Ultraman: Rising

For kids with longer attention spans and the capacity to draw parallels to their own lives, this film has some lovely life lessons built in. But Ultraman: Rising also offers a visually evocative good time. It follows on many prior iterations of the classic Japanese character, although it's not necessary to have seen any to appreciate this film. Its creators hit just the right tone for a story that's ultimately about finding your place and caring for others, putting male characters in the unusual role of caregivers. Ken also represents a bicultural character, raised between the US and Japan. The crew passed details of their animated CG Tokyo through cultural consultants for accuracy.

The relationships are exceptionally sweet, showing a reluctant superhero his own essential role not only because he must care for his traditional enemy's baby, but also because to do so well, he must rely on a support network of family and friends. He discovers that his ego-driven status as baseball superstar is much less important than his role as father, son, and friend, and he becomes a better team player as a result. All these narrative layers are complemented by memorable, jewel-toned visuals. Battle scenes, sometimes set to pumping music, may appease viewers accustomed to fast-paced violence in their animated films, but the movie wouldn't have suffered at all and could even have slimmed down its two-hour run time by editing the fight scenes. After all, they're neither the highlights nor the main point of Ultraman: Rising.