Movie Melting Pot…’Zebraman’ (Japan, 2004)

Mr. Takashi Miike is not exactly known for his family films. Â  Some of the most whacked out, disturbing, off the beaten path films I have ever seen have had the title Directed by Takashi Miike in their credits.

‘Visitor Q’. Â  ‘Ichi the Killer’. Â  ‘Audition’.

That’s just a small smattering of the strangeness that has come from Miike’s vision. Â  There are things in ‘Visitor Q’ that cannot be unseen. Â  Just hearing that Miike has a film called ‘Zebraman’ conjures up so many images in the mind it’s not even funny. Â  So imagine the surprise when you discover that, strange or not, ‘Zebraman’ is a film that is perfect for the entire family.

‘Zebraman’ tells the story of Shinichi Ichikawa, a teacher who escapes from his mundane existence into the guise of Zebraman. Â  Back in the 1970s, Shinichi was infatuated with a television series called Zebraman. Â  Now, as an adult, he dresses, poorly, no less, as the fictional superhero and begins fighting crime. Â  In his adventures, Zebraman takes on giant, evil crab men, killer schoolchildren, and aliens that are seemingly made of Jell-o. Â  What’s stranger is that as he is fighting, Shinichi begins developing super powers that weren’t there beforehand.

‘Zebraman’ is a great, family film that raises many existential questions while being incredibly entertaining at the same time. Â  Shinichi has a family that he must balance while fighting super villains, and the interaction between Shinichi and his two children reminds you of the way Bruce Willis and his son interacted in ‘Unbreakable’.

The action in ‘Zebraman’ is full of cheap special effects and cheesy dialogue coming from both good guy and bad. Â  It really reminds you of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Â  Given the surreal feeling the rest of the film brings about, this type of kitschy action is just what the doctor ordered. Â  The film is quite surreal, almost fantastical from time to time, but anyone who is a fan of any particular one thing will immediately recognize and respect Shinichi’s passion for his alter ego.

What’s even greater is the comedy in ‘Zebraman’. Â  Most of this stems from the absurdity of the situations. Â  The ZebraNurse/regrowing of an arm scene was among my favorites.

‘Zebraman’ was initially released wide in Miike’s native country of Japan on February 14th, 2004. Â  Information on how it did at the box office is quite scarce, but it has been described as being a huge hit. Â  The only other two countries where it got a theatrical release were The Netherlands and the US. Â  It played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in The Netherlands on January 30th, 2004 and opened wide there on August 26th of that same year. Â  It played at the Toronto Film Festival on September 16th, 2004. Â  It was released on DVD in France on February 16th, 2006. Â  It played at the New York Asian Film Festival on June 30th, 2007 and opened in New York on August 15th that same year.

Upon its American release, ‘Zebraman’ was met with not so gracious reviews from American critics. Â  It has a 46% fresh rating from 13 reviews. Â  The less than friendly critics referred to the film as “wearisom”, “inert”, and “arbitrary”. Â  Among the positive reviews, Jeannett Catsoulis of the New York Times said ‘Zebraman’ had “come to save our summer from bloated Hollywood product that takes itself but not its audience seriously”. Â  Kam Williams of NewsBlaze said the film was “utterly delightful” and referred to it as “a loving spoof on the Ultraman tradition of 1960s and ’70s low-budget Japanese TV superheroes”. Â  V.A. Musetto of the New York Post said of the film, “This is something you could take your whole family to see.”

Musetto is absolutely right. Â  ‘Zebraman’ is the type of film that movie geeks should be showing their children, a great, fantastical action flick that is also kid-friendly while not allowing itself to pander or dumb itself down.

The film’s screenplay was turned into a five-part Manga written by Reiji Yamada. Â  The Manga focused more on the relationship between Shinichi and his two children, and Zebraman never develops super powers. Â  It’s just Shinichi in the tattered costume he pieced together fighting crime.

‘Zebraman’, thankfully, is available on a Region 1 DVD. Â  It is presented with both English subtitles and a dubbed track. Â  The DVD also features a trailer for the fictional, 1978 series, the theatrical trailer for the film, TV spots, and more. Â  You can order it from Diabolik DVD by following this link. Â  It’s exactly what you would expect from a superhero, family film from Miike. Â  Literally everyone young and old can enjoy ‘Zebraman’. Â  Miike is extremely prolific, and, hopefully, a sequel to ‘Zebraman’ will be on his slate sooner than later.