The returner

I know that I will definitely have to see this film again. Japanese movies are getting that sleek futuristic look and Returner is chock full of it. Although I have to admit, there seem to be a lot of "homages" ranging from Matrix, Men in Black to Fifth Element, X-Files and so on. Still, it's an action packed with cool style to boot.

The main hero and butt whooping babe work well together. From martial arts, lasers, guns, explosions, action scenes are so rapid that you're left blinking in awe. I definitely think towards the final 30 minutes, it does seem to go on a tangent and a friend and I were trying to piece together what we could and keep up. The CG is used well in enhancing the style of the film, especially the futuristic technology stuff.

If possible, catch this in the theater or on a good home system and you won't be disappointed.

Version: Columbia Tristar's DVD release. Japanese / English subtitles.

Time travel is cool. Explosions are cool, as are gun fights. Any movie that attempts to incorporate 'The Terminator', 'Independence Day', 'Leon', and nearly every John Woo movie made between 'A Better Tomorrow' and 'Face/Off' is cool. 'Returner' features all these elements, and therefore, is awesomely cool. Or at least a fun action movie.

In 2084, the Earth has been nearly overrun by aliens. The last survivors of the human race are fighting a losing battle in the mountains of Tibet. Naturally, these survivors have mad scientists with them who develop all these cool gadgets, as well a time-machine. Milly (Anne Suzuki) volunteers to go back to 2002 to stop the war from beginning. Upon arrival, she teams up with Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Miyamoto is a mercenary seeking vengeance against the Triad gangster, Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani), who in turn, may actually have caused the war in the first place. Convenient.

A Japanese friend of mine originally recommended 'Returner' to me, and another friend of ours, knowing full well we are easily impressed by explosions. If, like me, you are easily impressed by explosions and have not yet seen 'Returner', you should stop reading and go watch it right now.

'Returner' is little more than a stylish action movie. Most of the plot seems to be taken from random elements of 'Terminator', ID4, and 'Leon', and styled in a similar way to ID4, 'Matrix', and a fair number of John Woo movies. I must admit that any comparison to the 'Matrix' is a tad unfair, as the 'Matrix' was also made up of elements from nearly every movie John Woo ever made. As a sci-fi / action movie, 'Returner' is entertaining, if a little cheesy. The action scenes are generally awesome and exciting.

'Returner' is a fun action movie. It should at least satisfy hardcore action fans, and should be entertaining enough for anyone looking for a fun movie - 7/10

Rating: *** out of ****

On first impression, I enjoyed Returner very much, but I can easily see why many others didn't care for it. The movie's plot is a rip-off of countless American blockbusters (just on first viewing I see E.T., The Terminator, Back to the Future, ID4, Stargate, Dune, The Matrix, MI:2, and even a little bit of The X-Files) and there's nothing really all that special in the way the story is executed but in general most Asian action flicks don't have much plot so I at least count it a blessing that ripping off all the aforementioned films gives the film enough story to sustain interest.

Takeshi Kineshiro stars as Miyamoto, a mercenary who has an agenda against Yakuza boss Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani). But before he can fulfill his vengeance, a time-traveling girl (Ann Suzuki) interrupts his task, giving Mizoguchi the opportunity to escape. Frustrated, Miyamoto takes the dazed girl back to his apartment. There, she informs him her name is Miri and that she's traveled back from the year 2084 to save the world from an incoming alien invasion.

Naturally, he doesn't believe her, but finds he has no choice but to help her when she tapes a bomb to his neck. Miri informs him that an alien spacecraft has crashed and the surviving crew member will signal the mothership, thus instigating the war between humans and these aliens called the Daggra. Joining Miri's mission to kill this surviving alien, Miyamoto gradually believes her when he witnesses some astonishing sights. But what should be an easy task proves difficult when the Yakuza get involved and want the alien technology for themselves.

Japan's first (or maybe they've done it before, I sure as hell don't know) attempt at crafting a summer blockbuster that can rival those of American cinema is an unqualified success as a work of great entertainment. It delivers what one would expect from a popcorn blockbuster: fast-paced thrills, big laughs, and visual spectacle, but there's a layer of genuine heart and emotion that propels this far above the crap one could expect from Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is understandably one of Asia's biggest heartthrobs, the man looks great in tousled hair and long trench coats. But along with the cool exterior, he boasts solid acting talent to go with all that charisma. No doubt, he'll probably be Asian cinema's most popular star within the next five years. Ann Suzuki also impresses as the young teen who's had to grow up fast for her age. It's the natural and sweet rapport the two develop that raises the stakes; the addition of human interest makes the action and the story more compelling. As the hilariously laconic and irredeemably evil Mizoguchi, Goro Kishitani is fun to watch, his villainous performance evoking a mix of past work from Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman.

Returner boasts numerous terrific action sequences, rousing gun battles that employ fluid camera-work and stylish slow motion. The opening setpiece, with Kineshiro taking down scores of Yakuza, is a total blast and the coolest opening sequence since Equilibrium. Some of the action scenes employ bullet-time techniques, but that's thankfully limited to only a few moments. There's a potentially cool motorcycle chase that ends way too quickly, but otherwise, the action is first rate.

As for the f/x, I was really quite impressed. I don't know what budget this film had to work with, but the visuals are mostly excellent. Most of the f/x are at least on par with a Sci-Fi Channel miniseries (like Children of Dune), and occasionally are up there with even expensive Hollywood blockbusters (the effects sure as hell are better than, say, The Core). The CGI work on the alien mothership is gorgeous, a definite improvement on the model work from Independence Day.

Returner is not without its faults. There are a few moments that are simply too similar to its "inspirations." The riffs from Independence Day go all the way down to the inclusion of telepathy, alien body armor, and force fields. The battle sequence between the aliens and the last human outpost is gripping. The sets, the direction, and the f/x are all impeccably handled in this setpiece. It probably should have been the film's highlight, but the scene is marred by some poor acting from foreign actors who clearly shouldn't be trying to fake American accents.

But despite its blatant unoriginality, Returner is spirited and thrilling. The climax, set aboard an ocean-bound oil rig, is an exhilarating race against time amid several blazing gun battles. There's some sentimentality on hand, and I'll even admit I got a bit choked up near the end. Admittedly, the movie runs a bit long after all the action, but there's a nice post-climactic plot twist that should please most sci-fi fans.

(Major spoiler warning) I gather that the filmmakers were assuming that once Miri returned to the future, she'd still have the same memories of the former timeline (a la Back to the Future, Frequency), thus enabling her to save Miyamoto. But I'm not sure why she'd automatically return to the future after thwarting the war, or why she didn't arrive after Miyamoto realized she'd saved his life to spend some time with him (End spoiler).

And what's up with playing a Lenny Kravitz song over the end credits? It's a bit of a distraction for an otherwise rather touching final scene. But on the whole, Returner is enthusiastically recommend to sci-fi action fans.

Having read a few online reviews of this movie, and having seen some of the more recent movies out of Japan including Batoru rowaiaru (2000), my expectatations were low. (Battle Royale is for the most part a good movie, but enjoyment of the movie is ultimately crippled by a truly lousy ending.) For some reason, recent Japanese live-action movies tend to be really bad, while anime is often very good.

This movie was a pleasant surprise. It didn't rip off other movies nearly as much as I was led to believe. True, some of the special effects resembled those in The Matrix, but they helped advance this movie instead of being a way to try to make the movie seem more "cool."

The character of Mizoguchi, played by Goro Kishitani, resembled Gary Oldman's parts in a number of films including Fifth Element, The (1997) and Léon (1994). The acting by Takeshi Kaneshiro as Miyamoto was good, but the standout of the movie was the cute-as-a-button Ann Suzuki as the serious, fun, energetic, and rebellious Miri.

The CG of aliens disguised as terran aircraft transforming into their true forms was impressive, resembling the work done in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) and Independence Day (1996). This is a movie not to be missed by CG buffs.

With the recent shortage of good live-action movies coming out of Japan, The Returner is one of the best to come out within the last few years.

The day was set to end, I had two videos in my hands I had just rented an hour before, one of them was "Lost in Translation" and the other one was "The Returner".

To make a long story short, my attitude turned pretty sour after viewing the more anticipated "Lost in Translation" and turned on "The Returner" thinking it would be pretty cheesy....turns out, I was completely wrong.

The Returner, even though it obviously borrows a lot of ideas from other films, is incredibly entertaining. The main characters Miyamoto and Milly were incredibly engaging, the bad guy (with his "Vash the Stampede" look and gun) was pretty cool, the storyline (filled with some comedy, drama, action, and a science fiction twist of course) was not that bad (some parts were a lot more enjoyable than others), the execution of the directing was what caught my attention, and the overall impression I got from it was completely passable and whole-fully entertaining.

Even the ending and the soundtrack was superb. It made me drop my jaw in awe during the credits, it really had that much of an impact with me throughout the entire thing. I long for the special double disk edition (if it exists that is, not entirely sure yet).

For those who love action/SCI-FI flicks, this is a definite must. And this is also recommended for those who love Japanese Cinematography in general.