Big Man Japan Trailer
The good folks over at Magnet Releasing are continuing their efforts to bring interesting and unique foreign films to North America through their awesome Six Shooter Film Series. This is the same series that brought Let The Right One In and Timecrimes to our attention, and now the next film up on their agenda is perhaps the weirdest one yet: Hitoshi Matsumoto’s Big Man Japan.
Although it is being called a “superhero comedy”, this movie is nothing like what you’d expect from that description. The story centers on a slacker named Daisato, who becomes a giant when shocked with electricity. He reluctantly protects Japan from an odd assortment of monsters, but the public finds him more of a hassle than a hero. He also has a grandfather who can transform into a giant, albeit one that wears dirty underwear. Basically it sounds kind of like Hancock meets Kung Fu Hustle meets Crank 2… in other words, crazy! The only thing I’m confused about is that although the movie is supposed to be a live-action/CGI hybrid, the trailer makes it look almost 100% animated. Either way, I’d love to check this out. Watch the trailer below or see it in HD over at Apple.com. Big Man Japan hits select theatres on May 15th.
Comments (4)
Honestly, I didn’t think this movie was any good at all. I couldn’t make it past half way (and this is coming from a fan of Matsumoto’s TV comedy and Japanese movies). The CG is poor like many mainstream Japanese movies. I’d say a little worse than Miike’s ‘The Great Yokai War’, or Kitano’s ‘Glory to the Filmmaker!’. Those are great comparisons, too, as they are subpar movies by great directors, IMHO. And I think Matsumoto could make a much better and funnier film than this one. Or maybe he is just better at stand-up.
But it is mostly live action. The story is really mellow and it kind of follows the day-to-day life of the main character and how he is a burden and gets called into action. It’s definitely different and/or weird. That’s what’s supposed to be funny about it. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood or give it enough time.
Posted by joe on March 2nd, 2009ps. You may know Matsumoto as ma-chan from DOWNTOWN “Gaki no Tsukai” TV clips. Check em out on youtube for some funny stuff. “no laugh…” episodes are awesome.
Posted by joe on March 2nd, 2009I usually reserve this term for ridiculous video games like Beautiful Katamari, but this movie definitely qualifies: That trailer is CJS– crazy Jap shit.
Looks mind-numbingly stupid.
Posted by Jon Rocks on March 2nd, 2009Wasn’t a big fan of the ending (it just sort of goes off the deep end), but I’ve never seen a movie that does DEADPAN as well as this one (And I’m including all of Jim Jarmusch flicks in there).
WELL worth a look.
Posted by Kurt on March 3rd, 2009Leave a Reply