10 Greatest Meta Sci-Fi Movies Of All Time
4. Zebraman
Insanely prolific director, Takashi Miike's 2004 film Zebraman is an incredibly fun sendup of the Tokusatsu genre. It's part parody, part fanboy tribute, and part serious take on heavily stylised Japanese TV superhero shows, such as Kamen Rider or Super Sentai.
In the movie, Zebraman was one such series which the protagonist, now a middle aged man, was a huge fan of as a child. Failing in his career and at life, Shinichi dresses up as Zebraman and goes out at night as a form of escapism. He meets a child who is also a fan of the old Zebraman show and through him regains his enthusiasm for his career as a teacher.
That alone is enough for a decent movie but this is a Takashi Miike film, which means it's going to get balls to the wall crazy. The aliens from the old TV show start appearing in real life and Shinichi has to fight them as Zebraman. From there the movie only gets more insane as his life begins to mirror the seven episodes of the cancelled 70's TV series.
It's a wild ride where fiction and reality collide to propel an average man into being a superhero.