TUBI CONTINUED… ULTRAMAN COSMOS VS. ULTRAMAN JUSTICE: THE FINAL BATTLE (2003) *** ½

(Housekeeping Note:  I am still about two weeks behind posting reviews.  However, once I get the reviews caught up to October 1st, I will switch over to the traditional all-horror movie column, The 31 Days of Horror-Ween, which will fittingly be rebranded:  The 31 Days of Tubi-Ween this year…)

Musashi (Taiyo Sugiura) and his team are about to fly a giant ark full of monsters to another planet where they can live in harmony.  An army of giant robots doesn’t want that to happen and it’s up to Ultraman Cosmos to kick its ass.  Turns out, an Ultraman named Justice is in league with the aliens and has a score to settle with the human race. 

After the middling Ultraman Cosmos 2:  The Blue Planet, Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice:  The Final Battle serves as both a course correction and a thrilling trilogy capper.  Things kick off in fine fashion with a shocking death scene.  Like most comic book movies and/or Sci-Fi flicks, we know the death probably won’t be permanent, but the staging and dramatic effect is nevertheless very effective.  I’ll say this, the opening scene has more balls (not to mention drama) than the entirety of Ultraman Cosmos 2, that’s for sure.  

I also liked the scenes of Justice’s avatar, a hot goth chick that looks like she shoplifted from the Underworld and Matrix sets when security wasn’t looking.  The scenes where she alternates from being conflicted to convinced that the Earth must be destroyed really work.  Sure, not all us earthlings are would-be rapist rappers roving the streets.  Some of us are just cute kids with even cuter dogs.  I mean, come on Justice.  You’re not gonna wipe out a planet inhabited by cute kids with cute dogs, are you?

Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice:  The Final Battle is easily the best of the Cosmos trilogy thanks to its complex themes and slightly darker tone.  (Although there is still some juvenile humor here but thankfully not much.)  Justice’s character arc alone makes it a richer and deeper film than its predecessors and gives it more weight than you would expect from an Ultraman movie.  In many ways, this is the Wrath of Khan of the early ‘00s Ultraman films.  Praise doesn’t come much higher than that.