The Returner rips off the Matrix from the very first frame to the last. Everything from leather trench coats to stylish hail of bullets, dark glasses, flying shootouts, and of course, bullet-time has been duly burgled from its all too evident hero of a film. In fact, the style of the film is so closely linked to the Matrix that one wonders why the filmmakers even bother. The Returner succeeds most when the lead character played by Takeshi Kaneshiro displays his uncool sides: he's a bit of a whiner, embarrassed of his accomplice, and at times, almost a loser/antihero. This, however, is incongruent when matched against scenes of heroic gunfire, dodging bullets (yes) and all-too-cool turn-and-shoot fight choreography.
The story-line is as simple as it is predictable: a girl returns from the future with the knowledge of alien-wars that are to come. She arrives in October 2002 with the mission of nipping the alien invasion in the bud, and enlists criminal-with-a-heart Takeshi Kaneshiro. Much of the film relies on highly improbable scientific situations that really stretch the believability and credibility of the sci-fi aspect of the film. In one scene a baby alien is held captive by Korean authorities (now that's a foreseeable prospect!) under such insecure conditions that the villain, being shown the creature for the first time, actually gets to strangle the poor thing and shoot at it. The girl from the future has a device that gives the wearer limited-time high-speed movements, yet one wonders why a tool like this isn't more often deployed in situations of massive gunfire (after wondering, one arrives at the conclusion that the device is merely a weak excuse for Matrix-like bullet-time scenes). In another instance, the scruffy girl with a 72 hour mission gets a makeover at a stylish boutique. and later laments failing in her mission by a matter of seconds. The logic is always a several pounds too weak.
Kaneshiro, in all fairness, looks completely the part. He can be cool when he needs to be, and foolish yet likeable as well. If only the cool parts didn't demand such proximity to Neo, Kaneshiro could have been a cool hero on his own terms. In the end, this is a film with a lot of flash but absolutely nothing to bite into. With the releases of Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions on the horizon, be ready for many years more of this unhealthy trend. Hollow style. hollow unoriginal style.
1½ Stars
The story-line is as simple as it is predictable: a girl returns from the future with the knowledge of alien-wars that are to come. She arrives in October 2002 with the mission of nipping the alien invasion in the bud, and enlists criminal-with-a-heart Takeshi Kaneshiro. Much of the film relies on highly improbable scientific situations that really stretch the believability and credibility of the sci-fi aspect of the film. In one scene a baby alien is held captive by Korean authorities (now that's a foreseeable prospect!) under such insecure conditions that the villain, being shown the creature for the first time, actually gets to strangle the poor thing and shoot at it. The girl from the future has a device that gives the wearer limited-time high-speed movements, yet one wonders why a tool like this isn't more often deployed in situations of massive gunfire (after wondering, one arrives at the conclusion that the device is merely a weak excuse for Matrix-like bullet-time scenes). In another instance, the scruffy girl with a 72 hour mission gets a makeover at a stylish boutique. and later laments failing in her mission by a matter of seconds. The logic is always a several pounds too weak.
Kaneshiro, in all fairness, looks completely the part. He can be cool when he needs to be, and foolish yet likeable as well. If only the cool parts didn't demand such proximity to Neo, Kaneshiro could have been a cool hero on his own terms. In the end, this is a film with a lot of flash but absolutely nothing to bite into. With the releases of Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions on the horizon, be ready for many years more of this unhealthy trend. Hollow style. hollow unoriginal style.
1½ Stars