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.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It's the end of the 21st century and humanity is losing a war against invading alien force. A time machine is their only remaining hope, but things take a turn for the worse when the original traveller dies and a young girl is sent instead.As you can see, the film doesn't exactly shine with originality. It's your basic time-travelling fish out of the water storyline, this time with a Japanese setting. But even there it fails because it more closely resembles an urban gangster movie, and not a very good one at that. Sure there's the aliens, but they're not in the movie very much and are your run down the mill basic Roswell aliens.Not to say that the film is godawful. Some of the action scenes have a bit of flash to them and the two main characters are enjoyable, especially Milly (Anne Suzuki), who's delightfully capable and resourceful for an early turn of the century action heroine.Still, the fact remains that Returner has perilously little to show for itself. It's not original, it's not particularly well executed and you really don't get much out of it. There are worse movies out there, certainly, but it's not a movie worth looking for.

The Japanese ape American Movies? Please, go over your history. The Japanese were able to take a Western art form and appropriate it to their own culture in ways we may only stand in awe of their accomplishments. This includes rock-n-roll, the arguably penultimate Western art form. Yes, 'Returner' is very sentimental in places, ala Stephen Spielberg, unfortunately. Still Suzuki and Yoshiro work so well together in this film, it is just a plain pleasure to watch. I will never regret the tears I shed for this work.As a reviewer before me noted, where are the Americans getting a large proportion of their best movies? The Japanese and the Pang Brothers (Hong Kong, I believe, though they work a lot in Thailand). Usually less than brilliant remakes of the originals. Bangkok Dangerous? The Eye? Does anyone dare re-make 'Ab-normal Beauty'?

The first impression I had when watching this movie was "oh great, another SF movie that takes the most known themes from the genre (alien invasion, time travel, etc) and mixes it together" ... but when the movie was over, I felt the mix was successful and there wasn't a boring moment in the movie.The fact that this movie stars three good actors: Kaneshiro Takeshi, Suzuki An and Kishitani Goro is another good point. I especially enjoyed Kishitani's part as the main villain. He's a great actor who can pull off playing a villain as well as a hero.Special effects aren't extraordinary but well done and they blend in well with the scenes.Overall an enjoyable movie that I wouldn't mind re-watching

I was told by everyone that this movie was awful. Even the critics said it was bad. Then I wanted to check it out by myself! MAN, has everyone lost their mind? This is probably one of the best sci-fi flick I've ever seen! Never saw something that refreshing since Fifth Element.Of course a lot of people are going to say it is a Matrix rip-off, that the script looks like Terminator or Independence Day, blah blah... Then I'm sure these people didn't watch the same movie I did! Cuz it has nothing to do with these films, AT ALL! It may be futuristic, but it has its own universe, its own way to introduce it to you. Plus, you stay close to the characters, to the very end. Even though the plot is big and takes place on a higher level, you always stay close to the characters life, emotions, motivations and goals. That's what I liked about this movie. It may be sci-fi, but the characters are not so far from any drama movies.I heard someone saying that the Japanese love to copy American movies. BLASPHEMY! If you look carefully, it's the total opposite. Weren't the Americans the ones who did a remake of Godzilla? Weren't the Americans the ones who did free adaptations of Ringu and Ju-On? Aren't the Americans planning to do a live-action movie of The Transformers? Besides, Matrix IS a Japanese animation *rip-off*. It deliberately got his inspiration from anime such as Ghost in the Shell or X. And if you want good example of innovative Japanese movies, I recommend to you Akira Kurosawa's, even though it has nothing to do with sci-fi.Anyways, Returner is a must see to all sci-fi fans and to all Japanese movies and animation lovers. I can guarantee you a good time if you watch it *open-minded* and if you put aside the *rip-off* crap we've been so fed about.9 out of 10