Lightweight but entertaining Japanese sci-fi flick that rips off about a dozen similar Hollywood movies made in the last couple of decades. I've watched a lot of rip-offs over the years and the ones I enjoy more are those that rip off multiple movies to create their own wild blends rather than those that slavishly copy the plot and style of one specific movie (such as the execrable REIGN IN DARKNESS, which copied THE MATRIX so heavily it was a total bore). RETURNER is a film that goes for quantity over quality, delivering a quite frankly bonkers plot that riffs on such movies as THE MATRIX (in the look, style and action), THE TERMINATOR (with the main character having travelled from the future to save the present) and STAR WARS (dodgy looking aliens are the enemy in this instance). Throw in some distinctly Japanese elements – nasty gangsters, cute bonding over rice – and you have a film that's difficult to describe.
Of course, it's a triumph of style over substance, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. In fact, it's pretty entertaining, loaded with tons of action scenes and featuring a central twosome who are difficult to dislike. Takeshi Kaneshiro trades on his boyish charm as is the norm and Anne Suzuki proves an unexpectedly heartwarming saviour. There are a ton of CGI effects, some dodgy, some decent, but for the most part Returner gets by on just the kind of wild enthusiasm and imaginative effort you expect from Japanese cinema.
Of course, it's a triumph of style over substance, but that doesn't make it a bad movie. In fact, it's pretty entertaining, loaded with tons of action scenes and featuring a central twosome who are difficult to dislike. Takeshi Kaneshiro trades on his boyish charm as is the norm and Anne Suzuki proves an unexpectedly heartwarming saviour. There are a ton of CGI effects, some dodgy, some decent, but for the most part Returner gets by on just the kind of wild enthusiasm and imaginative effort you expect from Japanese cinema.