Big Man Japan (Dai-Nipponjin) [Sub: Eng]
An eccentric man living alone in a decrepit house in Tokyo periodically transforms into a 100-foot tall giant in order to defend Japan against similarly sized monsters.
25 August 1971, Ehime, Japan
18 December 1931
September 25, 2009
Big Man Japanis built around a funny concept, vaguely akin to Hancock: its title character is a superhero who is a bit of a loser.Unfortunately, the concept is not enough to sustain entire the film.
June 26, 2009
This inspired 2007 send-up of the atomic-monster genre gets a fair amount of comic mileage from Daisato (played by the director) being anything but a big man.
May 15, 2009
As in life, the nonmonster stuff goes on too long. But wait until the giant baby shows up.
August 14, 2009
The movie doesn't get truly weird until the Power Ranger-style superheroes show up, and the special effects get even more low-rent. Then it really takes off.
July 05, 2011
An affectionate parody of Japanese giant-monster hero shows to make points about the unraveling of Japan's cultural heritage.
June 26, 2009
Somewhere there is a stranger film than Big Man Japan, but it would be hard to find.
June 25, 2009
Very funny in an insidious way.
October 11, 2009
The movie's shambling, matter-of-fact approach to pulpy material is funny, as is its steadfast avoidance of visual hype.
May 30, 2009
This is Matsumoto's first feature (he's a famously odd Japanese comedian), but it's a distinctively bizarre piece of work. Remember the name.
May 15, 2009
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.
July 31, 2009
Big Man Japan shows a good mockumentary needs more than killer concept to make us howl.
May 29, 2009
The film, written, directed and starring stand-up comic Hitoshi Matsumoto has, like most superheroes, a tragic flaw: It isn't funny.

