In the year 2084, when humanity is decimated by a ruthless alien force, all hope lies in Milly (Anne Suzuki), a hardened young soldier, as she goes back in time to stop the invasion before it's too late. Ending up in present-day 2002, she appears in the middle of a gunfight as Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a mysterious mercenary, is breaking up a child-slave ring headed by Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani), a ruthless Triad member with an uncanny thirst for blood. With bullets flying left and right, Milly is shot by Miyamoto and is brought into his secretive ring of do-gooding with the smart-mouthed Kirin Kiki, an arms-dealing old woman that's helping Miyamoto on his quest for revenge against Mizoguchi. Through some coercing (by the form of a small, explosive device the size of a band-aid on his neck), Miyamoto unwillingly joins the mission, as they infiltrate the government base that holds a captured alien and its crashed spacecraft -- the first contact that eventually brings on the invasion. With Mizoguchi and the Triads moving in, seeking some of the alien advanced weaponry, Miyamoto may finally get the vengeance he seeks as Milly gets closer and closer to saving the entire human race. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
You know if a film is a complete rip-off of
The Terminator and
Independence Day rolled into one, it's gotta be pretty special. Throw in a whole lot of
The Matrix's action and style, quirky
Luc Besson-type characters, and even a little
Clockstoppers (which itself was based entirely on
The Matrix's "bullet-time" special effects) and you're pretty close to the end result that is Returner. With
Kinji Fukasaku's genius
Battle Royale breaking Japan out of the shadow of other highly-touted Asian cinema, it was only a matter of time before someone started to crank out this kind of rip-off crowd pleaser. Brimming with well-choreographed gun ballets and fantastic post-apocalyptic future war scenes, Returner will surely find an audience with action devotees and sci-fi fans alike. And while it doesn't offer too much creativity in its ideas or execution, Takashi Yamazaki's second film is one of those epic, big-budget flicks that'll load the audiences in, whether it's good or not -- in fact, it was the biggest money-maker of Japan in 2002! Box office and influences aside, there sadly really isn't anything new going on in this tale. And with a running time of almost 2 hours, Returner is just flat out too long! Pacing slows to a crawl at some moments, with subplots and dialogue hampering the action thirst that many fans will be craving going in. As it is though, it's still a fun, stupid time at the movies. The robots are cool (
Transformers fans, watch out!) and the action is over the top and a hoot to watch. If you're a fan of the genre and are forgivable with this kind of stuff, seek out Returner and enjoy. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide