After the success of The Toxic Avenger Part 2, the Troma Team were asked to produce a film that could be marketed to families in Japan by Namco(the video game company who made Pac Man). What resulted was Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., the first accidental oriental super hero!
Harry Griswold(Rick Gianasi) is a New York city cop who's finds himself the heir to supermortal powers from a dying Kabuki actor after a shootout in a Kabuki theater. Not knowing what these powers are leads Griswold into some bizarre scenarios. Through the teaching of Lotus(Susan Byun), the daughter of the Kabuki actor, Griswold becomes the Kabukiman, an ancient hero who was prophesied to defeat The Evil One, who the New York millionaire Reginald Stuart(Bill Weeden) is planning on summoning. Now, it's up to Kabukiman to save the world from The Evil One, by using his Japanese themed superpowers.
Yes, the plot is ridiculous, but remember, this is Troma: it's supposed to be! The style of the film is something that most Troma fans won't be fond of, considering it was meant to be seen by families. However, Lloyd was sure to add the Troma hallmarks of sex and gore, which the Japanese producers, hoping for a franchise friendly family film(Do you like the alliteration?), were not fond of. This results in an odd mish-mash of bizarre humor, which gives Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. it's charm. Wacky jokes, some of which don't even make much sense, are all over the film. But it's still fun to watch and the closest thing to a family film you'll get from the in-house Troma productions.
When I first saw Kabukiman, I'll admit, I wasn't fond of it. However, after seeing it a few times, it really began to grow on me and I began to appreciate it's style, though different from the likes of The Toxic Avenger. It has a similar style to the sequels, however, though doesn't enter the phase of stupidity that Toxie 2 and 3 presented.
It's really a shame Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. never got a very wide release in US when it was first made in 1989. Combining the style of Troma's in-house productions with a more mainstream feel resulted in something that could have brought Troma to a much wider audience. Despite being Troma's attempt to make it with family audiences, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. still delivers the same Troma fun and is highly recommended.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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