Ultraman: The Next (2004)

Wiki says The Next film is part of a three-phase reinvention of the Ultraman franchise for an older audience. I say it’s a successful one. Prior to it I was watching the awful Ginga TV series. The difference is staggering.
The titular hero doesn't appear until around 40+ minutes into the running time. Until then it mostly focuses on crafting a drama about an F-15 pilot named Shunichi (Tetsuya Bessho) who loves to fly almost as much as he loves his wife and young son. He finds it difficult to juggle time for both, a situation made more complex when a man-sized lizard creature escapes a lab, resulting in the military being put on a state of emergency.
The effects are a mix of suits, scale models, camera trickery and CGI. The creature design is really interesting, getting more and more dangerous as it pushes the film toward a kaijū-heavy finale that meets expectations.

3½ conscience attacks out of 5