Between this film and Yakuza Apocalypse, I'm having a hard time choosing which one of the most absurd of the two latest movies from the famous Japanese director, Takashi Miike. But I can confirm that Yakuza Apocalypse is much more entertaining than Terraformars. Yakuza Apocalypse is so bold that it feels surreal, while the film is very inert, until its most over-the-top absurdity can not be laughed at.
The movie tells the story of a man who fights a cockroach mutant on Mars. This cockroach mutant is slightly larger than humans with muscles that will make young Arnold Schwarzenegger proud. All seem to be of male sex, which provokes the question of how they reproduce (plis, do not imagine). Do not underestimate the face with their big silly eyes, because this mutant is very sadistic. Their basic wish I assume is to crush humans in the most brutal way. One of the most sensational scenes is when thousands of these cockroaches invade the formation of a gigantic tsunami. If this sounds entertaining, you probably will not believe how much instinct your "wince" is throbbing greatly. And do not let me start discussing the logic here.
Terraformars are sourced from popular manga by Yu Sasuga and Kenichi Tachibana. The film is basically lifted from the first volume manga and is a prequel of his anime which in fact is an adaptation of the second book and so on. If you've ever watched the anime, you already know that plot placement is cluttered, where subplots, character expositions, and flashbacks appear everywhere. I do not understand why Miike and scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima have to maintain these characteristics.
The story takes time in 2599 as the overpopulation crisis gets worse. A few decades ago, scientists have devised plans to colonize Mars by sending special algae and cockroaches to alter its atmosphere to fit in; a process called "Terraforming". Now, the millionaire who is also an eccentric scientist, Dr. Honda (Shun Oguri) intends to send a new expedition team to Mars after the previous team failed because of an unknown cause. He collected 14 people with the code-name BUGS-2 mission that most had no space experience.
They should be suspicious, because all the crew recruited are criminals. The closest to the main character is Sokichi (Hideaki Ito) who left with his sister, Nanao (Emi Takei). There are also former terrorists, yakuza, serial killers to pimps. Previously, Miike had handled the film with a big ensemble in 13 Assassins that both contain characters with a unique personality. If in the film we feel familiar with the character, the character in Terraformars was empty. They are just destined to die, whether the audience cares or not. There is no chemistry with each other, even with the many talents involved, including Rinko Kikuchi, Rila Fukushima and Takayuki Yamada (which is Miike's regular).
The appearance of these cockroach mutants may surprise them, but the company. Honda has provided them with special operations and chemical injections that provide super power to transform themselves into insect mutants. Imagine the extreme version of the Power Rangers (or Kamen Rider, if you are familiar with tokusastsu) with their own unique style, which automatically gives the movie the chance to feature special effects crazy. Each new moment arises, the narrator practically explains through a clip that looks more like a trivia Biology lesson.
Terraformars is an ambitious film. Tata production is taken seriously. The appearance of mutant cockroaches is so convincing and dynamic, I can not really tell which part of the puppetry / practical effects and which ones are made with CGI. The spacecraft looks like a fancy version of the tokusatsu serial property. Sekosong any character, its design (especially when they change) has a striking uniqueness.
The film is almost entirely an extended version action sequence. Two-thirds of the film contains a brutal action scene, which unfortunately has no tension and no context. They beat each other just like that. I feel this is repetitive and not really catching what or how something happened. A cockroach mutant is simply a property to drive action scenes; they did not give any threatening nuance.
I do not get any tension or pleasure in watching Terraformars. This movie does not seem to know it must be a fun action-thriller or a comedy-comedy act. The plot has no momentum, while the stupid jokes are scattered in the wrong moment. I do not understand what happened to Miike who escorted Ichi the Killer and 13 Assassins as she was serious and Crows Zero and Yakuza Apocalypse as she played around. The film looks like an amateur director's make. Or it could be that he did not try at all here.