Zebraman

Japanese film director Takashi Miike gets it. The attraction of the concept of the superhero is the premise that you can become someone else, and that that alter ego is way cooler than you are in real life. Well, hopefully. If your superhero secret identity is Zebraman, you might be hard-pressed to believe that you can be less of a loser than your public self.

Zebraman (2004 but only now being released in the US) is probably the greatest superhero movie ever made. I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the subject, having spent my childhood creating super powers for myself, my sister and my imaginary friends and enemies while devouring Marvel comic books.

Zebraman is a satire, but it’s also legitimate or deadpan or whatever the antonym of satire is. It is not like Batman: The Movie (1966), where intentionally bad acting is combined with intentionally bad special effects and an intentionally horrible plot to successfully amuse us. It is also not like Batman Begins (2005), a dark and sober but gripping epic about a man on a mission to become a superhero. It is kind of an indescribable gestalt of both ideas minus Bruce Wayne, thankfully. Instead of a rich and talented businessman and ladykiller, Shin’ichi (Sho Aikawa) is an inept schoolteacher disrespected not only by his students, but also by his wife and children. Alone at night, Shin’ichi sews himself a costume unimaginatively modeled after his favorite childhood television show, a flop that was cancelled after seven episodes. Realizing the absurdity of an adult dressing up like a Zebra, Shin’ichi almost gives up on his dream, but then is encouraged by Asano (?), a new student who has discovered the Zebraman television show on the web. Meanwhile, aliens have landed in Shin’ichi’s town, and Zebraman just might be the only one who can save the world from being taken over by them….

Zebraman is far from the most impressive superhero ever conceived, but he has two things going for him: heart and Zebranurse (Kyoka Suzuki), who is quite probably the most advantageous sidekick of all time, even if she does only appear in a dream sequence.