Returner (リターナー) 2002 Japanese Sci-Fi /Action. Directed by Takashi Yamasaki starring Anne Suzuki and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Distributed by Japan Toho/Pony Canyon Inc.
What do you get when you mix the sci-fi action of The Terminator, The martial arts and gunplay choreography of The Matrix, the epic sweeping alien invasion saga of Independence Day, a little bit of ET and some Transformers action thrown in for good measure?
You get Returner a 2002 Japanese reeler that's NOT Oscar winning material, but is still good high octane adrenaline fueled fun for action junkies and old school anime fans alike (of which I am both).
The plot revolves an alien war set in the year 2084. The enemy known to Earth is called "Daggra" (Meaning enemy in Tibetan) and they have pretty much turned the globe into a giant post apocalyptic wasteland and is going in for the last assault to annihilate mankind.
The last of humanity is holding its own deep within a shelter located in Tibet trying to change history by creating a time shifter and sending someone back to stop the war before it begins. Sounds familiar doesn't it? One intrepid soldier volunteers to dive into the time portal... only to be turned into a half fried human version of Hamburger Helper. With that being said it's up to the spunky elfish girl Milly (Anne Suzuki) to try and save the day. She dives into the shifter and successfully catapults herself back to the year 2002, three days before the invasion begins.
Meanwhile Miyamato (Takeshiki Kaneshiro) is out tracking down the villainous Mizoguchi (Gorô Kishitani) a man who deals in child trafficking, human organ transplanting and other hobbies that are not so nice. Miyamoto (it seems all the main players names in this movie starts with "M") has a childhood vendetta with this particular member of the Triad in that his friend Xi was a victim of one of his organ chop shop capers. He manages to get the best of Mizoguchi but his efforts are thwarted by the untimely arrival of Milly whom he accidentally shoots allowing his nemesis to get away.
He takes Milly back to his home where he finds that she survived due to a metal plate in her vest that stopped the bullet.
She tries to recruit his help but he of course is not willing to participate in some crazy adventure by some weird psycho chick and tells her to get lost. Later that day he leaves his apartment and is tricked by Milly who manages to distract him and implant an explosive device on his neck.
At this point they only have 2 days to stop the end of civilization, it seems that the war had started with the crash landing of an alien spaceship that was the spearhead for the invasion force. The problem is that the alien spaceship has been hijacked by Mizoguchi (of course you have to find a way to get the villain in there somewhere) who using his Triad connections has discovered its power and captured its occupant. Now Miyamoto and Milly must stage an all out assault against the gangster to get the ship back and stop the impending doom which threatens all of humanity.
What really sells this film is action sequences and the dramatic finishing poses that the actors are able to pull off during their stunts. These people can really strut their stuff. The effects are decent enough, with cool futuristic tech, bullet time and shape shifting spaceships five years before Transformers. The action is non stop with plenty of gratuitous exploding humans, guns going off and even an RPG-7 being used as a personal weapon of self defense.
The characters are likeable enough with a great performance by Gorô as Mizoguchi. Here he plays the bad guy role over the top and to the hilt, like in a scene where he casually shoots a woman in the chest and politely tells her to please keep quiet.
When all is said and done Returner delivers an entertaining romp, that while it may not make you more culturally savvy, intellectually insightful or increase your... smart... smartiness... it is a hell of a good time. And isn't that what action sci-fi is all about?
You get Returner a 2002 Japanese reeler that's NOT Oscar winning material, but is still good high octane adrenaline fueled fun for action junkies and old school anime fans alike (of which I am both).
The plot revolves an alien war set in the year 2084. The enemy known to Earth is called "Daggra" (Meaning enemy in Tibetan) and they have pretty much turned the globe into a giant post apocalyptic wasteland and is going in for the last assault to annihilate mankind.
He takes Milly back to his home where he finds that she survived due to a metal plate in her vest that stopped the bullet.
She tries to recruit his help but he of course is not willing to participate in some crazy adventure by some weird psycho chick and tells her to get lost. Later that day he leaves his apartment and is tricked by Milly who manages to distract him and implant an explosive device on his neck.
 |
| ET phone home. You left the burner on. |
What really sells this film is action sequences and the dramatic finishing poses that the actors are able to pull off during their stunts. These people can really strut their stuff. The effects are decent enough, with cool futuristic tech, bullet time and shape shifting spaceships five years before Transformers. The action is non stop with plenty of gratuitous exploding humans, guns going off and even an RPG-7 being used as a personal weapon of self defense.
The characters are likeable enough with a great performance by Gorô as Mizoguchi. Here he plays the bad guy role over the top and to the hilt, like in a scene where he casually shoots a woman in the chest and politely tells her to please keep quiet.
When all is said and done Returner delivers an entertaining romp, that while it may not make you more culturally savvy, intellectually insightful or increase your... smart... smartiness... it is a hell of a good time. And isn't that what action sci-fi is all about?
No comments:
Post a Comment