Now as a longtime Ultraman (and kaiju in general) fan, I remember the huge amount of hype in 2009 surrounding Ultra Galaxy Legends as the ultimate Ultraman movie. I hoped for the best, but when I finally saw it I was left with a feeling of "It was so awesome" mixed with "It should have been so much better". So, with my given character limit, I will do my best to explain why.
First, the monsters (the biggest attraction for any kaiju fan). UGL had many monsters, but the ones who get the most screentime (asides Gomora) are Bemular, Zaragas, Shaplay, Black King, and Narse at about 3-4 minutes each. Its obvious those ones were there to show off the new suits as all of them hadn't been seen since their debuts in the 60s/70s (well, Narse was CGI, but still) as most of the other monsters have little screentime and were simply Tsuburaya using as many available suits as they could. They all die very quickly too and barely any of them land a single hit on the heroes, making the whole monster army less dangerous than it sounds. I understand that they could only fit so much screentime for so many monsters in 90 minutes, but at least make them more challenging for the heroes.
Second, the story which is even more disappointing then the monsters as UGL's plot is very thin with little development in anything. Now I feel the reason why they ignored things like character development or various complexities was because all the characters in the movie (except Zero and Belial) had already been established quite well as they'd all been in other shows, so there was nothing to be added. Still, the plot is far too simplistic. There's also several plot holes (What was Belial doing while the heroes were in the frozen Land of Light and how did Shaplay and the Zettonian affiliate with Belial?) and Ass Pulls (Where did Ultraman Dyna come from? He didn't even need to be in the movie!).
The action is about 90% of UGL. Every 10 minute section has fight scenes that take up from 3 minutes to the entire part. Even so, the action is pretty good with plenty of monster mashing to go around (even if the monsters do all die in one hit). Zero's arrival is of note as the ultimate example of The Worf Effect when he totally decimates the remaining monsters including Tyrant and Zetton,. The visuals are also fantastic like the scenes of the Land of Light and Belial reviving the monsters at the Monster Graveyard.
Despite all the flaws and the bad outweighing the good, I still enjoyed UGL greatly. It's an entertaining Kaiju bonzana with many favourite characters and monsters as well as great visuals. The Rule of Cool is off the awesomeness charts (Hayata with an SMG, anyone?) and the monster crowd scenes give me nerdgasms. I'd say watch it if you're an Ultraman or kaiju fan in need of some good, old mindless Kaiju-loaded entertainment.
Disappointing but Enjoyable
Now as a longtime Ultraman (and kaiju in general) fan, I remember the huge amount of hype in 2009 surrounding Ultra Galaxy Legends as the ultimate Ultraman movie. I hoped for the best, but when I finally saw it I was left with a feeling of "It was so awesome" mixed with "It should have been so much better". So, with my given character limit, I will do my best to explain why.
First, the monsters (the biggest attraction for any kaiju fan). UGL had many monsters, but the ones who get the most screentime (asides Gomora) are Bemular, Zaragas, Shaplay, Black King, and Narse at about 3-4 minutes each. Its obvious those ones were there to show off the new suits as all of them hadn't been seen since their debuts in the 60s/70s (well, Narse was CGI, but still) as most of the other monsters have little screentime and were simply Tsuburaya using as many available suits as they could. They all die very quickly too and barely any of them land a single hit on the heroes, making the whole monster army less dangerous than it sounds. I understand that they could only fit so much screentime for so many monsters in 90 minutes, but at least make them more challenging for the heroes.
Second, the story which is even more disappointing then the monsters as UGL's plot is very thin with little development in anything. Now I feel the reason why they ignored things like character development or various complexities was because all the characters in the movie (except Zero and Belial) had already been established quite well as they'd all been in other shows, so there was nothing to be added. Still, the plot is far too simplistic. There's also several plot holes (What was Belial doing while the heroes were in the frozen Land of Light and how did Shaplay and the Zettonian affiliate with Belial?) and Ass Pulls (Where did Ultraman Dyna come from? He didn't even need to be in the movie!).
The action is about 90% of UGL. Every 10 minute section has fight scenes that take up from 3 minutes to the entire part. Even so, the action is pretty good with plenty of monster mashing to go around (even if the monsters do all die in one hit). Zero's arrival is of note as the ultimate example of The Worf Effect when he totally decimates the remaining monsters including Tyrant and Zetton,. The visuals are also fantastic like the scenes of the Land of Light and Belial reviving the monsters at the Monster Graveyard.
Despite all the flaws and the bad outweighing the good, I still enjoyed UGL greatly. It's an entertaining Kaiju bonzana with many favourite characters and monsters as well as great visuals. The Rule of Cool is off the awesomeness charts (Hayata with an SMG, anyone?) and the monster crowd scenes give me nerdgasms. I'd say watch it if you're an Ultraman or kaiju fan in need of some good, old mindless Kaiju-loaded entertainment.