RETURNER (2002) Transforming robots! I took such scant notes on this movie I almost wasn't going to bother reviewing it, but I really should pass on the luv when I see a movie I enjoy, and when I had a look at all the movies I've panned in this update without a single one I could really pass on much positive feelings about, I figured I'd better get a recommendation in there. I've made a bit of a pact with myself: no more stacks of videos unless I'm damned sure there's going to be a movie in there I'm going to enjoy. A Japanese hodgepodge of well-known (and varyingly-loved) American sci-fi movies, Returner stars Anne Suzuki as a clever, resourceful urchin from the post-apocalyptic future who is sent back in time to the present day to prevent the alien invasion that kicked our species' butts. Takeshi Kaneshiro is the sceptical Tokyo assassin she drafts/cons into helping her liberate the trouble-starting crashed alien ship from the hands of the Japanese mob (!). Probably the only live-action movie I've seen featuring transforming robots, which (along with their alien pilots) are rendered with pretty damn good effects. Returner could have used a little more of those and less of the well-done but more creatively mundane action setpieces. The two take on waves of faceless, masked gunmen, and these scenes are fun, but none of the pack the punch of the Terminator-style flashbacks to the future where the ragged resistance doesn't quite hold off marauding aliens. The ending's a little sentimental (that the aliens look so much like E.T. can't be an accident), and the plot's loaded with holes and contrivances. And I didn't really care. Returner is unpretentious spectacle and fun, like a love letter to the best parts of big-budget American sci-fi. If you like movies like that you'll probably like this, and appreciate that it's not a love letter to the worst parts. BACK TO THE R's BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE