This movie is about the actor that plays Spacehero Fly (Bolin Chen) and his best friend Monster (Qiu Yan Xiang). For a while their Power Rangers style TV show is a hit, but after ten years their ratings are terrible. The CEO of their network steps down and hands over the company to his daughter (Guo Xue Fu). She decides to call in a Japanese expert to revamp the show, leaving Fly and Monster replaced by the new, hip "Face" (Owodog).
This movie is pretty fucking brilliant if a little disjointed in places. There is a villain (some guy who was forced to play the bad guy when he was a kid and just got the shit beat out of him by the other children wearing Fly masks) but he only shows up like three times. When he does show up, it's usually entertaining because he does stuff like robbing kindergartens on tuition days while the kids are stoked that the villains from their favorite show are playing with them. Another time highlights how much this movie satirizes Taiwan--they rob an English cram school during a performance. Funny because he asks the teacher how much for an English lesson and she says 25,000 dollars, so he says, "Fuck you," and a little boy repeats, "Fuck you." It's supposed to be funny because he's giving a free English lesson, but really it's just hilarious to watch little kids swear. Small "heh" moments like these accumulate through the whole film, but aaanyways, now, proportionally, this post has more of the villain than the actual movie. Let's get back on track.
This movie has so many great things about it: Funny cameos, references, and completely random shit (like an Orgazmo poster in the background--awesome). They got the Power Rangers parody down pretty damn well. They even have the spandex-clad foot soldiers that sit around in their own group and don't really talk but make sounds exactly like the putties from Power Rangers. You know, this sound:
Damn those girls are hot. And as a kid I never really appreciated the writing. An environmental message AND multiple puns for taking out the trash? Brilliant. Oh yeah the Machi Action--so anyway for random shit it struck me as hilarious when the Japanese guy came in and asked who the hell these guys were and they just made their putty noises and one lifted up his arm and for some reason they pixelized his arm pit hair. Haha what the fuck?
Face is also a brilliant rival for Fly because where fly was the old-school, clean-cut hero with a mullet, Face is the new, hip, effeminate, eyeliner-wearing, singing and dancing Asian superstar type. And his name is Face. After Fly's last episode where he is brought to his knees by a spray of toxic lotion by Monster and then dissolves into space protein (I can't make this shit up), Fly and Monster try to make ends meet by doing the home shopping network selling Tiger Penis (another awesome Taiwanese reference). Meanwhile, Face is boosting the image of the new Spacehero by doing music videos. I can't say enough about how perfect this character is, but if I keep going we get into the realm of shit which is shit that you have no idea about.
Alright, but my favorite part BY FAR was when Fly went around trying to get acting gigs and failing because his acting style consists of only ultra-dramatic movements. At one point he shows his previous commercial work from an ancient VHS, and they are mildly funny with his superhero movements and mullet, but I cracked up for like five minutes straight when he did a parody of my favorite Taiwanese commercial in history. Get ready, because I found that shit on the Youtubes:
Other than the funny parts, this movie actually has a really serious message to it, which is nice. It turns out Fly and his little brother worshiped the Spacehero that came before, and his little brother wasted away and died while Fly was promising to be a hero for him. It's also revealed that the CEO of the network has kept the show on the air for so long because he believes that some shows are important because of their message, no matter the ratings. I have mixed feelings about how they handled all this, but it left me with a generally warm feeling, so why not.
Ratings:
Best Scooter Scene Ever (Of Which Taiwanese Movies Have a Hell of a Lot): 5 out of 5. So Fly is told he is the worst actor ever by a porn director and his love interest rides back with him to comfort him. From the back of his scooter she starts to sing the Spacehero Fly theme song and he breaks down into the most hilarious crying face ever and joins in. Both touching, a huge reference, and fucking funny as hell (Yes I used "both" for three things. You got a better word!?).
Sound Effects Ruining Things: 3 out of 5. Not everything in the movie was funny, and what may have been funny originally was often ruined by sound effects. I don't know why Taiwanese TV and sometimes movies feel the need to add like "Boioioioing!" randomly while I'm watching shit. Yeah, Indian movies do it too, now that I think of it. Like the porn director with his hand stuffed casually down his pants is mildly funny until there is a big uncorking sound effect while he pulls it out to shake hands.
Wandering Storyline: 3.5 out of 5. I enjoyed most of the things that were jammed into this movie, but it was pretty lengthy and I felt like I had come out of a blackout sometimes when I was suddenly like, "Who the fuck is this actress? Oh yeah, he's in love with the makeup artist from half an hour ago."
Overall: Also 3.5 out of 5. Nah...4. 4 out of 5, because I just remembered it was pretty funny when he did his home shopping network pitches and then commanded, "CALL!" while wearing a Power Rangers suit.
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