Dai-Nipponjin 2007

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Deflation--not delight--is the rule, and the key to enjoying the B-movie fights is to accept that even when Masaru wins, we're not meant to feel triumph. Read more

Nathan Lee, New York Times: 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 more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: A one-joke mockumentary about a misfit superhero, Hitoshi Matsumoto's kaiju eiga comedy milks a slight idea for all it's worth and then some. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: 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. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Somewhere there is a stranger film than Big Man Japan, but it would be hard to find. Read more

Michael Ordona, Los Angeles Times: You've probably never seen anything like Big Man Japan. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's as much fun as an old, popcorn-throwing kiddie matinee of Destroy All Monsters -- and far funnier intentionally than most superhero movies are accidentally. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: As in life, the nonmonster stuff goes on too long. But wait until the giant baby shows up. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: 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 more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Very funny in an insidious way. Read more

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: The film, written, directed and starring stand-up comic Hitoshi Matsumoto has, like most superheroes, a tragic flaw: It isn't funny. Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: 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 more