If there's one advantage to
procrastination it's that there's usually something left over to fall
back on in a pinch. Case in point, when left with zero idea as to
what to write about for the weekly post, simply dredge up a leftover
Super Sentai flick. All the better if you have a winter cleaning
mentality let's go back to last Summer and discuss Zyuougher The
Movie: The Heart Pounding Circus Panic.
Having covered a few of these Summer
flicks in the past, I've noticed a pattern that tends to leave them
near the bottom of whatever series they're based on. The run time is
often only a few minutes longer than a standard episode, with a
rushed narrative that should be given more room to stretch, with the
only real upgrades being a trifecta of higher budget, better
cinematography, and a higher degree of violence. I'd say it's lucky
that this is based on the generally decent and classy Zyuohger but
even these animal heroes can't quite salvage this one.
Zero effort is made to buck the trend
of rushed narrative as this begins with a giant robot fight that
results in over half the team being taken captive in about
two-minutes flat. Only after Misao rescues Yamato from drowning do we
flashback to an explanation of what the hell is going on.
Early one morning the team learns of a
traveling circus seemingly populated by Zyumans. Wasting no time in
check it out, they arrive for the show we're the audience is treated
to tremendously corny circus acts aided by some truly tacky special
effects. Everyone enjoys the show until an evil ringmaster who
operates an evil space circus shows up and kidnaps all the children.
His plan is to transfer the energy from crying children into a beam
that will destroy Earth. Given that these are Japanese kids, his plan
is pretty much foolproof since they won't stop crying over every damn
thing. The reason for destroying an entire planet you may ask? Not
unlike a villain from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, he
finds Earth is in the way of constructing his newest attraction.
Sounds like reasonable motive for eliminating countless lives.
From that point on, most of the team
is captive aboard the giant circus tent spaceship attempting to get
all the damn kids to quit crying, while Yamato works out a rescue
plan. There's the customary bondage scene (why are these folks always
getting chained up?), the team regroups, action ensues, the day is
saved with all of a minute to wrap up the story before credits roll.
Some might say the pacing is economical but in reality it's more akin
to whiplash.
That over the top pacing is such an
odd flaw with these films as there's an opportunity to do something
with more depth. There's a bevy of new circus characters who could
have received some actual development, even the core cast could have
been used more. Misao was very new at this point in the series and is
used in roughly two scenes. The series primary villains barely
squeeze in an appearance, mainly to make an excuse for why they're
not joining in on the action. Worst of all, the whole thing feels
like it's been structured off of the live Sentai stage shows, right
down to the part where the heroes are nearly defeated until all the
kiddies shout encouragement and power them up. This sort of corny
audience interaction makes sense when doing live entertainment at a
theme park or festival, in a movie however it's downright revolting.
Not everything is a crapshoot though.
The action is very solid, and given the higher budget it sll looks
much nicer than usual. There are some very nice wide shots, and as I
mentioned before it's a step up in the violence department. In fact
it's a tad off-putting when the villain threatens to stab a child
only to have that same kid doing the corny encouragement mere moments
later.
I'm a little disappointed that I
couldn't enjoy it all a bit more. I went in with the proper knowledge
that the Summer flicks usually suck but I'd forgotten how much more
classy and well done this team is than the two that bookend them.
Their personalities are so well-defined and multidimensional, and
each actor has the proper chops to put in a believable performance. I
missed this crew a lot over the past year which makes seeing them in
such a lackluster adventure all the more disheartening.
There's still two more Zyuohger flicks
out there which means we still get to hang out with this team a few
more times. Luckily the head writer of the series is working on the
newest Super Sentai series which is set to kick off in just a few
weeks. This year we're getting two small teams with a cops vs robbers
theme. Like it or not, this means Sentai coverage will resume a more
normal schedule in the coming months.
Until then it's back to working on my
various other projects. Since losing the security job I've written
material every single day whether that be an article for here,
another site, or a novel. So far the results are building up which
hopefully means some of the projects I've hinted at will finally come
to fruition. Consider that a cliffhanger if you need one.
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