Karate-Robo Zaborgar (2011) Review

Karate-Robo Zaborgar (2011) Review

 

Some of the most insane sci-fi/fantasy/action/horror films I’ve ever seen have come from Japan. Let me give credit where credit is due: no other country has been making films that are as off-the-wall and as insanely creative for so many decades as them. Some are so scary they aren’t even enjoyable (Audition), and some are so insane they can barely be explained (Infra-Man). Karate-Robo Zaborgar is definitely one of the strangest tokusatsu (Japanese special-effects-heavy sci-fi/action films) I’ve ever seen, but let me at least attempt to describe it.

Yutaka Daimon has a robot brother named Zaborgar who can transform into a motorcycle and is really good at karate. Zaborgar also has gadgets and special abilities, which help out Daimon a lot when they have to fight against the evil forces of Sigma, an organization that is trying to extract DNA from politicians to help them build a giant mech. One of Sigma’s creations, Ms. Borg, is a seductive fem-bot who bewilders a bunch of cops by flying her detached head around with a little rocket booster coming out the bottom of her neck and kissing one of the cops right on the lips. This bewilderment happens in the first couple minutes of the movie, by the way. Daimon sort of has a relationship with Ms. Borg after they accidentally kiss while they are fighting in tandem with Zaborgar fighting her own female robot sidekick, then they make out while riding on their robots in motorcycle form alongside each other in a shot that is so absurd it’s hilarious and almost beautiful. What follows is an extremely uncomfortable, ah, shall we say, intimate moment? And it involves a bunch of tentacles coming out of her. And that isn’t even the weirdest part of the movie.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar is practically a critic-proof movie. How can you criticize something like this? Despite the way it might sound, it’s actually very easy to follow, and is not an accidental disaster. The filmmakers were very intentional in the design and execution, and there are many purposefully funny moments throughout. Then there are parts that will make you scratch your head, like when a flashback explains Daimon had a human twin brother and their father fed his brother man breast milk (!)(?), which may have been what killed him, and Daimon always blamed his father for his brother’s death, then after Sigma killed his father, Daimon watched a film reel that introduced him to Zaborgar, which was created by his father using his brother’s DNA, so the robot is also his brother, technically. Then there are parts that are completely out of nowhere, like three robo-women wearing bikinis under football gear and playing pass with steel footballs that are actually bombs and they throw them at Daimon and Zaborgar before attacking Zaborgar with dinosaur heads that grow out of their breasts and buttocks. I mean, seriously...what? 

These might sound like some of the strangest and most original ideas to be featured in any movie ever, but actually, not all of them are. This movie is part homage and part remake of the TV series Denjin Zaboga, with many of the same characters and concepts. I had no idea the movie was based on a pre-existing show when I saw it for the first time, but it didn’t diminish the entertainment value—in fact, I think I found it even more entertaining when I was clueless about its origins because I was just so taken aback by what I was seeing. Clips of the original show are featured during the end credits, and it’s an effective demonstration of how thoughtful the filmmakers were in paying tribute to it, recreating many of the visuals almost to a tee. That being said, most of the green screen effects are quite bad, and the action utilizes too much shaky cam, but it still feels like a modern update on the 70’s-era films and TV shows that it’s trying to emulate.

In case it isn’t already obvious, I have to make it clear that this is supposed to be a funny movie and it should not be taken seriously in any way shape or form. The humour comes from many of the weird ideas, but mainly it’s from the characters. Daimon is whiny and annoying in the first half of the film, but it mostly helps add to the comedy. I have to mention the villain, who is a wheelchair bound old man with a partially burnt face covered with half a robot mask, and he has many bizarre goons working for him in addition to Ms. Borg. The dialogue, too, is very humourous, but there are a few talking scenes between the wacky action scenes that drag a bit, which the dialogue usually helps carry, but not always.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar has some of the most unbelievably ridiculous shit I have ever seen in any movie, and as someone who has seen many movies like this, that’s saying something. I do not recommend watching it alone or with a sober state of mind. Get your friends over, have some drinks or dabble with whatever substances tickle your fancy, and put this thing on to have one hell of a schlock movie night.