But the film written, directed and starring stand-up comic Hitoshi Matsumoto has, like most superheroes, a tragic flaw: It isn't funny.
Big Man Japan(大日本人)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 2007
Rated PG-13 · 1h 53m
Director Hitoshi Matsumoto
Starring Hitoshi Matsumoto, UA, Itsuji Itao, Ryunosuke Kamiki
Genre Action, Animation, Comedy, Science Fiction
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Daisato is a middle-aged slacker living in Tokyo. He is a completely ordinary man, but he has a decidedly extraordinary ability: he can grow hundreds of feet tall using electricity. This mockumentary follows the not-so-superhero as he defends Japan from large monsters, struggling to live up to the long line of heroes he comes from.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Matsumoto isn't the first Japanese director to go all meta on the superhero tradition (consider also Takashi Miike's 2004 "Zebraman"), but this work of improbable lunacy may well max out the genre.
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
When a movie is this strange, it's gotta count for something.
Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten
The effects are reasonably well-created, though hardly transparent. The last 15 minutes of the film spins out into unimaginable realms. Fans of this kind of stuff will leave smitten; those accompanying them to the theatre will have a pretty good time too.
The New York Times by Nathan Lee
The most impressive special effect here is Mr. Matsumoto's hilariously restrained performance, a tour de force of comedic concision in a movie bloated by increasingly surreal developments.
At nearly two hours, Big Man Japan is clever (in a sick sort of way) but overlong. It needs judicious editing -- more mockumentary, fewer superhero antics.
Users who liked this film also liked
Perfect Blue
(パーフェクトブルー)
A retired pop singer starts to lose her hold on reality when she is stalked by an obsessive fan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Director Satoshi Kon
- Cast Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ōkura, Yōsuke Akimoto, Yoku Shioya
- Genre Animation, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Henry V
Young Henry V inherits the throne — and a war with France — from his father.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1989
- Director Kenneth Branagh
- Cast Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, James Larkin, Paul Scofield, Emma Thompson
- Genre War, Drama, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, Pluto TV, Freevee, Hoopla
Kick-Ass
A nerdy teenager decides to become a superhero despite having no powers or training of his own.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2010
- Director Matthew Vaughn
- Cast Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Omari Hardwick
- Genre Action, Crime
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Fine, Totally Fine
(全然大丈夫)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2008
- Director Yôsuke Fujita
- Cast Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Yoshino Kimura, Yoshinori Okada, Naoki Tanaka, Keizo Kanie
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Nanny McPhee uses her magic to teach the mischevious Green children a few lessons as they feud with their spoiled cousins.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, United States • 2010
- Director Susanna White
- Cast Emma Thompson, Asa Butterfield, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maggie Smith, Rhys Ifans
- Genre Comedy, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Scabbard Samurai
(さや侍)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2011
- Director Hitoshi Matsumoto
- Cast Takaaki Nomi, Sea Kumada, Itsuji Itao, Tokio Emoto, Jun Kunimura, Pistol Takehara
- Genre Action, Drama, Comedy
- Available on Spamflix
Kishen Kanhaiya
(किशन कन्हैया)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- India • 1990
- Director Rakesh Roshan
- Cast Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Madhuri Dixit, Kader Khan, Vikas Anand, Bindu
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on No streaming locations found.
ReLIFE
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2017
- Director Takeshi Furusawa
- Cast Taishi Nakagawa, Yuna Taira, Mahiro Takasugi, Elaiza Ikeda, Sae Okazaki, Yudai Chiba
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Book of Monsters
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2019
- Director Stewart Sparke
- Cast Lyndsey Craine, Michaela Longden, Lizzie Stanton, Anna Dawson, Daniel Thrace
- Genre Comedy, Horror, Action
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VUDU Free, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
PAW Patrol: Mighty Pups
In this new short feature from the all-powerful Paw Patrol franchise, our search and rescue dogs are given super-powers after a mysterious meteor lands in Adventure Bay.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Canada • 2018
- Director Charles E. Bastien, Keith Chapman
- Cast Max Calinescu, Devan Cohen, Drew Davis, Samuel Faraci, Kallan Holley, Jaxon Mercey
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Family, Action
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video
You Are Not My Mother
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland • 2022
- Director Kate Dolan
- Cast Hazel Doupe, Carolyn Bracken, Jordanne Jones, Florence Adebamo, Katie White, Paul Reid
- Genre Horror, Thriller
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla