Ultraman Orb is battling a giant monster on a deserted tropical isle when Ultraman Zero shows up to lend him a helping hand. He says Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory have disappeared and asks Orb to find them. Meanwhile, Ultraman X gets separated from his host when he is sucked into a wormhole. Orb follows suit and is soon, becomes a prisoner of the evil space witch Murnau who wants to turn the planet (and the Ultramen) into jewels.
I kind of like this Ultraman Orb guy. He has the ability to use these Pokémon type cards (these trading cards must’ve been big in Japan) to mix and match the powers of the previous Ultramen and combine them to make a brand-new Ultraman. That slight reworking of the usual formula keeps the action just different enough to make the monster mashing feel somewhat fresh and gives Ultraman a variety of weapons at his disposal.
A good chunk of the movie is devoted to regular-sized aliens and monsters. That really isn’t a criticism, as the fight and chase scenes they have with our human league of heroes are still a lot of fun and even offer up a few laughs. Once the action switches over to giant Ultramen battling kaiju, things really heat up. There’s a great monster named Deavorik who is a total badass. He looks like a robot version of Gamera and possesses machine gun arms which he uses to decimate cities. The finale is a gigantic slobberknocker of the highest order and features some inventive camerawork. You’d be surprised how much little touches like clever camera movement can breathe new life into something like this, but it certainly makes a difference. Overall, this is one of the most entertaining of the latter-day Ultraman movies.
AKA: Ultraman Orb: Lend Me the Power of Bonds! AKA: Ultraman Orb: The Movie. AKA: Ultraman Orb: The Movie: I’m Borrowing the Power of Your Bonds!
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