Zebraman

I just saw it in the comfort of my own living room, without subtitles - but I speak a fair bit of Japanese myself, and I had an excellent translator (my girlfriend) who saw it with me.

Now, I am - as many of you - a huge Takashi Miike fan. But this one is my least favourite so far (but what do I know - having only seen about 10 of his movies). But anyway, my point is this; it tried to be funny - and sometimes it was mildly amusing.. but this was really a kids-movie. A mix between Mars Attacks and Howard The Duck, I don't feel I have wasted my time watching it - but as I said in my headline, it was not as good as I had hoped it would be.

It wasn't qwerky enough to be "really weird and qwerky", it wasn't funny enough to be a great comedy, it wasn't violent enough to be a Miike trademark gore-fest, and definitely not original enough to be "something completely new"... so what we're left with is a bit of this - a bit of that.. not really going anywhere.

But as I said, If you like Miike - you'll probably end up watching it anyway - just like I did.

rating: x "stars" out of y "stars"

Takashi Miike is a very, very difficult director to label. Some of his films have been incredibly violent and gory (such as ICHI THE KILLER and AUDITION)--so much so that I could never recommend them. Some of his films have been strange and highly enjoyable comedies (especially HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS). In recent years, his films have even tended towards being children's movies (such as his Ultraman series on TV and THE GREAT YOKAI WAR). Because of this wide, wide range of films, I was apprehensive to watch ZEBRAMAN, as I had no idea what type of Miike film it would be. Fortunately, it was a blend of both his weird quirky films AND his excellent family-friendly films.

Here in ZEBRAMAN, you have the story of a very nerdy elementary school teacher who secretly longs to be his TV hero, Zebraman. It seems that in the 70s, Zebraman was a very short-lived show and the guy has loved it ever since. This isn't so odd, but the fact that he's made a Zebraman costume and imagines himself to be this great superhero is!! What makes it even weirder is where it all goes next--into a strange and surreal direction that I just didn't anticipate. Rest assured, the direction is very odd and it involves this nerd having to save the planet from evil aliens!!!

The film is all in good fun and does it all tongue in cheek--never taking itself too seriously. Excellent direction and a nice story make this a winner--even if there are a few lulls here and there before the crazy and very exciting conclusion.

Great for the first hour and 20, but needed some serious editing.

A normal family man and school teacher, who is despised by his family, enjoys one thing in his free time. Putting on his specially made Zebraman suit, to celebrate the brief canceled TV-show of the same name he watched as a child. When not being insulted by students, strangers, family, and friends, our hero likes to wear the suit in his bedroom alone and practice his super movies, which is all oddly endearing and funny enough, until townspeople begin showing signs of possession by a mysterious, possibly alien force. Stranger still, it all already happened in the Zebraman TV show, in the 70's. Our school teacher finds himself putting on the suit and attempting to fight crime, failing in spectacular comic fashion at first, before going into "Kung Fu Hustle" overdrive.

The aliens themselves resemble Flubber, except when their possessing innocent people and forcing them to commit crimes for some reason. What begins as a dark comedy about hero-worship, becomes a feel-good over the top find the hero within action comedy.

The problem is it's just too long, it's charming and unique, but the charm just doesn't hold past an hour and a half. One of Miikes more accessible movies, but still chalk full of the absurd images and surreal humor fans have come to expect. Good watching for Miike fans, and those interested in the lighter side of super-heroes and nostalgia, others stay away. Recommend | add comment

I saw Zebraman for the first, but surely NOT the last time today. I had read that it was a "spoof of the super hero genre", but I strongly disagree; Zebraman IS a true superhero, and this film is not a spoof of any kind. Sure, there is very mild slapstick, but it works perfectly well. The heart of the film is tender and hopeful, and at the end I was left in that rare state in which I could deny no possibilities. I was laughing and crying at once, knowing no boundary between the two. I love this film. The message is a simple one, but given the age in which we live, vitally important: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. I will offer no details regarding the plot or the technical innovation of the work; I only hope that this wonderful film will be seen by all, with a truly open heart. Thank you Takashi Miike...

This is an odd little movie. Some nebbishy teacher sews a recreation of a suit from a short-lived superhero show, and find himself dealing with aliens. The movie doesn't make a lot of sense, unless it's all this guy's fantasy, and the movie doesn't really play much with that possibility, instead just letting it all unspool. I like some sort of rationale for what happens in a film, but the audience is expected to just accept that all of this happens for no good reason at all. The silliness of the aliens and a few other things give it the quality of a kid's movie, but even kids movies generally make some attempt to explain stuff.

There are some cool things in this movie. The dead-on recreations of a cheesy Japanese TV show, the relationship between the low-key teacher and the disabled child, the final amusing superhero battle, but I was never fully invested in the story, perhaps because it lacked rationality or perhaps because it was just kind of slow moving and a bit muddled.

Neither as weird or as good as Miike's Happiness of the Katakuris, Zebraman is acceptable but not much more.