Film

Even if you know next to nothing about henshin—the Japanese superhero comics and TV series that included such ’70s heroes as Lionman, Rainbowman, Lightning Man, Condorman and Robot Detective—you’ll recognize the genre conventions that the mildly amusing Zebraman sends up. Nerdy third-grade teacher Ichikawa (Aikawa) knows those conventions, too. He fetishizes Zebraman, the hero of a short-lived show from decades ago, so deeply that he’s sewn a homemade costume that he wears for the occasional nocturnal walk.

Naturally, genuine aliens turn out to be invading his town, and Ichikawa must live up to the all-too-real superpowers he starts manifesting. He’s helped along by a handicapped student who shares his teacher’s love of Zebraman, and hindered by inept government agents sent to deal with the alien invasion.

The prolific Miike has made his reputation on gore and shock in films like Audition and Ichi the Killer, but here he tries to rein in the blood in favor of green slime (mostly CGI), with the odd face-melt thrown in (just to keep in practice, one suspects). But Miike’s slack pacing turns what might have been a genuinely funny parody at 90 minutes into something a bit more bloated at 115. Of course, that’s par for the course with superhero movies, so maybe that’s part of the joke.