Returner

Rating:
Summary: E.T. Goes Bang!
Review: RETURNER is like the little engine that could.

Despite all best attempts to fly apart at its illogical seams, the film manages to muster a warm smile along thanks to some terrific special effects, some above-average Asian action sequences, and three performances that never quite take themselves -- or the plot -- too seriously.

The story is utterly painstakingly familiar territory to science fiction: an alien force threatens to invade the Earth. The twist here is that the invasion is a calculated response to the Japanese Space Force retrieving one of the alien's crashed pilots -- think of the events allegedly to have happened in Roswell, New Mexico, but with a Japanese relocation and markedly Asian accents. What the Space Force plans to do with the recovered pilot and the craft is never made clear, but those variables aren't important to the plot that brings in the Japanese Triads (are they ever far from a Hong Kong actioner?). Once they realize that the aliens possess technology superior to the Glock, they want it, and they'll stop at nothing -- including shooting beautiful Asian scientists -- to get it.

In short, have INDEPENDENCE DAY meet THE TERMINATOR with just a hint of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and that lovable E.T. ... but I'm sure that the comparisons don't stop there.

The principals are simple:

Miyamoto (played as part Bruce Willis and part James Dean by the winning Takeshi Kaneshiro) is a gun-for-hire trying to keep his neighborhood safe from the Triads. Always trying to find peace with his troubled past (he failed to aid a young friend whose organs were harvested by the film's major bad guy fifteen years ago -- this is, perhaps, the film's only truly grim sequence thankfully played out in flashback), Miyamoto lives life as a loner, on the edge, from hit job to hit job.

Milly (given a wonderful exuberance by Anne Suzuki) is a young girl from the future whose troubled past happens to reside in Miyamoto's distant future. As mankind has been virtually hunted to extinction, the last stand against the aliens fails miserably, but not before Milly can leap into a Time Shifter -- ala STARGATE -- that propels her back in time to exactly three days before the original events that brought the Earth and the aliens into conflict.

Thrown together by pure circumstance, Miyamoto and Milly -- two cinema social misfits -- inevitably join forces in the race to find the imprisoned extraterrestrial pilot and return him to his rightful species before the war to end mankind can commence.

Despite some hackneyed logic (a problem not uncommon to some Hong Kong vehicles), RETURNER manages to preserve a terrific pace through some wonderful editing, tongue-in-cheek acting, and some well-choreographed stunts. The film is not without its share of twists (did the aliens simply attack, or did mankind bring it on itself?), but these revelations are of little value to the already explored themes. Still, Director Takashi Yamazaki (also screenwriter) manages to kick up the 'dazzle factor' every time the plot seems to be careening toward dreariness, and the 'race-against-time' formula helps the viewer dismiss a few plot gaffes and accept this fun little film -- with some wonderful TRANSFORMER-esque creations near the conclusion -- for what it is:

Pure escapism.

Who knows? RETURNER might be worth another 'return.'

Rating:
Summary: Fun Yakuza Sci-Fi!
Review: Sci-fi can be done especially cheesy and this was by far not cheese at all. It was well directed, had cool special effects and an intriguing enough plot. Having the Yakuza theme was a bonus. The acting was good as well and touching enough to please without being sugary. Of course I always watch foreign films in their original language. I also liked the near equal combination of violence, action and story. I enjoyed this film and recommend it...

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME!!!
Review: Takeshi Kaneshiro, a Japanese and Hong Kong action star does a great job as a mysterious assassin of mobsters. This is a cool movie with great special effects, and good gun fighting sequences. It does borrow from the "Matrix" look with the black outfit and the black coat... but it doesn't take away from the movie's unique take on the genre. This movie is made in Japan, and mostly presented in the Japanese language (with some Mandarin and English), so hopefully the integrity of the soundtrack would be preserved when shown in the United States. This has a ship load of special effects. It has space ships, commercial airplanes transforming into giant robotic beings, air planes, and it has space aliens. This movie deals with time travel, war with invading race of space aliens, Japanese triads, government cover-ups, and guns. Overall the movie works for me in many levels, and I recommend action fans to check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Stop The Aliens Before They Start
Review: The Earth has been overrun by aliens. Only a small group remains hidden and free. They hope to go back in time to the cause of the war and prevent it. But the hideout is discovered and all is almost lost when a young, and untrained, woman jumps through the time gate to our present.

Although untrained as a soldier, she does know the basics of the mission. An alien ship will crash and the occupant needs to be killed before it can start the invasion. It seems simple enough except that future knowledge is not completely accurate. The ship has already crashed and the occupant has been taken away. Now with the help of a local criminal trying to go straight, she must fight harder than she knows to give humanity a future.

Good action, some nice plot twists, and a time paradox or two all combine to make an old plot seem fresh. I bought this one based on a trailer on another DVD and I was not disappointed. The film is fairly intelligent and the hero is wonderfully resourceful, desperate, and caring. Her character does not fall apart as she unravels what is going on and what she must do to stop it. Worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best foriegn films out there, with GOOD dubbing.
Review: There's not much to say that hasn't been already said about this movies action, plot, quiet moments, or special effects (namely, that they all kick ass,) so I'll just say this: the dubbing in this film, dispite what some say, is actually quite well done. Each character's voice matches his/her character nicely. Millie is young yet hardened by a life of war. Myamoto is tough and macho yet hides a sensetive side. The villain Mizoguchi is someone you'll love to hate. And the old woman, Shaw, is alot of fun. And finally, the story makes sense. It's not like some Asian action films I've seen that seem to be mostly just a bunch of action scenes thrown together, and for a movie about time travel it makes alot more sense than most of the ones I've seen. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Plenty of entertainment value
Review: This is not a very deep movie, but if you want to see a fun sci-fi adventure, this would be a good choice. The movie's treatment of time travel (especially the little flashback at the end that explained some subtleties) was more rewarding than its treatment of the aliens. Questions about who the aliens were or why they came in the first place were not even addressed. There was considerable violence, including against kids, so this is not a family movie. But for adults, I would definitely recommend a rental, and if you're a real sci-fi fan, go ahead an buy with confidence. You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: ORDINARY ACTION STORY LIVENED UP BY SCI-FI SPECIAL FX
Review: This is one of those movies that looks great in the trailer but after viewing in its entirety leaves your expectations unfulfilled.

The story involves a young girl from an alien invaded Earth of the future who travels back in time to destroy the first of those aliens in an attempt to save humanity. Once in the past she meets an expert fighter whose out to avenge the murder of a childhood friend who was kidnapped in front of him by a vile gangster who apart from kidnapping, killing, and selling human organs wants to rule mankind using the powers of the same alien that the girl is after. Can she convince the expert fighter she's really from the future and that if she fails her mission Earth is doomed? Will destroying the alien save humanity or will it cause more death and destruction? Can the two heroes team up to stop the murderous kidnapper from using extra-terrestial powers he doesn't understand? You'll find out the answers to all this (and not much more) if you watch RETURNER.

Unfortunately after seeing a promising trailer, RETURNER turns out to be just another average post mid-90s Hong Kong style action flick (even though it's a Japanese production). The computer-generated special effects are adequate enough (though they LOOK computer-generated, but that seems the norm for most special effects movies these days), but the science fiction elements never develop into anything more than creating a nonstandard background for a standard action story to take place upon. The actors never display a real sense of awe or surprise at all the incredible alien events that are taking place around them. They simply take things as they come, as if such events are just normal everyday occurances. The head villain even makes ludicrous demands to an alien baby while holding it at gun point as if it's convenience store cashier.

The film is best described as a below average crime caper made a little more interesting by mixing in some basic sci-fi, some average action sequences, and some on par special effects.

Now for the film's most significant rip-offs. The alien looks exactly like a baby E.T. and like E.T. he is left behind on Earth and starts to get sick. There's THE TERMINATOR storyline where someone goes back in time to change history and stop an invasion. They even steal a scene from BACK TO THE FUTURE 3 where the hero survives a bullet due to a little help and foresight gained from a future newspaper clipping. THE MATRIX is in evidence throughout with the flowing jackets and the supernormal speed tricks of the camera. And in true GI JOE cartoon style, the bad guys can't hit the broadside of a barn (though they CAN hit something as small as a little metal protective plate when worn by the hero, and their boss does have great aim shooting his own people when they get on his nerves!)

What works best in this picture is the chemistry of the male and female protagonists. The actors really give off a sense that they care about eachother. The alien special effects, again while obviously computer generated, are sufficiently competent and do at least provide something out of the ordinary to look at in an otherwise by the numbers action flick.

Overall, this is just an average action picture made to look like more than it is, and as such is not recommended for those
expecting any type of groundbreaking science fiction. It is, however, still of slight recommendation due to the fact that it's an okay action movie with nice special effects. On that note, you might want to give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: Sucks you in
Review: This movie is so interesting and varied, playing kind of like live action anime almost. I have no idea why, but I was sucked into it about 10 minutes after it started. Unlike some other recent live action movies from Japan, this one has a decent storyline and great special effects, with the telltale humor at the right spots. Watching it in English is actually not that bad, as the dub job is really good. Watching it in original Japanese with English subs is, of course, much better.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth watching.
Review: This sci-fi, action, alien, crime, time travel, revenge and redemption film is hard to describe. It does combine visuals we've seen before (including anime-like cinematography), but manages to pull off a refreshing, unique "feel". Takeshi Kaneshiro gives a nuanced, engaging performance which Anne Suzuki complements with her witty innocence and strength. Their characters, with their individual stories and converging goals, form an alliance to resolve his tragedy of the past and her tragedy of the future. Their scenes of explanation and motive drive the film (and imbue it with its considerable charm), rather than serving as mere rest periods between the clever action sequences and special effects.

Rating:
Summary: Not original,but very fun and entertaining
Review: Very good movie,sure it has elements of other movies in it,but lets stop being snobs about movies.Movies are here to entertain us,and this movie does exactly that.I for one enjoyed this movie very much,and i recommend it to all fans of action movies,japanese or american.Typical Bitter/Sweet japanese ending...but i love it,i love this movie,go buy it now!