Zeburâman

Well, you probably know by now whether you like Takashi Miike or not, so that's probably the first thing to consider. If you do, Zebraman is sure to please, being a very fun yet dark spoof of superhero films with high production values and the ever-wonderful Sho Aikawa.

There's nothing in Zebraman that would class as particularly shocking or offensive, if you've only seen ICHI THE KILLER or VISITOR Q before and that's your only objection to Miike, but the mix of dark, deadpan humour and absurd silliness probably aren't going to win any new converts. It's a very Japanese film in style and tone, and though still doubtless low budget by Hollywood standards, has impressive special effects and a good feeling of quality. Except when it doesn't want to :)

If you're an undecided, Zebraman may well be one of the best Miike films to sample to help make that decision :)

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.

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.

Takashi Miike never disappoints. His latest film to the Toronto Film Festival is ZEBRAMAN, a story about a father (Shinichi) who no longer has a family, or a life. His wife is having an affair, his daughter is a slut (no wonder, she's cute as hell), and his son is bullied at the school where he teaches. Even the other students think he is a geek. Shinichi spends all of his free time fantasizing about a show he watched as a kid called Zebraman, that was cancelled after only a few episodes due to low ratings. He even goes as far as to make his own Zebraman costume, and that's when the fun truly begins.

As the Earth is invaded by aliens (what did you expect) Shinichi is called into action as Zebraman and he transforms from mild mannered teacher to Earth's last hope. Think PowerRangers but with odd and hilarious dialogue ("Don't stand ... behind me."). But first he spends some much needed time in front of a mirror practicing his shouts ("Black and White Ecstacy!"), costume spliting poses, and signature attacks like the "Zebra Double Back Kick". I admit I was sold as soon as he beat the crap out of a guy wearing a giant crab mask on his head. I laughed the hardest at the introduction of ZebraNurse, though.

This is a different kind of film than what you'd expect from Miike. The characters are warm and lovable, and no one gets injured (with the exception of an easily re-grown arm, "Thanks ... ZebraNurse!"). Which shows the kind of range this cult director has. My only regret was that Takashi Miike wasn't present to witness a world class response to this outrageously funny film. (9/10)

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"