Returner
Encyclopedia
is a 2002
Japanese
science fiction film
, directed by Takashi Yamazaki
and starring Anne Suzuki
and Takeshi Kaneshiro
.
) is a soldier from 2084, where humanity is on the verge of extinction because of the "Daggra", an alien race. In mankind's final stronghold in Tibet
Milly leaps into a newly-built time portal just before the fortress is overrun. The portal sends her to 2002, where her mission is to kill the first Daggra, who faked a crash landing, and stop him from signaling his invasion fleet.
Milly lands in the aftermath of a shootout in Tokyo Bay
, Japan
, where a hitman named Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro
) holds the murderous Triad mobster Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani) at gunpoint. Her arrival allows the mobster to escape and Miyamoto takes Milly, who he thinks he accidentally shot, back to his place. She was saved by a plate of metal in her coat. She tapes a tiny bomb to his neck and threatens him into helping her on her mission. Miyamoto has a personal score to settle with Mizoguchi, who killed his childhood friend by kidnapping him and selling off his organs.
That night, Miyamoto sees Milly cleaning up his trenchcoat on a coat hanger, so he tells her to go back to sleep. The next morning he discovers photos of himself and a newspaper article on his death. He shows these to his weapons supplier Shi (Kirin Kiki), who tells him it's an elaborate trick the Triads wouldn't waste their time on.
With Shi's help, they track down where the alien spaceship crashed, but it was taken away to the National Institute of Space Science. They try to get to the spaceship to kill the alien, but Mizoguchi arrives and tries to take the facility over. Milly is surprised at the alien, it is not what she expected. She hesitates to kill it as Mizoguchi advances on the lab.
Using Miyamoto as its mouthpiece, the alien says it wants to go home. Milly realizes that she has been lied to. The humans and not the aliens, started the war which has been destroying the human race. They started it when they captured and killed the alien. She now knows they have to stop Mizoguchi as he wants the alien technology to take over the world. Following the destruction of the Space Science lab, Mizoguchi and his goons take the alien and its ship. Meanwhile, Miyamoto and Milly regroup for the next part of her mission.
The duo again confronts Mizoguchi at an abandoned oil rig, where they rescue the alien. Surviving a huge explosion, a bloodied Mizoguchi threatens to kill them all for ruining his plans. However, his bullets hit an invisible force field. Miyamoto quickly and grabs the gun and kills Mizoguchi. Before they can figure out where the force field came from a Daggra craft, disguised as a Boeing 747SP
airliner arrives, having received the alien's distress signal. The Daggra take their wounded comrade and leave Earth. As the future war has ceased to exist, Milly slowly disappears.
Shortly after the incident, Miyamoto decides to give up his life of violence and hands in his guns to Shi. While walking home, he is confronted by a thug whose life he had spared earlier at Tokyo Bay. Realizing that he is weaponless, Miyamoto is helpless as the thug shoots him. The thug walks away, assuming that Miyamoto is dead. A little later, Miyamoto staggers up and finds his life was saved by a plate of metal similar to Milly's. The plate has a written message by Milly, telling him she has repaid him. Miyamoto recalls the night Milly messed around with his trenchcoat. While Miyamoto and Milly were asleep, a second, future Milly traveled from the future and slipped the metal plate into his trenchcoat before returning to her timeline. On her way out, she accidentally drops the newspaper article on Miyamoto's death.
" by Lenny Kravitz
. A portion of the score was sampled for Roni Size
's single, No More
.
by director Takashi Yamazaki to utilize a number of computer generated visual effects showing bullet time
, mecha
and transforming alien ships. The film shows a clear film noir
style.
Returner has received generally negative reviews, with a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
. Derek Elley of Variety
wrote on his review that "Kaneshiro is all long flowing locks and smoldering disdain, the visual F/X are only so-so, and pacing is almost brisk enough to hide the plot holes." Don Willmott of Filmcritic.com gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a watchable, if somewhat absurd, sci-fi stir fry."
On the positive side, Jo Berry of Empire
magazine gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying, "So much of this film is 'borrowed' it's like watching a chirpy tribute band. Good fun." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle
also praised the film, pointing out that "with little room for new ideas, the film must rely on the strength of its actors, and they're excellent across the board."
Japanese films of 2002
A list of films released in Japan in 2002 .-2002:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
Japanese
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
science fiction film
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, directed by Takashi Yamazaki
Takashi Yamazaki (film director)
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter and visual effects director. He won the Best Director and Best Screenplay prizes at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2006 for Always Sanchōme no Yūhi...
and starring Anne Suzuki
Anne Suzuki
is a Japanese actress.A model since the age of three, she got an early break in her acting career at 12 when she starred in the Hollywood film Snow Falling on Cedars with Ethan Hawke. She was next featured in the action movie Returner opposite Takeshi Kaneshiro, and won the Best New Actor at the...
and Takeshi Kaneshiro
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Takeshi Kaneshiro , born October 11, 1973, is a Taiwan-born Japanese actor and singer.-Name:...
.
Plot
Milly (Anne SuzukiAnne Suzuki
is a Japanese actress.A model since the age of three, she got an early break in her acting career at 12 when she starred in the Hollywood film Snow Falling on Cedars with Ethan Hawke. She was next featured in the action movie Returner opposite Takeshi Kaneshiro, and won the Best New Actor at the...
) is a soldier from 2084, where humanity is on the verge of extinction because of the "Daggra", an alien race. In mankind's final stronghold in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
Milly leaps into a newly-built time portal just before the fortress is overrun. The portal sends her to 2002, where her mission is to kill the first Daggra, who faked a crash landing, and stop him from signaling his invasion fleet.
Milly lands in the aftermath of a shootout in Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where a hitman named Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Takeshi Kaneshiro , born October 11, 1973, is a Taiwan-born Japanese actor and singer.-Name:...
) holds the murderous Triad mobster Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani) at gunpoint. Her arrival allows the mobster to escape and Miyamoto takes Milly, who he thinks he accidentally shot, back to his place. She was saved by a plate of metal in her coat. She tapes a tiny bomb to his neck and threatens him into helping her on her mission. Miyamoto has a personal score to settle with Mizoguchi, who killed his childhood friend by kidnapping him and selling off his organs.
That night, Miyamoto sees Milly cleaning up his trenchcoat on a coat hanger, so he tells her to go back to sleep. The next morning he discovers photos of himself and a newspaper article on his death. He shows these to his weapons supplier Shi (Kirin Kiki), who tells him it's an elaborate trick the Triads wouldn't waste their time on.
With Shi's help, they track down where the alien spaceship crashed, but it was taken away to the National Institute of Space Science. They try to get to the spaceship to kill the alien, but Mizoguchi arrives and tries to take the facility over. Milly is surprised at the alien, it is not what she expected. She hesitates to kill it as Mizoguchi advances on the lab.
Using Miyamoto as its mouthpiece, the alien says it wants to go home. Milly realizes that she has been lied to. The humans and not the aliens, started the war which has been destroying the human race. They started it when they captured and killed the alien. She now knows they have to stop Mizoguchi as he wants the alien technology to take over the world. Following the destruction of the Space Science lab, Mizoguchi and his goons take the alien and its ship. Meanwhile, Miyamoto and Milly regroup for the next part of her mission.
The duo again confronts Mizoguchi at an abandoned oil rig, where they rescue the alien. Surviving a huge explosion, a bloodied Mizoguchi threatens to kill them all for ruining his plans. However, his bullets hit an invisible force field. Miyamoto quickly and grabs the gun and kills Mizoguchi. Before they can figure out where the force field came from a Daggra craft, disguised as a Boeing 747SP
Boeing 747SP
The Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but...
airliner arrives, having received the alien's distress signal. The Daggra take their wounded comrade and leave Earth. As the future war has ceased to exist, Milly slowly disappears.
Shortly after the incident, Miyamoto decides to give up his life of violence and hands in his guns to Shi. While walking home, he is confronted by a thug whose life he had spared earlier at Tokyo Bay. Realizing that he is weaponless, Miyamoto is helpless as the thug shoots him. The thug walks away, assuming that Miyamoto is dead. A little later, Miyamoto staggers up and finds his life was saved by a plate of metal similar to Milly's. The plate has a written message by Milly, telling him she has repaid him. Miyamoto recalls the night Milly messed around with his trenchcoat. While Miyamoto and Milly were asleep, a second, future Milly traveled from the future and slipped the metal plate into his trenchcoat before returning to her timeline. On her way out, she accidentally drops the newspaper article on Miyamoto's death.
Cast
- Takeshi KaneshiroTakeshi KaneshiroTakeshi Kaneshiro , born October 11, 1973, is a Taiwan-born Japanese actor and singer.-Name:...
as Miyamoto - Anne SuzukiAnne Suzukiis a Japanese actress.A model since the age of three, she got an early break in her acting career at 12 when she starred in the Hollywood film Snow Falling on Cedars with Ethan Hawke. She was next featured in the action movie Returner opposite Takeshi Kaneshiro, and won the Best New Actor at the...
as Milly - Goro Kishitani as Mizoguchi
- Kirin Kiki as Shi Zhi Tang
- Dean Harrington as Dr. Brown
Soundtrack
Returners musical score was composed by Akihiko Matsumoto. The ending theme is "Dig InDig In
"Dig In" is the lead-single by Lenny Kravitz from his sixth studio album, Lenny. It was released in October 2001. It was used in promos by the National Basketball Association for the 2002 NBA Playoffs, as well as the ending theme for the film Returner....
" by Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
. A portion of the score was sampled for Roni Size
Roni Size
Roni Size is a British record producer and DJ, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective...
's single, No More
No More
No More may refer to:*"No More" , a 1941 song by Bob Russell and Toots Camarata*"No More" , a 1961 version of "La Paloma" recorded by Elvis Presley and Dean Martin*"No More," a 1989 song by Neil Young from the album Freedom...
.
Reception
This is the second filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
by director Takashi Yamazaki to utilize a number of computer generated visual effects showing bullet time
Bullet time
Bullet time is a special and visual effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed photography used in films, broadcast advertisements, and video games...
, mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
and transforming alien ships. The film shows a clear film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
style.
Returner has received generally negative reviews, with a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Derek Elley of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote on his review that "Kaneshiro is all long flowing locks and smoldering disdain, the visual F/X are only so-so, and pacing is almost brisk enough to hide the plot holes." Don Willmott of Filmcritic.com gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a watchable, if somewhat absurd, sci-fi stir fry."
On the positive side, Jo Berry of Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying, "So much of this film is 'borrowed' it's like watching a chirpy tribute band. Good fun." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
also praised the film, pointing out that "with little room for new ideas, the film must rely on the strength of its actors, and they're excellent across the board."
External links
- Returner at LoveHKFilm.com
- Returner at MetaCriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...