destroying the city. This is, of course, a satire of all of the myriad kaiju monster movies in Japanese cinematic history, not least of which includes the Godzilla franchise. Like the song of the same name by Blue Oyster Cult describes, "oh no, there goes Tokyo" (again). Essentially, everyone in Japan dumps their anger and frustrations on Masaru; he is their scapegoat, and the media only fans the flames with outrageous headlines that vilify him even more. Sure, Masaru isn't always a straightforward guy. Even his story changes here and there, like whether he and his grandfather get any government assistance for their contributions to their nation's defense, or how often he gets to see his daughter. He was practically abused as a child by his father (Motohiro Toriki), the "fifth" Big Man Japan, who felt that clamping jumper cables to his young son's nipples would help him "grow up" (in so many ways). It took his grandfather to intervene and save him, so Masaru feels closer to him than his own late father. But Masaru is not as thick-skinned nor as brave as his grandfather, so the public criticism weighs on him more heavily, and I suspect that this has contributed to his downward turn in life. But on that same note, it is a lesson to not let the slings and arrows of an unappreciative community make you feel any less valuable about yourself...to not feel so small in the world.
Recommended for: Fans of a deceptively introspective giant monster movie, merging the unlikely genres of mockumentary and kaiju. Big Man Japan is awkwardly paced by design; the various interviews are slow moving yet the monster fights are outlandish with some really spectacular sight gags. Audiences will enjoy this movie most if they are on board with this unorthodox combination of styles.
Big Man Japan has several scenes of kaiju monster fighting action set in the city, befitting the genre. The most bizarre creatures to ever see the light of day in a feature such as are Masaru's opponents, like the "Strangling Monster" (Haruka Unabara)--a creature who hugs buildings, delivers a suplex to them, then lays eggs via an ovipositor in the hole left behind, all while fighting its own combover. (Yes, really, and this isn't even the weirdest critter.) Masaru is always on call and gets "baked" via exposure to massive amounts of electricity at power stations (there used to be fifty-two), so he can expand to titanic size. This is paired with a phony Shinto ritual which no one can decide why it's performed in the first place. Oh, and to protect his modesty, a pair of gigantic purple briefs (clearly his favorite color) are suspended between two conductive poles so that he can fill them as he transforms. His weapon: an oversized taiko drumstick. (You'd think if these monsters were true threats to the nation's defense, he would be better equipped.) Masaru has an ambivalent agent named Kobori (Ua), who insists on putting product placement on Masaru's giant body--a humiliating experience which actually compromises his ability to fight. Each kaiju encounter is played for laughs, because of how utterly absurd the creatures are but also because of Masaru's ways of dealing with them, which always manage to disappoint at best, outrage at worst. The only time he gains any remote modicum of interest is after he runs away from an ambushing red monster who stomps him mercilessly. The irony of all of these monster encounters is that the Japan in Big Man Japan seems utterly indifferent to a constant barrage of giant critters destroying the city. This is, of course, a satire of all of the myriad kaiju monster movies in Japanese cinematic history, not least of which includes the Godzilla franchise. Like the song of the same name by Blue Oyster Cult describes, "oh no, there goes Tokyo" (again). Essentially, everyone in Japan dumps their anger and frustrations on Masaru; he is their scapegoat, and the media only fans the flames with outrageous headlines that vilify him even more. Sure, Masaru isn't always a straightforward guy. Even his story changes here and there, like whether he and his grandfather get any government assistance for their contributions to their nation's defense, or how often he gets to see his daughter. He was practically abused as a child by his father (Motohiro Toriki), the "fifth" Big Man Japan, who felt that clamping jumper cables to his young son's nipples would help him "grow up" (in so many ways). It took his grandfather to intervene and save him, so Masaru feels closer to him than his own late father. But Masaru is not as thick-skinned nor as brave as his grandfather, so the public criticism weighs on him more heavily, and I suspect that this has contributed to his downward turn in life. But on that same note, it is a lesson to not let the slings and arrows of an unappreciative community make you feel any less valuable about yourself...to not feel so small in the world.
Recommended for: Fans of a deceptively introspective giant monster movie, merging the unlikely genres of mockumentary and kaiju. Big Man Japan is awkwardly paced by design; the various interviews are slow moving yet the monster fights are outlandish with some really spectacular sight gags. Audiences will enjoy this movie most if they are on board with this unorthodox combination of styles.