It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

What I expected was a so so Japanese version of a sort of sci-fi/alien/Terminator type story. I was pleasantly surprised to see the story develop into something original and unique.Milly travels back in time as the cusp of an alien takeover of Earth. Her goal is to prevent the aliens from reaching the point where they are too strong to defeat. The story was well told with not only sci-fi alien invasion and time travel, but it was also a Asian gangster and revenge flick. There were a couple of E.T.esque soppy moments, but the film was had a good amount of action, explosions, subtle humor, and an interesting multifaceted story.

I am going to quote a previous reviewer, mats_carcass, who put the problem with this film most succinctly:"Ingredients: 2 Parts E.T. 1 Part The Terminator 1 Part Indepedance Day Rind of The Matrix pretty much every action movie cliché" all true; and add as well an actress with a face that would look great in a manga cartoon and a popular young Chinese actor doing what popular young Chinese actors do in action films these days.Yet while I respect the perceptions of the reviewer I quote, I must disagree as to the entertainment value of the film; I liked the characters enough that I found their story entertaining, and the pacing was good, with a enough plot twists to allow me to ignore the derivative nature of the whole project. Laso, it is well made, and the importance of that to a derivative film can't be overestimated. If it moves as well as the films it imitates, then I don't mind wasting a little time with it.I also warn the viewer not to turn the movie off at the point the main plot seems resolved. The last ten minutes are actually the best thing about the story, because they leave us with questions that the main story line only implies.

This could be a spoiler, cause you cant tell me anything from a film without spoiling a something for me, see yourself, if you dare ;P The reason that I give the film 9 and not 10 is because there is something missing, I would like to know more about the film. It's a really good film, it has the action, the story and good actors. The special effects could be better, but during the film you will get used to it. The music in the film, i liked very much, specially the last scene were Miyamoto smokes in the rain, the guitar music, its really nice, if any one knows who made it please send and email: [email protected] the film if you haven't seen it :)

Version: Columbia Tristar's DVD release. Japanese / English subtitles.Time travel is cool. Explosions are cool, as are gun fights. Any movie that attempts to incorporate 'The Terminator', 'Independence Day', 'Leon', and nearly every John Woo movie made between 'A Better Tomorrow' and 'Face/Off' is cool. 'Returner' features all these elements, and therefore, is awesomely cool. Or at least a fun action movie.In 2084, the Earth has been nearly overrun by aliens. The last survivors of the human race are fighting a losing battle in the mountains of Tibet. Naturally, these survivors have mad scientists with them who develop all these cool gadgets, as well a time-machine. Milly (Anne Suzuki) volunteers to go back to 2002 to stop the war from beginning. Upon arrival, she teams up with Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Miyamoto is a mercenary seeking vengeance against the Triad gangster, Mizoguchi (Goro Kishitani), who in turn, may actually have caused the war in the first place. Convenient.A Japanese friend of mine originally recommended 'Returner' to me, and another friend of ours, knowing full well we are easily impressed by explosions. If, like me, you are easily impressed by explosions and have not yet seen 'Returner', you should stop reading and go watch it right now.'Returner' is little more than a stylish action movie. Most of the plot seems to be taken from random elements of 'Terminator', ID4, and 'Leon', and styled in a similar way to ID4, 'Matrix', and a fair number of John Woo movies. I must admit that any comparison to the 'Matrix' is a tad unfair, as the 'Matrix' was also made up of elements from nearly every movie John Woo ever made. As a sci-fi / action movie, 'Returner' is entertaining, if a little cheesy. The action scenes are generally awesome and exciting.'Returner' is a fun action movie. It should at least satisfy hardcore action fans, and should be entertaining enough for anyone looking for a fun movie - 7/10