Big Man Japan
Magnet Releasing | Release Date: May 15, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyRussell Edwards
Decidedly odd, even by Japanese standards, this mockumentary about an electrically charged, skyscraper-high superhero saddled with misfortune, bad press and even worse TV ratings is tears-down-the-face funny and a genuine, jaw-dropping oddity. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAaron Hillis
I hurt myself laughing at this amazingly inventive mockumentary, and because it's so good, I refuse to give away much more than an insistent recommendation. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Very funny in an insidious way. Read full review
80
The New York TimesNathan 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. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Hysterically funny CGI fight sequences, which pit the chubby superhero against a series of creatures so bizarre they'd keep Hieronymus Bosch awake at night. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael Ordona
The film has slow sections that test the viewer's patience. But it also touches on themes of family, heroism and nationalism, and the finale, which has plenty of surprises and rewarding references for fans of the genre, is worth the wait. Read full review
70
Film ThreatScott Mendelson
Awfully funny, with surprisingly potent social commentary just underneath the quirkiness. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie 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. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
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. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyNick Pinkerton
Between such shots of inspiration, Matsumoto’s mock-doc framework seems a lazy stock device, interviews playing more dead than deadpan and failing to exceed an over-familiar comic-pathetic attitude toward the lives of functionaries. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
When a movie is this strange, it's gotta count for something. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
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. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
But the film written, directed and starring stand-up comic Hitoshi Matsumoto has, like most superheroes, a tragic flaw: It isn't funny. Read full review
More From This Movie

62 Critic Reviews

5.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL