Two for one review special!
First up, Mega Monster Battle - Ultra Galaxy: The Movie!
Recently I started watching Ultraman Geed and was informed that, in order to fully understand Belial, I'd have to watch a whole saga of movies centered around Ultraman Belial and Ultraman Zero. I'm not mad about that; tokusatsu movies are some of my favorites!
Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy – The Movie follows Ultraman Mebius and a handful of the Ultra Brothers alongside the scrappy exploration crew known as ZAP SPACY from Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle. One of the film's central protagonists is Rei, a human with the genes of Alien Reiblood, the same alien responsible for corrupting Belial. This makes him what is known as a Reionics. Rei also has the ability to command Kaiju in battle using a device called a Battlenizer.
All in all, this movie was an absolute blast. Ultraman Zero is a fantastic character, and the film's runtime gives him plenty of room to develop. He's hot-headed and reckless, but undeniably heroic, serving as the perfect foil to Belial in so many ways. The action is unlike anything I'd seen in an Ultraman series before, both in terms of its massive scale and the choreography itself. Every fight is given the time it needs to breathe, making each moment feel impactful. The final battle is the perfect payoff, with the Ultras joining forces against the colossal Mega Monster Belial while Rei uses his Battlenizer to overpower Belial's Giga Battlenizer and wrestle away control of the 100 monsters that had fused with the evil Ultra. It all comes together to create an incredibly fun movie and an excellent start to one of Ultraman's most iconic sagas.
Next up, The Revenge of Belial
This time around, the spotlight is entirely on Ultraman Zero. A battalion of mechanical beings known as the Darklops, who were first introduced in the side story Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero, launches an attack on the Land of Light. After Father of Ultra and the other Ultras discover that the cores powering these machines contain a mysterious ore that doesn't exist in their universe, Zero volunteers to travel to the universe from which the energy originates. There, he encounters two brothers, Ran and Nao, whose planet is under attack by a mysterious force. When Ran is gravely injured, Zero bonds with him as a human host, both to save his life and to preserve his own limited energy while in this universe. As Zero investigates the attacks, he discovers that Belial is once again pulling the strings, setting the stage for a showdown that could finally end their rivalry once and for all.
This is where Zero's personality really begins to shine. You can see through Ran that Zero is still as cocky and hot-blooded as ever, but throughout the movie, he genuinely grows close to the inhabitants of this other universe, even to the point where he lets Nao call him "Aniki". This movie serves to show Zero's growth as a character and how he's developed as an Ultra Warrior. This movie has a much different tone from Mega Monster Battle, and I think it benefits. The characters, their personalities, and the relationships they build are what truly elevate this movie, with the action at a close second. Seeing Zero, this larger than life hero who's already been through this song and dance, able to put himself in the shoes of someone far smaller than himself, learning to understand others and really be one of them, is just incredible, and his interactions with others like Glenfire, Mirror Knight, and Jean Bird are just the cherry on top. And once again, the climactic battle, this time against the monstrous Arch Belial, absolutely tops everything in this movie. Arch Belial is such a unique and fun Kaiju design, to the point where you can look at it, and say "That's Belial 100%", and the sheer scale really drives the point home that yeah, Belial is DANGEROUS now. Another incredible entry in Ultraman Zero's story.
