Returner (2002)

Takeshi Kaneshiro as "Miyamoto"
Anne Suzuki as "Milly"
Goro Kishitani as "Mizoguchi"
Kirin Kiki as "Xie"

Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki

No idea is original in the world of film today, and Returner proves this with a story that rips off The Terminator and E.T. , along with visuals torn from The Matrix, Back to the Future, Transformers and Mission: Impossible 2. However, recycled ideas aside, Returner is a hell of a crowd-pleaser, smarter than it looks, and surprisingly well crafted by director Yamazaki (best known in the States for directing the Onimusha video games). It also boasts a pair of fantastic performances from stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Anne Suzuki.

Suzuki plays Milly, a young girl from a future where humanity has all but fallen to alien invaders known only as the Daggra. The last of the survivors have fled to Tibet, where scientists have developed a time machine intended to send one person back eighty-two years to prevent the invasion. When the Daggra attack the Tibetan base, Milly leaps into the machine's energy tube, landing on October 20, 2002, in the middle of a shootout (which I realize as I type this is a ripoff of the Doctor Who TV movie).

The battle is between hired gun Miyamoto (Kaneshiro, a Hong Kong film veteran, as well as the face and voice of Samanosuke from the Onimusha video games) and Mizoguchi, a sadistic gangster who buys children to harvest and sell their organs. During the showdown, Miyamoto accidentally shoots Milly, allowing Mizoguchi to escape. When Milly recovers, she skillfully forces Miyamoto to assist on her mission. This is where the fun really begins, watching the two play off of each other.

Kaneshiro and Suzuki have great chemistry together, and as their characters warm to each other, their relationship alternates between sibling and parental. Moreover, the two are just as good individually. Kaneshiro is suitably tortured, but also injects a generous dose of humor into the haunted gunman Miyamoto, while Suzuki steals the show, perfectly cast as spunky young Milly, bringing the anime-style heroine to fleshed-out life. She strikes the perfect note of youthful optimism and exuberance balanced with uncertainty. And honestly, she is unbelievably cute. However, I wasn't as impressed with Goro Kishitani as Mizoguchi. When you've seen one incredibly sadistic action movie psychopath, you've pretty much seen them all. Combine Prince and Morris Day in Purple Rain, and you have Mizoguchi, a quiet, brooding menace who transforms at the drop of a hat into totally whacked-out villain whose only apparent purpose is to be totally whacked out.

The special effects give this movie a huge boost, particularly the transforming vehicles and the slow-motion sequences involving a speed enhancer called the remover. In fact, I found the sight of a passenger jet transforming into a spaceship memorable. The action sequences are also impressive, especially when you consider Yamazaki's reluctance to include an abundance of wire stunts, using them only when necessary. The action seems more dazzling to me after learning this fact.

Yamazaki's script, as I mentioned, borrows from quite a few films, but the film is so energetic and sincere that everything seems fresh. Returner isn't loaded with original concepts, yet at the film's core lies a sweet story of two people who save the future, and each other in the progress. It doesn't hurt that the core is coated in a slick surface layer of high-octane action. Returner is one popcorn flick that is worth returning to.

(2.16.04)