Ika resuraa (2004)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Minoru Kawasaki

Writers:

Minoru Kawasaki (writer)
Masakazu Migita (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Tentacle | Wrestler Hero | Love | Professional Wrestler | Wrestler

Cast

Kana Ishida
Osamu Nishimura
Miho Shiraishi	...	Sister
Yoshihiro Takayama	...	Himself

Also Known As:

The Calamari Wrestler (Canada: English title) (International: English title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Imagica Corp.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Kyokuskin kenka karate burai ken (1977)

"Baseketball" meets "Tampopo" and asks "Shall We Dance?"

I never thought that a film set in the professional wrestling arena could be so entertaining on so many comic levels. From slapstick to irony, the artful deadpan acting and the multi-faceted script filled my livingroom with laughter.

Every time the reliance on the costumes began to irritate my sensibilities the intentional ambiguities and incongruities of the characterizations fractured my funny-bone.

Love is a many-tentacled thing for the lovely girlfriend who can't make up her mind and the comedy comes at the viewer from all directions: Love and loyalty, character and competition,fathers and sons, winners and losers, biology, gastronomy and sport-tainment are all satirized.

I think that this film should appeal to fans of wrestling, "The Iron Chef", "Finding Nemo", "Rocky", sci-fi and anyone who appreciates that humor knows no international boundaries.

The film is suitable for all audiences. Anyone who gets a fraction of the gags will be entertained. It would be a great Saturday night comedy for the whole family. An English language dub would eliminate the only barrier to the film's mass-appeal.