Director – Norman England (New Neighbor, Sushi Typhoon: Tokyo Invasion)
Starring – Takako Fuji (The Grudge, The Grudge 2), Tomoo Haraguchi, and Erina Hayase (Arch Angels, Red Letters)
Release Date – 2006
Rating – 2.5/5
SRS Cinema has brought some seriously obscure indie releases to us over the years. A good bit of these releases were extremely entertaining and movies that I often revisit when the mood strikes me. Sometime ago SRS did a limited run of the 2006 sci-fi flick The iDol on blu. I was unable to snag a copy then and kicked myself over it.
However, I recently discovered that the film got a wide release on DVD from SRS and MVD. I reached out to MVD and they were kind enough to send this one over. It wasn’t a bad watch but SRS has some seriously more entertaining films in their catalogue.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a young man who is reluctantly holding on to his youth by collecting toys when he finds a strange alien figure as his local hobby store. He grabs it and soon finds his wishes coming to life. However, everything comes crashing down when little by little his perfect life is taken from him. **Spoiler Alert**
The iDol was not what I was expecting at all. When SRS originally announced this release I saw a trailer for the film which said it was a never before released kaiju film. However, if this was a true kaiju then it was a scene I missed when I kept falling asleep. The movie wasn’t bad but it was extremely lackluster and difficult to follow.
The acting in this one is actually pretty good. The cast is really energetic and does a fantastic job at creating fun and unique characters. I really enjoyed the cast and the characters they portrayed. The story for this one is where the film loses me. The movie has a solid sci-fi basis that could have went so many different ways that wold have worked but the romantic fantasy angle did not. I found myself more focused on what the movie could have been over what we were actually given. The movie itself isn’t bad but it’s very boring.
Finally, the film has some surprisingly well done visual effects that hold up very well 15 years later. I was really impressed by that. We also get some fun practical effects and a great creature suit that was underutilized. Overall, The iDol was an alright watch but it is not the film you are expecting. It feels like a romantic fantasy film with a little sci-fi flair. It’s dull but enjoyable at times.
