Big Man Japan

I really wanted to like this movie more than I did, because the premise is so great: The last of Japan’s superheroes lives a life of quiet despair and monster-fighting. Director Matsumoto Hitoshi plays the lead, Daisoto Masaru, better known as Big Man Japan. His wife has left him; his country hates him; and his TV ratings are down. But when giant monsters attack Tokyo, he attaches electrodes to his nipples and grows 100 feet taller, then beats the monsters with a big stick—only he’s not very good at it. The monster fights are great and weird, with monsters the likes of which you’ve never seen before (like the Strangling Monster, whose arms are a loop of rubber bands; the Baby Monster, who harmlessly sits on buildings crying for its mother; and the Leaping Monster, which is just a head attached to a powerful leg). Matsumoto is decent in the role, but the film never gathers enough steam or finds enough direction to make it as compelling as its concept deserves.