%%
%%
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c14bffe3e0cd22b0a21b58218c296d90.jpg]]

''The Returner'' is a 2002 Japanese science fiction/action film.

It involves a [[HiredGuns mercenary]] named Miyamoto (Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro) who finds himself helping a girl called Milly who [[TimeTravel came back in time from the future]] to prevent humanity's destruction at the hands of aliens.

Miyamoto meets her by accident when he shoots her while trying to kill Mizoguchi, a member of The Triads who killed his best friend years before to sell his organs in the BlackMarket. Luckily, she is saved from the bullet by [[PocketProtector a piece of metal she was carrying in her pocket]]. When she tells her story, he doesn't believe her, until she shows him a future device that allows her to [[BulletTime move fast enough to dodge bullets]]. Then she gets him to help her to find an alien who will summon the rest of its kind to Earth.

They find it in a scientific research facility, but when she realizes it doesn't look like the future invaders, she hesitates in killing it, which allows Mizogushi, who found out about the hidden UFO, to steal the alien and the ship. Miyamoto and Milly must then work together to recover the alien before the space war can be triggered.

----
!!Tropes in this Film:

%%* ActionGirl: Milly
* AlienInvasion: The Daggra have attacked and destroyed almost all of Earth in a conflict decades long.
* AntiHero: Miyamoto. [[PayEvilUntoEvil He's ruthless towards his enemies]] and initially he doesn't care much about anything other than his {{Revenge}}.
%%* AppliedPhlebotinum: Milly's bracelet.
* AxeCrazy: Mizoguchi, who isn't afraid to kill people, especially children and his own men.
* BadFuture: In the original timeline, the aliens have almost exterminated mankind.
%%* BadassBiker: Miyamoto
* BadassInANiceSuit: Mizoguchi, who is capable of performing evil deeds, all the while wearing a nice suit. Also Miyamoto's "disguise".
* BadassLongcoat: Miyamoto is wearing one when he's first introduced ([[OneManArmy while mowing down heavily-armed Triad mooks with just a pistol]]).
* BittersweetEnding: Mizoguchi is defeated, and the world is saved, [[spoiler:however, Milly is forced to go back to the future, preventing her and Miyamoto from living a good life together.]]
* BloodKnight: Mizoguchi drools at the possibility of a war.
* BulletCatch: [[spoiler: subverted Mizoguchi throws his hand up to catch the bullet, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and it goes right through his hand and]] [[InertiaIsACruelMistress into his head.]]]]
* BulletTime: Milly's bracelet allows her to dodge bullets.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: When Miyamoto finally confronts Mizoguchi about the latter kidnapping Miyamoto's childhood friend to harvest his organs, Mizoguchi at first apathetically retorts that he doesn't recall that day, but it sounds like something he would do.
* CardCarryingVillain: Mizoguchi. His sole purpose of existing in this film seems to be being as evil as possible every second he's on screen.
* ChekhovsGun: The [[spoiler: PocketProtector]], which saves [[spoiler:Miyamoto's]] life at the very end of the movie.
** [[spoiler: Milly herself]] also counts, since [[spoiler: her future self saves Miyamoto's life.]]
* ChildSoldiers: Milly grew up in a war zone.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Cool the bad guys just blew up! Lets sit here and watch the pretty fireball from a few feet away!
%%* CoolOldLady: Shi
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: When attempting to rescue the alien child. The war with the aliens is supposed to begin at dawn and it seems that they're already too late...]]
* DiedStandingUp: [[spoiler: Mizoguchi]], in a particularly absurd way.
* DisappearsIntoLight: [[spoiler: when Milly seems to fade out of existence.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler: One alien is killed so they decide to wipe out the entire human race.]]
* DistressBall: [[spoiler: Milly picks it up in the middle of rescuing the alien.]]
* DragonAscendant: Mizoguchi, who starts as a hitman for the Chinese Triad, [[TheStarscream but kills his leader and takes over.]]
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Mizoguchi gets real excited about the power he'll get out of all that alien tech.
* ExplosiveLeash: Milly plants a bomb on Miyamoto to work for her. [[spoiler: subverted, it's not a bomb, it's a magnetic medicinal patch that she made him THINK was a bomb through some sleight of hand.]]
* FacelessMooks: Mizoguchi has an army of goons in riot gear.
* ForcedFriendlyFire: On the boat, Miyamoto grabs a mook's arm and uses his weapon to shoot another mook.
* ForTheEvulz: Mizoguchi seems to do what he does just for the sake of having fun and being evil.
* GenkiGirl: Milly is really energetic, which serves as a nice contrast to the more stoic Miyamoto.
* GlassesPull: Miyamoto, ''Series/CSIMiami''-style.
%%* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking
* GratuitousEnglish: [[LargeHam "POWER!"]]
* GuileHero: [[spoiler: Milly manipulates Miyamoto into working for her by making him think she's attached a bomb to his neck.]]
* TheHandler: Shi, an old lady who provides Miyamoto with information and weapons.
* HitmanWithAHeart: Miyamoto, who cares for kids
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: [[spoiler: {{Anvilicious}}ly so-in the original timeline it was humans being greedy assholes that resulted in the death of an alien child that started the war. [[DisproportionateRetribution Still wiping out an entire species for that]] [[AliensAreBastards is kind of a dick move.]]]]
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: to further establish himself as a [[KickTheDog professional dog kicker]] Mizoguchi makes a point of groping the female scientist in plain view of everyone.
* ImplacableMan: Mizoguchi, who throughout the course of the movie, is able to survive multiple gunfights and explosions with barely a scratch on him. Ironically it's [[spoiler:a simple bullet to the head]] that kills him.
* InertiaIsACruelMistress: When [[spoiler: Mizoguchi attempts to perform a BulletCatch - while he's fast enough to catch the bullet it still goes right through his hand and into his head.]]
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Mizoguchi towards Miyamoto. "Who is that kid?"
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Miyamoto, while cocky, stubborn, and heavily focused on his goals of revenge, does seem to care for Milly as the movie goes on. Also Shi.
* LimpAndLivid: Mizoguchi after Miyamoto blew up his villain lair.
* LargeHam: Mizoguchi practically chews up the scenery in almost ever scene he's in. He's clearly having fun being a villain in control.
* MasochistsMeal: Mizoguchi shows he's a tough guy at his meeting with the [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triads]] by eating his lobster-shell and all.
* MoralityPet: Milly becomes this for Miyamoto.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Shi isn't typically a given name in Japan because one of the possible meanings is "death."
* NeverMessWithGranny: Shi, [[spoiler: or she'll leave a bomb on your car.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It was actually [[spoiler: killing the stranded alien]] that caused the war.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Mizoguchi shoots Milly in the shoulder as "a warning."
* TheOnlyOne: [[spoiler: Milly finds herself being the only hope for human kind when the soldiers who were actually given the mission to go back in time were blown to bits.]]
* OrganTheft: [[spoiler: Why Mizoguchi is rounding up street children.]]
* ParanoiaGambit: [[spoiler: Milly convinces Miyamoto that she's attached a bomb to his neck.]]
* PocketProtector: Milly carries one just in case a bullet were to hit her. [[spoiler:She later gives one to Miyamoto before she leaves, which ends up saving his life at the end.]]
* PortalPool: Milly jumps through one into the past.
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: Mizoguchi is visibly shocked to discover that his hand won't stop a [=.45ACP=] round. He contemplates this gross overestimation of his abilities for twenty seconds before the entry wound in his forehead has any noticeable effect.]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: as soon as Miyamoto decides he wants to quit being an assassin [[LaserGuidedKarma he's gunned down by a gangster he crippled earlier in the movie.]] Subverted, he's saved by Milly putting a PocketProtector in his coat.]]
* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler: Miyamoto has wanted to kill Mizoguchi ever since he was a child and Mizoguchi kidnapped and killed his best friend for his organs.]]
* RuleOfCool: Aliens, time travel, BulletTime, ninjas, GunFu, this movie has it all!
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Milly goes back in time to stop the war.
* SlouchOfVillainy: Mizoguchi, while listening to his boss' plans, growing increasingly bored of them.
* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler: This turns out to be what is going on, though even Milly didn't realize it]].
* StreetUrchin: Miyamoto grew up as one.
* StuffBlowingUp: Loads. From motorcycles to spaceships exploding, this movie has it all.
* SuperReflexes: Mizoguchi is fast enough to catch a bullet... [[spoiler: not that it does him much good.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: [[RunningGag "Al Dente!"]]
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: Mizoguchi is the leader of a gang of Yakuza, who are allies with a Chinese Triad gang.
* {{Troperiffic}}: The film is like ten different films smashed together and it comes out as an interesting and convoluted plot... with explosions.
* UnknownRival: Initially Miyamoto to Mizoguchi. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Miyamoto is in the middle of his spectacularly well-planned revenge killing his way through Mizoguchi's men when the plot happens.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: Mizoguchi- when Miyamoto escapes from him, he throws a tantrum and orders his men to blow everything up.
* WakeUpFighting: Miyamoto nearly shoots Milly with his PillowPistol when she wakes him.
* WarForFunAndProfit: After learning that killing the baby alien will kickstart a war between the aliens and humanity, Mizoguchi decides to still kill the baby because of this trope. He even says it almost word-for-word.
* WeaponSpecialization: Miyamoto is never without his custom 1911. Shi eventually supplies Milly with Walther P99, which was brand-new at the time of production. Being from the future, she immediately complains about being stuck with an "antique."
* WigDressAccent: Miyamoto and Milly's "disguise" is to dress nice and wear CoolShades.
* {{Yakuza}}: Mizoguchi is Japanese, but actually works for a [[TriadsAndTongs Chinese Triad]]. They do things such as kidnap children and use them [[spoiler:for organ trafficking]], which they have done for a few decades.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler: The movie makes you think that Miyamoto was killed after it was all over. He wasn't.]]
* YouTasteDelicious: Mizoguchi licks a female scientist... [[SexIsEvil to assert]] [[{{Squick}} his dominance.]]
----