The Returner is a 2002 Japanese science fiction/action film.
It involves a mercenary named Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who finds himself helping a girl called Milly who 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 Black Market. Luckily, she is saved from the bullet by 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 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:
- Alien Invasion: The Daggra have attacked and destroyed almost all of Earth in a conflict decades long.
- Anti-Hero: Miyamoto. He's ruthless towards his enemies and initially he doesn't care much about anything other than his Revenge.
- Axe-Crazy: Mizoguchi, who isn't afraid to kill people, especially children and his own men.
- Bad Future: In the original timeline, the aliens have almost exterminated mankind.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Mizoguchi, who is capable of performing evil deeds, all the while wearing a nice suit. Also Miyamoto's "disguise".
- Badass Longcoat: Miyamoto is wearing one when he's first introduced (while mowing down heavily-armed Triad mooks with just a pistol).
- Bittersweet Ending: Mizoguchi is defeated, and the world is saved, however, Milly is forced to go back to the future, preventing her and Miyamoto from living a good life together.
- Blood Knight: Mizoguchi drools at the possibility of a war.
- Bullet Catch: subverted Mizoguchi throws his hand up to catch the bullet, and it goes right through his hand and into his head.
- Bullet Time: Milly's bracelet allows her to dodge bullets.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: 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.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Mizoguchi. His sole purpose of existing in this film seems to be being as evil as possible every second he's on screen.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Pocket Protector, which saves Miyamoto's life at the very end of the movie.
- Milly herself also counts, since her future self saves Miyamoto's life.
- Child Soldiers: Milly grew up in a war zone.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Cool the bad guys just blew up! Lets sit here and watch the pretty fireball from a few feet away!
- Despair Event Horizon: 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...
- Died Standing Up: Mizoguchi, in a particularly absurd way.
- Disappears into Light: when Milly seems to fade out of existence.
- Disproportionate Retribution: One alien is killed so they decide to wipe out the entire human race.
- Distress Ball: Milly picks it up in the middle of rescuing the alien.
- Dragon Ascendant: Mizoguchi, who starts as a hitman for the Chinese Triad, but kills his leader and takes over.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: Mizoguchi gets real excited about the power he'll get out of all that alien tech.
- Explosive Leash: Milly plants a bomb on Miyamoto to work for her. 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.
- Faceless Mooks: Mizoguchi has an army of goons in riot gear.
- Forced Friendly Fire: On the boat, Miyamoto grabs a mook's arm and uses his weapon to shoot another mook.
- For the Evulz: Mizoguchi seems to do what he does just for the sake of having fun and being evil.
- Genki Girl: Milly is really energetic, which serves as a nice contrast to the more stoic Miyamoto.
- Glasses Pull: Miyamoto, CSI: Miami-style.
- Gratuitous English: "POWER!"
- Guile Hero: Milly manipulates Miyamoto into working for her by making him think she's attached a bomb to his neck.
- The Handler: Shi, an old lady who provides Miyamoto with information and weapons.
- Hitman with a Heart: Miyamoto, who cares for kids
- Humans Are the Real Monsters:
Anviliciously so-in the original timeline it was humans being greedy assholes that resulted in the death of an alien child that started the war. Still wiping out an entire species for that is kind of a dick move. - I Have You Now, My Pretty: to further establish himself as a professional dog kicker Mizoguchi makes a point of groping the female scientist in plain view of everyone.
- Implacable Man: 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 a simple bullet to the head that kills him.
- Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress: When Mizoguchi attempts to perform a Bullet Catch - while he's fast enough to catch the bullet it still goes right through his hand and into his head.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Mizoguchi towards Miyamoto. "Who is that kid?"
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: 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.
- Limp and Livid: Mizoguchi after Miyamoto blew up his villain lair.
- Large Ham: Mizoguchi practically chews up the scenery in almost ever scene he's in. He's clearly having fun being a villain in control.
- Masochist's Meal: Mizoguchi shows he's a tough guy at his meeting with the Triads by eating his lobster-shell and all.
- Morality Pet: Milly becomes this for Miyamoto.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Shi isn't typically a given name in Japan because one of the possible meanings is "death."
- Never Mess with Granny: Shi, or she'll leave a bomb on your car.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It was actually killing the stranded alien that caused the war.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Mizoguchi shoots Milly in the shoulder as "a warning."
- The Only One: 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.
- Organ Theft: Why Mizoguchi is rounding up street children.
- Paranoia Gambit: Milly convinces Miyamoto that she's attached a bomb to his neck.
- Pocket Protector: Milly carries one just in case a bullet were to hit her. She later gives one to Miyamoto before she leaves, which ends up saving his life at the end.
- Portal Pool: Milly jumps through one into the past.
- Rasputinian Death: 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.
- Redemption Equals Death: as soon as Miyamoto decides he wants to quit being an assassin he's gunned down by a gangster he crippled earlier in the movie. Subverted, he's saved by Milly putting a Pocket Protector in his coat.
- Revenge: Miyamoto has wanted to kill Mizoguchi ever since he was a child and Mizoguchi kidnapped and killed his best friend for his organs.
- Rule of Cool: Aliens, time travel, Bullet Time, ninjas, Gun Fu, this movie has it all!
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Milly goes back in time to stop the war.
- Slouch of Villainy: Mizoguchi, while listening to his boss' plans, growing increasingly bored of them.
- Stable Time Loop: This turns out to be what is going on, though even Milly didn't realize it.
- Street Urchin: Miyamoto grew up as one.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Loads. From motorcycles to spaceships exploding, this movie has it all.
- Super-Reflexes: Mizoguchi is fast enough to catch a bullet... not that it does him much good.
- Trademark Favorite Food: "Al Dente!"
- The Triads and the Tongs: 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.
- Unknown Rival: Initially Miyamoto to Mizoguchi. Miyamoto is in the middle of his spectacularly well-planned revenge killing his way through Mizoguchi's men when the plot happens.
- Villainous Breakdown: Mizoguchi- when Miyamoto escapes from him, he throws a tantrum and orders his men to blow everything up.
- Wake Up Fighting: Miyamoto nearly shoots Milly with his Pillow Pistol when she wakes him.
- War for Fun and Profit: 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.
- Weapon Specialization: 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."
- Wig, Dress, Accent: Miyamoto and Milly's "disguise" is to dress nice and wear Cool Shades.
- Yakuza: Mizoguchi is Japanese, but actually works for a Chinese Triad. They do things such as kidnap children and use them for organ trafficking, which they have done for a few decades.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: The movie makes you think that Miyamoto was killed after it was all over. He wasn't.
- You Taste Delicious: Mizoguchi licks a female scientist... to assert his dominance.
