Review of Returner (2002) by Sean W — 31 Aug 2004

Ever since I saw Equilibrium on video, I have been much more open to renting unfamiliar titles. More times than not I get burned, but every now and then I come across something that's worth watching.

Returner is one of those worth watching. It's not great, but it is entertaining. The story centers around a young girl, who travels back in time to save the earth from an alien invasion. For a B-Movie, the special effects were very good, and as with most Japanese films the action sequences were excellent.

The two lead actors, Suzuki and Kaneshiro, did well together, and Goro Kishitani, who played the primary antagonist, performed well. The only downside to Kishitani's performance was his rooster like hair cut.

The other actors in the film were terrible, especially Dean Harrington (Dr. Brown). When I say terrible in reference to his performance, I'm being nice. As a matter of fact, all the non-oriental actors in the film were so bad that you have to wonder if they just randomly grabbed them off the street to shoot the opening scenes.

Thankfully, they were only in the movie briefly. Other than that, Returner was a good movie and well worth 3 to 4 dollars to rent.