Johnny's Entertainment and its army of boy bands used to be a force to reckon with in the early 2000s. Now, not so much; but they are still
a significant presence in the Japanese entertainment industry. Eight Ranger is based on a series of skits by Johnny's group Kanjani Eight. If it feels like a TV drama extended into a larger feature film because of this, it's understandable.
The film is primarily a comedy and there area definitely some great funny moments especially in the first half. Props have to go to Hiroshi Tachi as an aging member of a dwindling number of tokusatsu-like superheroes protecting a town from evil. The tokusatsu references abound in this movie, but some are more subtle than others. The story is predictable and anyone with a sense of what's going on will figure everything out by the end of the first half of the film. As far as plot points go, the movie hints at a sequel (and indeed, a sequel to Eight Ranger premiered in Japanese cinemas just this year.) It's fun, but ultimately forgettable unless you're a fan of the group or of tokusatsu in general.
No comments:
Post a Comment