- Hitoshi Matsumoto's Big Man Japan is anchored around a very funny concept: The real-life superhero. When we first meet Masaru Daisato (Matsumoto), he seems like a normal, if slightly melancholy, young man. He likes collapsible umbrellas because they get big in time of need. Similarly, he enjoys soaking his food in water to watch it swell. We might wonder why this rather pensive fellow is the subject of a documentary if not for the fact that we suspect he is also Dai-Nihonjin, aka Big Man Japan! The latest in a proud family of super-growing men, Dai-Nihonjin rises to the occasion every time Japan is threatened by a new monster. Speaking of which, the monsters are an odd bunch. My favorite alternates between fixing his comb-over and tossing buildings into the sea, although it's tough to dislike the one with a gigantic ovipositor. Sounds like an entertaining film, right?
- For the first twenty minutes or so, Big Man Japan is bizarrely entertaining. The idea of a superhero having to climb inside a gigantic pair of underwear before "enlarging himself" is obvious comedy gold. Unfortunately, the film absolutely fails to maintain this momentum. The documentary-style pacing becomes particularly excruciating, especially when each character carefully contemplates dull answers to insipid questions. Any real documentary would have edited out the boring parts, but we are subjected to every pregnant pause and blank stare. Toward the film's end, the plot somehow gets even more confusing and less interesting, and that's when I completely gave up. The film's point is that being a Big Man isn't what is used to be. Japan's monster movies aren't what they used to be, either.
- I admit, I only skimmed the end. What the hell?
