RETURNER
Reviewed by: Harvey S. Karten Grade: D Destination Films/Goldwyn Films Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki Written by: Takashi Yamazaki, Kenya Hirata Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Ann Suzuki, Kirin Kiki, Goro Kishitani, Yukiko Okamoto Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 10/2/03
If you could go back to an earlier stage in your life with the aim of correcting your mistakes, do you think now in October 2003 you would be a better person? Probably. In Gregory Hobbit's underappreciated film "Frequency," a character played by Dennis Quaid, exploiting a fluke in his ham radio, is able to return some years, which he does to prevent his father from perishing in a flaming building. He needs only to tell his pop, "turn right" instead of making the left turn that cost the fire- fighter his life. Simple enough.
Let's go beyond doing what's good for you personally or for your immediate family. Let's say you could go back to, oh, September 1, 2001 for the purpose of delivering a message to the CIA, FBI and the National Security Council providing proof that certain fanatics were planning to attack the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. Of course you'd do this and what's more you'll press hard to overcome the disbelief of the politicians and bureaucrats.
This is by way of introducing the theme of Takashi Yamazaki's film "Returner," a Japanese job inspired by the director's viewing of "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters" and many Hollywood sci- fi and apocalyptic tales on screen in more recent times. Utilizing the talents of 15-year-old Anne Suzuki in the role of Milly and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Miyamoto (a kind of Asian Antonio Banderas), director Yamazaki takes us first to the year 2084.
The folks who gave us means of transportation cheaper and better than the Americans are now in the forefront of an interplanetary war that could lead to the annihilation of earth. Not even Werner von Braun can get us out of this mess, unless a teenager could be propelled back to our own time to give the alien creatures what they want, thereby undercutting their motive to wreak vengeance on all of us. Accustomed to war, Milly has no problem accepting the fact that Japanese gangsters are fighting one another, one group led by Miyamoto, the other the more flamboyant Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani). After persuading the first gunman to trust her, she uses his assistance to return an dying E.T. creature held hostage by Mizoguchi to his (or her) home planet.
If you've seen "E.T.," "Independence Day," "Frequency," "Terminator," "Transformer," "Clockstoppers" and others of the ilk and are not yet fatigued by the deja vu, this could be the pic for you. If however you insist that contemporary film-makers use greater imagination, dialogue that's witty and even campy rather than deadly-dull, and humor that's at least on par with late Woody Allen, don't bother taking out the keys to your Toyota or Honda. This is same ol', same ol'. As an example of this film's wit, Miyamoto introduces his futuristic friend to spaghetti al dente. She thinks that the name of the dish is al dente and makes that error numerous times to which our hero's response is "dumb kid." Maybe it's funnier in Japanese.
Like a Beethoven symphony, "Returner" has many endings. At the screening I attended, the projectionist, apparently out for an al dente break, allowed the penultimate reel to expire, leaving a blank screen. Half the audience headed for the exits though some twelve minutes remained. Half of that departing audience returned to their seats when the screen again lit up with its deadly dull characters in a far from memorable movie.
Rated R. 118 minutes.(c) 2003 by Harvey Karten at Harveycritic@cs.com
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