Better known for their Toxic Avenger series, as well as any number of utterly ridiculous horror pictures, Sgt Kabukiman NYPD was a rare foray into creating another hero for Lloyd Kaufman's infamous Troma studio. Made in 1990, when Japanese investors got a bit carried away with an offhand joke from Kaufman, the movie apparently didn't have a release in the USA until the mid 90s due to lack of interest.
The film follows NYC Cop Harry Griswald (Rick Giansi) who is tasked with investigating a Japanese national visiting the US. The only clue at the scene is two tickets for touring Kabuki show, which Harry decides to attend.
Things take a turn for the worse when the show comes under attack from a group of rampaging gunmen, killing all the show's performers. While trying to save the day, Harry winds up being passed the ancient powers of Kabukiman.
It turns out that the murdered Japanese tourist was, in fact, in training to become Kabukiman all of his life, and was going to fulfil this destiny by meeting up with the show. Under the guidance of Lotus (Susan Byun) Harry must now learn to master his powers to defeat 'the evil one' who currently poses as megalomaniac businessman Reginald Stuart (Bill Weeden) as the date of an ancient prophecy comes close.
Let's get one thing out of the way straight off, this is a Troma movie, so not only was it made on a minuscule budget, but it's also really stupid. With this said, moreso than any other Troma movie I've seen, it reigns in a lot of their more obscene excesses, and with some smart editing of a few gorier scenes, the nudity and the removal of a completely unnecessary attempted rape scene and this is easily Troma's most accessible movie. The humour is more good natured and the film doesn't have the same sometimes tiresome obsession with shock as a lot of Kaufman's movies.
The slapstick humour won't be to everyone's tastes, to be honest it isn't always mine, but I appreciate the largely lighthearted nature of the movie, which I'll be honest I'd half expected to be a cringey collection of Japanese stereotypes. Indeed Lotus is your standard wise Asian master, but making her an attractive young woman was actually probably more creative in 1990 than it seems now. Indeed even Kabukiman himself, while obviously ludicrous, and features powers based on sushi, bulletproof fans and killer parasols and chopsticks is silly but in a way that comes off as more as a warped term of endearment than a nasty stereotype. Truth be told, the film pays more reference to Batman, both the 60s show and the blockbuster movie that preceded this by a year.
This is a Troma movie, so acting wasn't something I expected a great deal from, but by large it's one of their more passable collections of actors. Giansi was never destined for stardom, but he's a likeable enough leading man for this calibre of movie, and plays the laughs well. Byun's straight faced counterpart is about the same acceptable standard. I will admit I loved Bill Weeden, who comes across as a fusion of a mad scientist and Richard Nixon, and gets to turn into a fun rubber monster at the end. His main sidekick Rembrant (Thomas Crnkovich), who looks like Megadeth frontman Dave Mustains is about the only one of the leading cast who's wide-eyed, maniacal performance feels like it belongs in a Troma film.
The effects are as low budget as they come, but the film works them nicely and never taking itself seriously means you can't really either. By the time we get to the aforementioned rubber monster it would almost be disappointing if he emerged from his larval stage as an incredible, terrifying beast.
The soundtrack deserves mention purely for the ridiculous 80s hair metal theme tune.
That theme tune almost perfectly sums the film up to be honest. The material is complete rubbish, but at the same time it knows it's rubbish, and plays that card just right, as opposed to over-doing it. It's a fun movie, and as I say made in a much more lighthearted spirit than most Troma movies, which makes it a lot more likeable. I wouldn't rush to watch it again, but I certainly didn't regret the viewing I gave it.
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