Earlier this year I reviewed a little action film titled 13 Assassins from the wild director Takeshi Miike. Well, if you’ve seen that movie then flip it on its head because the prolific Japanese director has a new feature film hitting the Blu-ray and DVD shelves here in America on November 29th a film titled Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City, thanks to FUNimation Entertainment.
“The year is 2025. Tokyo has fallen, and the world cries out for a hero. It cries for Zebraman. This striped crime fighter is the only hope for those who live in fear of the Zebra Queen, a hooved seductress out to conquer the world with the aide of her Miniskirt Zebra Police. The Queen has stolen Zebraman’s powers and instituted Zebra Time: ten horrifying minutes each day when murder is legal! Without his super strength, Zebraman is just a guy with a mane – a broken-down hero unable to stop the onslaught of evil. Before he can take a bite out of the bad guys, Zebraman must find the young girl who holds the secret to regaining his ass-kicking powers and prove, once and for all, that a hero never changes his stripes!”
Takeshi Miike’s superhero endeavor is pretty much in-line with his other superhero films, providing wacky and crazy action with his love of random humor. It’s his ability to not take himself too seriously that makes his latest release enjoyable for those that are able to sit down and come to that realization. Chances are if you enjoy films like Yatterman or Ninja Kids!!! Then you are going to have a good time with this film. It may not be my favorite Miike feature but it accomplishes its goal of putting a stupid grin on my face.
Having never seen the first Zebraman film, I can’t say how good this one is in comparison but what I can say is that you don’t need to see the first film to understand the story of the second one. The reason is because there are a handful of long flashbacks that give you enough detail to completely understand how Zebraman came to be, what he accomplished in the first film and how important he is to the people of Zebra city.
Zebraman 2 has the partial look and feel of an action Bollywood movie, a feature packed with action, amusing CG effects and some musical numbers normally not associated with Japanese superhero films. Also, the acting isn’t anything special with Zebraman (Shô Aikawa) being pretty average and the villains, the attractive Zebra Queen (Riisa Naka) and her father, being over the top like any villain in a mediocre film would be. As a result, this feature isn’t really expected to be anything great but that doesn’t stop it from being wildly amusing at times.
I wasn’t home to watch the film on Blu-ray but even on a standard DVD the movie looked good which means it must look great in 1080i HD. This Blu-ray DVD combo pack comes with 123 minutes worth of special features, enough to give you your money’s worth. The features include a long and indepth documentary of ‘The Making of Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City,’ there is a look at ‘The Making of the “Zebra Queen’s Theme” Music Video,’ a good interview with the creative mind behind the film, director Takashi Miike along with interviews with Riki Abe (Niimi), Show Aikawa (Shinichi / Zebraman), Masahiro Inoue (Asano), and Riisa Naka (Yui / Zebra Queen). Additionally the disc features the original commercials, theatrical trailers and some Previews. Funimation has done an excellent job creating a package worth buying for fans of Zebraman or Miike. The documentary alone is well worth your time.
While Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City is a bit long and can get very stupid at times, it has its fair share of great action sequences and solid effects work for an expansive superhero film. It isn’t my favorite Miike film, not by a long shot, but for anybody who enjoyed the first Zebraman or likes anything by Miike, then you should consider picking this one up, otherwise either rent it or simply pass on it for one of his better zany features.
Film Rating: A crazy, but mediocre, trip into the future where everything is actually black and white (5/10)
Blu-ray rating: 7/10
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