Do you remember Y2K? It’s a strange thing to ask, but it was nearly 23 years ago and some of you might not have been born or able to get the heebies from the news. On the eve of New Year’s Eve, we were overwhelmed with a fear that computers were going to going wild because most of their programming had only a two-digit year. Pundits would go on about how power plants and banks would have their systems go wonky because they’d reset to zero and not go on to 2000. Quite a few people feared nuclear plants would explode and we’d end up in an Armageddon apocalypse when the ball hit. There were quite a few people who built makeshift bomb shelters fearing the worse. I went to Manhattan for a party at a club that had all you can drink as part of the package. If civilization was coming to an end, I’d want to be at Ground Zero. Turns out I was completely wrong about Ground Zero that night. It was really at a field outside Oklahoma City according to Iké Boys.
Shawn Gunderson (Quinn Lord) and Vikram Kapoor (Ronak Gandhi) aren’t caring about Y2K because they got two cooler things happening at the end of 1999. First is that they’ve located an extremely obscure anime film from decades earlier that is about what happens in 1999. The director had a vision of the future as a group of worshippers attempted to bring back spirits known as The Old Ones to take over the new millennial world. In the cartoon a trio of superheroes have to link up to save the world. The film was a serious bomb and didn’t even make it to America. But Shawn and Vik got a DVD copy snuck into the country. The disc shows up the same time as an exchange student from Japan that will be staying with Vik’s family. Miki Shimizu (Christina Higa) has come to the middle of America because she wants to experience the life of Indians. Except she didn’t quite get things lined up right since Kapoors are not Native Americans. Shawn and Vik are excited to share their rare film with Miki. She didn’t come to America to watch Japanese anime and finds herself zoning out. Before the movie is over, something wild happens and changes things for their simple winter holiday week in Oklahoma. Shawn tries to impress Miki by taking her to his karate class. The head of the dojo is Newt Grafstrom (Titanic‘s Billy Zane) and he’s wanting to impress Miki by showing off a karate move he invented that Shaw can’t stop. Miki meets Newt’s Japanese wife Reiko (Kamen Rider Zi-O‘s Yumiko Shaku) and finds herself a little happier in this strange place. On the other hand, both Shawn and Vik find themselves changing into characters from the obscure anime. Is there something major happening that will be worse than a computer glitch?
Iké Boys is a fun filled adventure that has fun as it plays with the conventions of Japanese Mecha-Kaiju movies and American teen films. This has a bit more depth and thrills than the usual attempts to turns a Japanese TV show into an American series. You can believe this can all take place in Oklahoma City. Director Eric McEver and his crew mix the live action with animated segments to give it the real feel that this adventure. The cast is top notch that seem like they’d be on the latest incarnation of Power Ranger except they are more than power rangers. Billy Zane gives a charming goofy performance that ranks up with his time in Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight. There’s so much strangeness packed into 88 minutes. It does tap into what people feared would happen when Y2K hit. In my case, the Y2K nightmare began when the nightclub stopped the free drinks at 1 a.m. and made me pay New York City prices for Rum and Coke. Iké Boys is the perfect film for people who want a bit more out of Power Rangers.
Iké Boys debuts Digital and On Demand on all major platforms October 11, 2022 from Shout! Studios.
