Release Date: 18 March 1991
Run Time: 88 minutes
Origin: USA / Japan
Mimi's Rating: 3 1/2 Zoanoids out of 5
"You can't kill me. I've been rejected by death."
Like many beloved sci-fi films, The Guyver starts with a nice narrated text crawl. This is for the best since we get our first Zoanoid fight scene within the movie's first five minutes.
The story starts with Dr. Tetsu Segawa, who has fled Chronos corporation with what we find out is the stolen Guyver unit. He hides the Guyver unit in a trash pile and places a toaster into its carrying case. Then Dr. Segawa takes a hilarious tumble down a culvert when thugs sent by Chronos catch up with him. The leader of these miscreants is Lisker (Michael Berryman), and both he and Dr. Segawa transform into their Zoanoid forms and fight. This is when the film's tonal problems become apparent. The thugs act goofy like cartoon bad guys, but the violence borders on the extreme. We watch Zoanoid-Segawa get his head crushed by Zoanoid-Lisker while the other gang members quip and fist-pump the air. This tonal dissonance only gets worse as the movie progresses. As someone who grew up on TMNT and Power Rangers, I did enjoy this weird choice in tone. It's like one of those shows but made for adults while maintaining the silliness you would expect. And bonus, the Zoanoids look awesome. You can tell this movie was created by people passionate about practical effects and creature design. Each Zoanoid design is distinctive and the transformations are excellent and at times will make you think of body horror classics like The Thing.
After witnessing this man's brutal murder, we cut to a dojo where we are introduced to our main character Sean Barker (Jack Armstrong), his love interest Mizuki Segawa (Vivian Wu), and CIA Agent Max Reed (Mark Hamill). While Sean is being humiliated by his opponent, Agent Reed takes Mizuki aside to inform her of the murder of her father, Dr. Segawa. We learn that Reed was investigating the Chronos Corporation and was supposed to meet with Dr. Segawa but he was murdered before they could. Reed and Mizuki leave the dojo and Sean follows them.
We then see Lisker returning the decoy briefcase to Chronos president, Fulton Balcus (David Gale, who you might recognize from Re-Animator). Balcus uncovers the switcheroo, and he is pissed. Gale is perfectly cast here as the creepy and sinister Big Bad. Similar to his role in Re-Animator he will make you uncomfortable in every scene he's in. Balcus uses his Zoanoid powers to punish Lisker for his failure. Lisker is sent back out to hunt down the Guyver unit.
Meanwhile, Sean has followed Reed and Mizuki to the scene of her father's murder. Reed's superior implies that Chronos has friends in the government, and so Reed is forced to work outside CIA jurisdiction from now on. Sean Conveniently happens upon the Guyver unit hidden in a pile of trash and takes it with him as he continues to follow Reed and Mizuki (Sean's kind of a creep here).
"Still chasing Ninja Turtles, Huh?"
At Mizuki's house, Reed tells her about the Guyver unit, calling it the most dangerous weapon since the atomic bomb. Sean knocks on the door smiling like an absolute fool and becomes instantly jealous when he sees Reed in her house. So, Sean has been following them around all night (even to a crime scene), and he thinks they're getting romantic? Is he stupid? Anyway, he drives off on his stupid moped to go pout.
Unfortunately for Sean, the stupid moped breaks down in an alley and Sean is accosted by a wacky gang of ne'er-do-wells. This scene is so comical, the gang acts like bullies from an episode of Power Rangers. They proceed to put some dirt in Sean's eye until he lands face down on the Guyver unit, activating it.
"He's sick or something."
Now as The Guyver, Sean defeats these hooligans with ease. As you would expect from the talent behind the film, the fight scenes are well-choreographed even if they are a little silly. The Guyver suit looks great and I liked its insect-like appearance and how it looks like something alive. My favourite part was how Sean doesn't realize he's turned into a monster until he sees his reflection. Maybe he is stupid. It was also funny how the hooligans still wanted to fight Sean, despite him becoming an abomination. After the fight, the Guyver unit retracts into the back of Sean's neck and Sean goes home to bed.
We get some scenes of Lisker and company, and let's just say they make Bebop and Rocksteady look like serious villains.
The next night, Sean goes to Mizuki's place only to discover that she has been captured by Lisker's gang. He teams up with Reed and the two manage to rescue Mizuki only to be then chased by Lisker's crew who are now in their Zoanoid forms. They all end up in an abandoned warehouse and Sean transforms once again into the Guyver and has an all-out brawl with the Zoanoids. The Zoanoids all look great; there's one with a little elephant trunk and long nipples, one looks like an Owlkin with breasts, another is like a more racist Jar Jar Binks, and Lisker's is a fearsome predator design. During the fight, Sean kills Weber, the female gang member who was romantically involved with Lisker and believes that he also killed Mizuki with the same blow. A distraught Sean has the Guyver unit ripped from his head, killing him.
Now Mizuki is trapped with that total creep, Balcus at Chronos HQ. He brings her to his evil scientist lab and introduces her to another mad scientist, Dr. East (Jeffrey Combs in a reference to his Re-Animator character Dr. West. It's a Re-Animator reunion!). After seeing Reed being experimented on, Mizuki manages to grab the Guyver unit which appears to be growing. How will Mizuki manage to escape the nefarious clutches of Balcus and Chronos? Find out in: The Guyver!
The Guyver is one of those special movies I wish I had seen as a child. I'm sure young TMNT and Power Rangers-obsessed me would have loved it. But, I was also one of those kids already watching inappropriate horror media. Just wait until you see what happens to poor Mark Hamill in this movie. It's like Cronenberg guest-directed that scene. This brings me to my previous point about the tonal whiplash this movie will give you. The people who want to see fun and silly guy-in-suit action might not enjoy the scenes of wild body horror, and vice-versa. But if that sounds up your alley then please, check this out.
My main complaint would be that our protagonist Sean has the personality of a loaf of Wonderbread. The rest of the cast is hamming up and providing loads of comedic line deliveries. And an appearance from Jeffrey Combs is always delightful.
I could also go on and on about the effects work done for the film. Seriously, there are over 50 creature effects in The Guyver. The plot and character development take a major backseat to the effects work so keep that in mind. But, if you're into creature effects and body horror then again, check this out.
Bonus: Based on the manga "Bio-Booster Armor Guyver".
Why you should watch:
Amazing effects work and creature design.
Fun fight choreography reminiscent of childhood favourites.
Jeffrey Combs.
Why you shouldn't watch:
The silliness can be jarring at times.
Might be too frightening for younger viewers.
The plot is thinner than industrial toilet paper.