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
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 Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, Pluto TV, Hoopla
Green Card
The story of two people who got married, met, and then fell in love.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Australia, United States • 1990
- Director Peter Weir
- Cast Gérard Depardieu, Andie MacDowell, Bebe Neuwirth, Gregg Edelman, Robert Prosky, Jessie Keosian
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Avatar
When humans invade a distant planet, a man sent to study the indigenous aliens struggles to choose sides.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2009
- Director James Cameron
- Cast Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Disney Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
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 fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Plex, Plex Channel
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
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.
Midsommar
Let the festivities begin.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Sweden • 2019
- Director Ari Aster
- Cast Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren, Isabelle Grill
- Genre Horror, Drama, Mystery
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
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
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Spider-Man faces a crisis from across the multiverse.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Iceland • 2021
- Director Jon Watts
- Cast Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei
- Genre Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
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, Plex, Hoopla
Challengers
In this story of a love triangle set in the world of professional tennis, the complicated relationship dynamics play out on and off the court.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Italy • 2024
- Director Luca Guadagnino
- Cast Zendaya
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, fuboTV, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Epix Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Plex