Returner (2003)

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

It's the end of the 21st century and humanity is losing a war against invading alien force. A time machine is their only remaining hope, but things take a turn for the worse when the original traveller dies and a young girl is sent instead.As you can see, the film doesn't exactly shine with originality. It's your basic time-travelling fish out of the water storyline, this time with a Japanese setting. But even there it fails because it more closely resembles an urban gangster movie, and not a very good one at that. Sure there's the aliens, but they're not in the movie very much and are your run down the mill basic Roswell aliens.Not to say that the film is godawful. Some of the action scenes have a bit of flash to them and the two main characters are enjoyable, especially Milly (Anne Suzuki), who's delightfully capable and resourceful for an early turn of the century action heroine.Still, the fact remains that Returner has perilously little to show for itself. It's not original, it's not particularly well executed and you really don't get much out of it. There are worse movies out there, certainly, but it's not a movie worth looking for.

Transformers meets The Matrix meets ET meets Back To The Future. Seriously, this movie is insane, but in a good kind of way. It was made in the early 2000s and it is a Japanese film, so sadly the special effects are sometimes awful. But then again sometimes the special effects are great by today's standards. Anyway, this is a science fiction film about a girl who travels back in time to prevent an alien invasion of earth. She meets an assassin with a heart of gold and pure entertainment transpires. Needless to say the action is high caliber, the acting is refreshingly excellent with little camp, which is rare for a Japanese science fiction film made back in the early 2000s. The plot should be the biggest drawback of the film because we've literally seen it a thousand times before, however this film does the impossible. It not only shamelessly borrows the major plot points from numerous American SciFi classics, it makes each of those plot elements it's very own. But what really puts this film over the top is a very simple but all so forgotten thing when it comes to movies; solid character development. The backstory of both lead actors makes you not only care about them but root for them. The villain is a great kind of villain. A villain can make or break any movie. Lucky this villain is as entertaining as he is menacing. And he is a villain with an agenda that runs parallel to the main story but isn't reliant on the story; which is impressive writing and directing if you ask me. Marvel Studios could learn a lesson from them on how to solve their villain track record. To make a long story short, I highly recommended this hidden gem. If you happen to stumble upon it, it would be worthwhile checking it out.

This Japanese Sci-Fi thriller is actually quite good, and it starts out in a fairly good pace and keeps rolling forward at that pace. The movie is driven by an equal amount of story, action and character development. There are some similarities to the "Terminator" movie though."Returner" (aka "Ritânâ") is about Milly (played by Anne Suzuki) who is living in a war-torn future, the year is 2084 and aliens are waging war on mankind, and mankind is losing. In a desperate attempt, Milly flings herself through a vortex, traveling back in to to the days prior to the incident that sparked the war. Here she gets help from a reclusive gunman named Miyamoto (played by Takeshi Kaneshiro).Story-wise then "Returner" is entertaining and fast paced. The dialogue is good and the characters are alive and colorful.The effects were good and passes as believable, although I was puzzled at how the driver and gunman disappeared from inside an exploding car as it came crashing down on the road.Fun and action-filled entertainment, "Returner" is well worth watching, regardless if you like Japanese movies or not.

Milly (Anne Suzuki), a girl from a war-torn future where the human race is threatened by aliens, is sent back 80 years in order to rid the world of the menace that plague the future. Now in 2002 she teams up with Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro), vigilante to help in her mission.This kinetic cross between Independence Day, The Terminator and The Matrix plays like a live-action anime film. Transforming airplanes, time-slowing devices and stylised Kung Fu all come in to play in this great thriller.Boasting fine comedic touches, tension and genuine emotion whilst not relying on romance the film manages to be a great fun film that could have been rather a rather unoriginal.There is great chemistry between the two leads, he the super-cool Neo-like hero, she the appearing like a homeless person for much of the film. The villain of the film (an almost punk looking gangster) is actually scary and provides a very good motivation for Miyamoto to follow Milly.This is a fun film that borrows from many different films but stands on its own as an entertaining ride.