Ultraman Rising

[School of Movies 2024]

You don't need to know a single thing about Ultraman to love this film.

We brought in Kaiju and Sentai expert Dan Hoeppner to educate us along with you, regarding the history and cultural background of this character, but the film itself, viewable on Netflix is an absolutely perfect starting point. It is a smashing standalone story about the son of Ultraman, who grew up to be not especially great in the role himself, and instead pursued his mother's passion, becoming a baseball player. He's selfish and arrogant, not a team player, and has estranged himself from his widowed father, Hayao, with neither of them finding fulfilment.

Then Kenji had an adorable, ginormous baby space dragon dropped into his lap, and he's about to find out that being a Dad is harder than it looks.

It also sits confidently alongside the most gorgeous, dynamic and thrilling animated films of recent years, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, The Sea Beast and even the hallowed Spider-Verse.

This one was commissioned by Thomas Meehan, and we're so glad he prompted us into tackling it now and not holding back because it felt too intimidatingly special. Sometimes we need that fire lit under us.

Guest:

Dan Hoeppner  @MightyMegatron0  of Leftover Army Monsters