Takashi Miike films

[Drunk Monk]

The sequel is far more hyper than the original. In the original, the lead starts in the mundane world and then enters the magical tokusatsu world. Z2 takes place in 2025 (filmed in 2010) and it starts deep in the tokusatsu world, in a dystopian future where Zebra Time is like The Purge, which really all comes out of the Red Hour in that original Star Trek episode The Return of the Archons. During Zebra Time, Zebra Police can kill anyone. There's a despotic tyrant who dresses like Alex in a Clockwork Orange (bowler and one false eyelash) and his daughter Zebra Queen, who is like a J-pop Lady Gaga. Her main role is to thrust her ample bosom into the camera as much as possible. Zebraman has amnesia and has to fight the same CGI aliens as the original, those green gelatinous mutant baby things. This one isn't as clever as the original. I remember it was shown at one of the DOOM gatherings, much to our enjoyment. Z2 lacks the suburban-nerd-turns-superhero element as it begins in the tokusatsu world. But it does have it's merits, that particular Miike style, which pops up in random kinky scenes (lots of spiked heel stomping, a hypo to the head, that sort of stuff). I enjoyed it but it got a little long-winded at the end (perhaps I was sleepy). There is a sword, a katana, and it is used in fights, but not against another sword. The most underused highlight are the Vengeful Zebra Mini-Skirt Police, which wiki says was made into a direct-to-dvd spin-off.