Super Sentei man GO!

xsempaix

If you're familiar with the genre that's spawned Hakaider, Guyver, Kamen Rider and many a movie based on the TV show harking back to the seventies then a Dirt-bike riding Zebra judo-chopping aliens won't seem quite out of the ordinary.

The story approaches the genre in the uniquely Miike fashion, and like a good editor he knows which parts of the story to emphasize.

The story starts off with a socially impotent father figure who seems to be failing as a role model to his children, spouse, and community...he gets no respect from anybody. He makes up for it by dressing up as a cosplay geek reliving his childhood by taking on the role of his idol of manly virtue, Zebraman. His costume is crude and fragile, his martial arts pantomime only causes personal injury...When suddenly we learn that the school where he teaches has become an alien epicenter for green jellybeans hellbent on corrupting the youth of today into untameable savages. What is at stake is the total degeneration of Japanese society as we know it, after everyone over ten dies of some kind of jelly bean intestinal disorder. There's a secret gay agent unrequited love subplot that doesn't pan out, and a chaste love story involving our protagonist and a single mom who provide the family oriented support Zebraman needs to attain his destined power.

I felt sympathetic for our clutzy protagonist all the way through, i laughed at his foolish behavior and empathized with his despair. The "destroy alien invaders" genre-plot did not get in the way of the characters expressing themselves, and gave structure and conflicts where needed. Even so, the human condition shone through as a worthless feeling man redeems him self in the eyes of everyone he cares about, claim his right to basic human happiness.

Actually, the whole cosplay transition to costumed hero thing gets more believable (er, suspension of disbelief that is,) as the story progresses. The action is excellent and over the top as usual, but still family oriented you could say (ichi the killer was NOT a good first date movie). I could accept that Zebraman got his powers from pretty much out of the blue (and because it was fated to him) the same way I can except Godzilla without knowing where he came from (other than the sea of Japan) Die Green Jellies! Watch This Movie.

score 10/10

xsempaix 30 December 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0991319/