A shy fanboy buys a weird alien figurine that starts making all his wishes come true, including a supermodel date, in The iDol. But everything comes at a price, and the doll’s original owner is coming from outer space to look for it. The iDol looks like another zany Japanese comedy like Squid Wrestler, but it has a surprising source.
Co-writer/director Ken England is an American who’s lived in Japan for years. He enlisted the aid of Japanese TV and movie veterans, and the result has an old-school sci-fi look. I like the non-CGI space monster the Oavian. The iDol is a satire of otaku (fan) culture, but looks as though it could have a creepy underside, what with the doll’s eye-blasts and the hooded figures. It also looks similar to CJ7, the new Stephen Chow movie about an ordinary person who finds an alien object with magic powers. The iDol made its North American debut at Vancouver Comicon in October, but no word on when it’ll show in the U.S. [SciFiJapan]
