Zebraman 2

[MouthForWar]

[kiryugoji04]

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

I DID.

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

[MouthForWar]

[Shonokin]

[king_ghidorah]

[kiryugoji04]

OKAY SO YEAH.

JESUS, THIS MOVIE WAS ASTOUNDING. I mean, it still has a couple moments of Miike doing his best slug impression but he seems a bit rusty because the movie doesn't slow down nearly as badly as its predecessor. This one also has a lot more stuff packed in, so that helps a lot.

You know, I really think the first Zebraman could be one of my absolute favorites if it wasn't such a slog at times. I literally like EVERYTHING about the movie EXCEPT the pacing. Really. Frustrating.

ANYWAY BACK TO ZEBRAMAN 2 BECAUSE IT'S INCREDIBLE.

I love films like this - Scott Pilgrim is another good example, I think - where the filmmakers set up an utterly preposterous reality and style of portraying it and they stick to their guns the whole way through. The ending will have the same level of delightful absurdity as the beginning did and the reality and style is never downplayed in the face of legitimately dramatic turns or moments of gravity. Several other movies, however, will chicken out towards the end and feel the need to tone down the levels of absurdity to somehow legitimize the film's merit. Or something. The ending to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie comes to mind off the top of my head. That frustrates me greatly. Zebraman 2, fortunately, is not one of those movies (nor is its predecessor, though the latter's overall more understated approach makes it slightly less apparent). One of the film's most dramatic moments revolves around one of the most delightfully silly ideas in the whole story and it is underscored, not undermined, by a joke that made me laugh myself stupid. The actual drama is still pretty well intact too and it's all just wonderful. I love movies like this, I really do.

What really rocked my f*cking world with this movie was the production design. This is a BEAUTIFUL movie. The costumes are fantastic, particularly the Zebra police/stormtroopers. They legitimately freaked me out. Zebraman's redesigned outfit at the film's climax was most excellent too! And everything about the dystopian Zebra City was just so perfectly done - I would change absolutely nothing.

Also, the women are GORGEOUS. Needed to be restated.

I want a Zebraman 3 if Miike and his crew can manage to take another ENORMOUS leap in style and creativity the way they did here. I mean, the jump from Zebraman to Zebraman 2 just boggles the f*cking mind, man. Zebraman... Zebraman didn't NEED a sequel. The ending was pretty much all it needed to be! It didn't need a Spider-Man 2 or a Batman Returns in the least. Miike made a sequel anyway but he took Zebraman, which was, let's say, a watermelon and used that as the jumping-off point for creating a Turducken. Yes. I think that analogy is suitable. God bless the man.

Amusing that a film I had such a lukewarm reaction to would produce a sequel that would end up being one of my favorite films I've seen this year.

[MouthForWar]

Something inside me just knew you'd dig this one!

[kiryugoji04]

Dig it, I did. I guess I should be thanking you guys or something.

[king_ghidorah]

Glad you liked it man

On a side note, I really hope we get Denjin Zarborger over here eventually. Every review I've seen for the film claims it's excellent and I expect I could end up liking it even more than the Zebraman films...

[Shonokin]

[king_ghidorah]

[Shonokin]

[MouthForWar]

Speaking of insane Japanese hero movies (and Miike), have any of you seen Miike's Yatterman movie? It looks f*cking nuts.

[king_ghidorah]

[Shonokin]

[king_ghidorah]

[Shonokin]

Anyone looking forward to Miike's adaptation of "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney"? I don't know anything about the video game, but with Miike at the helm, I think this is probably something I should look forward to.

[jellydonut25]

[Mac]