Ika resuraa

After seeing this delightful little film, the only way I can think of to describe it is as a Santo (Mexican wrestling) movie set in the weird, weird world of a Japanese cartoon sushi menu. In fact it follows the typical Santo film formula to a T: orphans, love interest, entertaining the children, fighting for the glory of the sport of wrestling. Only the wrestler is a giant squid.

Oh, and the Squilla Boxer is a Mantis Shrimp, and they really do have a punch as fast as a bullet. The biology is surprisingly accurate, such as pointing out that invertebrates are naturally good wrestlers because they can get out of any hold. I guess that shouldn't be surprising coming from a Japanese film, though.

If you love sushi, cephalopods, magical realism and wrestling, this is the film for you! (if you can find it)

Charming, and very, very odd.

I have no idea where I found out about The Calamari Wrestler, but I'm glad I added it to my watchlist and eventually got around to watching it tonight. Honestly, it's surprisingly good, enough so that I can almost call it a calamarsterpiece.

It's basically a loose retelling of the story found in the first two Rocky movies, except Rocky is a squid, and his opponents are also various sea creatures. I never got tired of watching the calamari wrestler walk around in a terrible-looking but very endearing costume, and the fight scenes are a sight to behold. Honestly, once you get into the film's bizarre world, there's even something of an emotional core to it, which isn't something I thought I could say about a movie called The Calamari Wrestler.

I also love the bizarre sense of humour this movie has, and the fact that someone one day came up with the dumb idea of making a wrestling movie where the main character is a squid, and then they just went with it, and the movie ended up being made. And I think it's fair to say that anyone in the 21st century who says cinema is dead probably hasn't seen The Calamari Wrestler.

I also really loved the side character who referenced how much he wanted to eat the calamari wrestler in every scene.

Overall, this probably isn't for everyone, but if the title sounds like something that could entertain you for 91 minutes, I'd say this is worth a shot.

I never thought that a film set in the professional wrestling arena could be so entertaining on so many comic levels. From slapstick to irony, the artful deadpan acting and the multi-faceted script filled my livingroom with laughter.

Every time the reliance on the costumes began to irritate my sensibilities the intentional ambiguities and incongruities of the characterizations fractured my funny-bone.

Love is a many-tentacled thing for the lovely girlfriend who can't make up her mind and the comedy comes at the viewer from all directions: Love and loyalty, character and competition,fathers and sons, winners and losers, biology, gastronomy and sport-tainment are all satirized.

I think that this film should appeal to fans of wrestling, "The Iron Chef", "Finding Nemo", "Rocky", sci-fi and anyone who appreciates that humor knows no international boundaries.

The film is suitable for all audiences. Anyone who gets a fraction of the gags will be entertained. It would be a great Saturday night comedy for the whole family. An English language dub would eliminate the only barrier to the film's mass-appeal.

A wrestling championship is interrupted in its final seconds by a new challenger: a 6-foot Calamari! He wins the title and becomes the nation's mascot. Many also liken his style to a former champion. His opponent, seeking revenge, seeks to confront him again.

Rocky with a calamari thrown in might be an adequate pitch, but it barely does this film justice. "Calamari Wrestler" is a very knowing satire of the whole sports film genre, checking every cliché in the formula and turning it on its head by showing its silliness without ever resorting to sarcasm. Indeed, there is a moving earnestness to the film, because the premise is so ridiculous that it can allow itself to play it straight. Wrestling is also an inherently over-the-top sport, so throwing in a calamari (especially a latex one) isn't half as jarring as you would expect.

"Calamari Wrestler" deserves a 10, hands down, for its sheer silliness, novelty, unique appeal to squid fans (of which I am an unashamed member) and good heart. You can feel the love and fun of the creators in every frame. This is the kind of film you watch to laugh with your friends or lighten your mood when you feel a bit low.

90 Minutes of gleeful fun!

OK, make a list of all the things you've never seen a movie about.

Keep going...

Keep going...

OK, stop.

Now, that's quite an impressive list, but I bet you $5 it doesn't include "A Pro-wrestling Squid"! Right? 'cause if you haven't seen CALAMARI WRESTLER, there's no way you would ever conceive of CALAMARI WRESTLER... unless you're writer/director Kawasaki Minoru, apparently! Taguchi finally achieves his dream when he knocks out his opponent to claim the Japan Pro Wrestling championship... but he barely has time to hold up the belt when it is grasped from his hands by... a giant squid. The squid then knocks him out cold and claims the championship for his own. Who is this wrestling squid? Where did he come from? Should giant squid be allowed to fight in the Japan Pro-Wrestling league? The leaders of the industry think no, but Taguchi feels he must have a real match with the squid or he'll never feel like a true champion, and the squid needs a proper match so that he can truly claim the championship himself. Will the public accept a cephalopod as a wrestler? CALAMARI WRESTLER is basically a "boxing movie", and follows most of the conventions of the genre... with the exception of species. There's also a bit of a love triangle, and some social commentary on the state of Japan in the modern age. It's shot on video and features some of the worst acting ever committed to screen... but it's about a giant wrestling squid! And that's just cool :-) It's very very silly indeed, and really quite amusing - and even quite touching at times. The rubber suits for the squid and some other characters who enter the plot are pretty well done... though they never actually look like anything other than a man in a rubber suit, which is part of their charm.

Cheap and cheerful, and something that could only have emerged from Japan... not quite brilliant, but interesting enough to receive a recommendation... especially if you're feeling that your cinematic diet is starting to feel a bit bland :-)