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 ou probably won't find a wackier film than
Takashi Miike's "Zebraman", a Japanese movie about a loser who
discovers that, by making a homemade superhero costume, he can literally
transform into his TV idol (who was cancelled years ago) and fight alien
invaders. Of course in this movie the invaders happen to be little jumping
green goo that only goes up as far as your knees, and their only real power
seems to be to possess humans and make them do bad things, but are
nevertheless determined to rule the planet for some unexplained reason.
Speaking of which, the word "unexplained" best describes
"Zebraman". Nothing in the film is explainable, and one suspects
that's all part of the film's charm.
"Zebraman" stars Miike
regular Sho Aikawa ("Ley
Lines", "Rainy
Dog", and a host of other Miike films) as Ichikawa, a teacher who
is having more than a little trouble adjusting to mid-life. He's
disrespected at school, at home, and he's such a loser that his son gets
beaten up on a regular basis for it. But Ichikawa has a secret -- at night
he is making his own Zebraman costume, determined to escape from his pitiful
existence by immersing himself into a world where he can be the hero.
"Zebraman" the cancelled TV show is about a mild mannered junior
high school teacher who, when the Earth is threatened, suits up in a black
and white costume to save the planet. And hey, Ichikawa just happens to be a
mild mannered junior high school teacher. Coincidence?
As luck -- or perhaps more specifically, a completely
random script by Kankuro Kudo -- would have it, when Ichikawa makes his
first foray into the mean streets, he learns that he does, in fact, have
superpowers. After a battle with a pervert sporting a crab for a helmet,
Zebraman starts to notice that random acts of violence are taking place
all over his town, and the perpetrators seem to be possessed by thick
green goo. With the help of an ill-tempered Government agent and a hot
nurse who just happens to be the single parent of one of his students,
Zebraman must battle the alien menace while trying not to look silly in
his homemade costume. Needless to say, it's easier said than done.
As you might have surmised, "Zebraman" is
not your typical Takashi Miike film. It is surely rated PG, or perhaps
PG-13 at the most. The violence is cartoonish, and except for some small
appearances of blood, the only "blood" that gets spilt on a
regular basis belongs to the aliens, and they show up as thick green gobs
of goo. As a two-hour movie, "Zebraman" is most funny in the
first half, as we follow Ichikawa as he tries to understand just what the
heck is going on (with himself and that whole alien invasion thing), but
the second half does seem to plod along until the inevitable conclusion.
Some more judicious editing would have benefited the film tremendously,
especially in the case of the labored second half.
The superhero action is, as you might expect,
cartoonish in nature. Although it must be said that they are well done
just enough to be exciting -- with the exception of the finale, which,
like much of the second half, simply takes too long to develop. The ending
itself is just as nonsensical as the rest of the movie, involving
Zebraman's transformation into a flying zebra that blasts lasers at a
giant version of the green goo alien. It's all ridiculous, and you could
deduct points from the film for it -- but only if it wasn't already
obvious to you that the whole thing was silly on purpose. Perhaps the
reaction of the ill-tempered Government agent says it all.
Although the script clearly marches to its own
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers"-esque drums, the movie did bring
up some topics that struck me as more than just a little awkward. At one
point Ichikawa basically becomes a de facto member of the hot nurse's
family, even acting as a pseudo father figure to her wheelchair-bound son.
This wouldn't be so uncomfortable if Ichikawa didn't already have a
family, including a neglected son who has been getting the tar beaten out
of him on a regular basis. Not to mention his daughter, who seems to be
prostituting herself in motel rooms. In fact, one of her johns is the crab
head guy. Barely 30 minutes into the film, Ichikawa's family conveniently
disappears into the background for Ichikawa to bond with his
"new" family.
It goes without saying that "Zebraman"
isn't to be taken seriously. The narrative is similar to a Superhero
Origins Story, but is perhaps closer in style and sensibilities (if you
want to attach such a thing to it) to those live-action costume superhero
shows the Japanese excels at. There's even a hilarious parody of these
shows, as well as the current trend of Long Hair Ghost Stories sweeping
across Asia, that involves a costumed superhero battling a generic ghost
with long black hair covering her face (complete with random position of a
familiar looking well) as a pedestrian strolls by in the background,
completely oblivious to the fighting.
To no one's surprise, things get even more
inexplicable toward the end, when Zebraman's costume somehow transforms
into the real thing, and Ichikawa's superpowers get a sudden (and dare I
say it again? -- unexplainable) boost. No effort should be made to try to
understand "Zebraman's" storylines. It's all over the place, and
to call it semi-coherent would be too generous. It's also very clichéd,
which may well be the intention. It is later discovered that the aliens,
so unsure of what their purposes are, are actually using old scripts of
the Zebraman TV show to plot their invasion plan. These guys are clueless.
The task with a movie like "Zebraman" is to
just go with it. If you can do that, then this is a pretty funny film with
some noticeable lag in the second half. But overall, it's an entertaining
and oftentimes funny campy superhero movie, and approached as such, it's a
sure winner. Who knew Miike, the master of Japanese Shock cinema, could
pull off a movie like this? Color me impressed.
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