Superhero Media: Super Inframan

I was really excited when I discovered this film, basically a Shaw Brothers take on Ultraman/Japanese Spider-man, and had to scour eBay for a copy as soon as possible. I was a little underwhelmed with the final result, but Super Inframan is a fun ride anyway and well worth a watch for Tokusatsu, Kaiju and/or Shaw Brothers fans. The Queen of Monsters awakens from centuries of slumber and vows to conquer the world with her unstoppable army, the only thing that stands in her way is... some sort of science organisation? The group that Inframan comes from isn't named, and despite having vehicles and firearms, seem to be operating out of a research lab housed in a radio telescope. Out of desperation, the head scientist turns the senior officer[?] into Inframan, the bionic superhero! 

Sorry for not having the actual character names, but at a little over an hour, there's not much in the way of character development in Super Inframan, so nothing about them really stuck with me. The monsters and costume design are probably the most memorable and iconic parts of the film, along with the martial arts and stunts, which are of the usual Shaw Brothers standard, which is to say, brilliant. Most of the iconic Super Sentai tropes are here; size-changing, vehicle chases, transformation sequences and villain monologues. In fact, if, like me, you enjoy the concept of Sentai more than actually sitting through Power Rangers, Super Inframan is a good compromise, giving enough of a taste without the episodic repetition of a full series. 

I do actually kind of want an Inframan for Ultimate Alliance, even though I didn't enjoy the film all that much. I'm always on the look out for more international superheroes and Inframan fits the bill, as well as having fun powers and an iconic look to work with. As I'm repeatedly saying, inspiration for supers gaming doesn't need to come from the best hero media, but sometimes the not so good stuff, or even the poor efforts, can be worth a look. With a few more Chinese superhero films under my belt, I can look at something like my own Ultimate Alliance take on DC's "Great Ten", but that looks like a while off yet. Until then, I can enjoy the stunts and fun costumes of Super Inframan a couple more times.