Big Man Japan or Dainihonjin had made headlines last year where everyone raved a bit about its quirky trailers. It was supposed to be a comical take on the whole superhero lifestyle. Well, I was finally able to watch this movie and I must say it was well worth the wait.
This movie is a bizarre little presentation of the daily life of a Japanese superhero. The man is a bit of a has-been. His family life has fallen apart. The local folks don't really like him. In fact, everyone is rather annoyed at the amount of damages done to the area after every monster fight. And let's not get started on monetary issues …
Basically, it is the portrayal of the less glamorous side of such a figure. Sure Bruce Wayne has his mansion and Clark Kent has … a well paying job but is that really how it works? That seems to be question asked by the writer and director of this flick, Hitoshi Matsumoto. He has approached this concept of super human character from a new angle and presented us with a truly bizarre story.
Thus, none of the monsters attacking the city are the kind of creepy villains you would expect. None of them have a grand plan or agenda. At the very most, they just want to make a noise and disrupt the peace, not unlike an unruly vandal. And of course these guys are almost always gigantic creatures which is not too bad since the hero can morph into a gargantuan figure as well. Problem is, you can't really have a clean fight, can you? Buildings break down, traffic lights are smashed up and people's homes are trampled on. Sure you want the villain to go away but you'd hate to be the one who's house got squashed in a fight. Oh ye, there's really no easy way to keep the public happy and that's what this movie shows.
In keeping with the weird take on the subject, the director has also opted to use a reality-TV style of narration in this movie. Thus, a cameraman follows the superhero around, asking him about his daily life. Funny thing is, we assume a lot about him (probably has a stable family, has a secret job somewhere else, etc) until the occasional Q&A sessions prove us to be wrong. So you learn being a superhero is not alike being a movie star; you have lots of money and fame when you are famous but folks get bored of you real quick. The best bit (and most telling aspect of modern tastes) was when he had to carry around ads whilst fighting off enemies. Ratings matter even for superheroes. How jaded is that?
The bit I didn't like or at least couldn't wrap my mind around was the end. The guy ends up joining this bizarre league and the rest of it feels a bit like a weird acid trip. The colors are all strange and a bit out there and suddenly, some of their antics don't really make sense. It could just be me but I also figured that the writer might have thrown in a hasty ending.