Super Japan Pro Wrestling superstar Koji Taguchi wins the championship title and finally takes the mantle as Japan's #1 wrestling superstar. Just as he celebrates his title victory, the belt is snatched from his hands. Everyone in the arena and watching at home are stunned to see a six-foot squid with human legs and wrestling boots. Taguchi and the tentacled takedown artist tussle, and after escaping from Taguchi's dreaded finishing submission hold (Invertebrates can easily escape joint locks), the wrestling squid pins him with a Northern Lights Suplex. Now while this was not an officially sanctioned match, Taguchi and Super Japan Pro Wrestling have lost face because their champion was visually pinned by something that isn't even human. While the Japanese wrestling media has a field day with the story, Super Japan’s promoters, already deeply concerned because the wrestling business in Japan is in a slump, want to book a match between Taguchi and the mysterious media-dubbed Calamari Wrestler, but they insist that the cephalopod centurion of the squared circle lose to their champion Taguchi because there's no way the Japanese audience will accept an inhuman creature as their fighting champion. When the Calamari Wrestler refuses to lay down for Taguchi, instead insisting on a legitimate contest between the two to determine the industry’s top grappler, the powers that be have him banned from wrestling altogether. In doing so, they manage to turn Calamari into an underdog the people rally behind, which is exactly what they thought would happen to Taguchi instead.

Further complicating matters, the finishing move he used to defeat Taguchi was the signature move of a supposedly deceased wrestler named Kan-ichi Iwata, who only years earlier seemed destined to become the top wrestler in Japan until being diagnosed with an unspecified terminal illness. Speculation as to whether or not Iwata and the Calamari Wrestler are one in the same runs rampant and no one is more determined to uncover the truth than the lovely Miyako, the love of Iwata's life and now girlfriend of the disgraced Taguchi. Taguchi, who has always resented being in the shadow of Iwata - both broke into the wrestling business together - whether it came to wrestling or romance further descends into jealousy and obsession, becoming a first class jerk that sends the lovelorn Miyako into the arms... er, tentacles of Calamari. Of course it turns out that the squid is Iwata, who transformed into the cephalopod that lives to wrestle thanks to some Buddhist monks from a Pakistani temple and their seafood purification process of the soul. Don't ask me to explain it. Like many other aspects to this film you just have to see it for yourself.

Romance once again blooms between the one-time loves leading to some truly hilarious imagery, but problems soon arise due to one of the side effects of the human to squid process that keeps him alive, albeit as a squid, as long as he's able to overcome his own human desires. Unbeknownst to Iwata/Calamari Wrestler, his second has betrayed him and his secrets to Taguchi; so when the big match finally happens, Taguchi makes his way to the ring not as himself, but in the form of the Octopus Wrestler, as so dubbed by the dumbfounded ring announcers. What follows is a ridiculous championship wrestling match between a squid and an octopus. I'm sure you can guess who wins.

What makes THE CALAMARI WRESTLER so shockingly good is that it doesn't just settle for going with Kaiju Big Battel style zaniness. The movie actually dares to have a layered story containing both satire and subtext. If ever there was a case of a movie being far better than it has any right to be, this is it. Minoru Kawasaki, the film's writer director once described himself as the "Ed Wood of Japan". Ed Wood never wrote or directed a movie this well structured. On the surface you have an absurdist comedy about a Muppet-looking squid man determined to become a championship wrestler in a tale that parodies both the wrestling industry and the clichés of similarly styled underdog overcoming the odds sports films. It would have been so easy to have just made a film based solely around the various scenarios that the comically bizarre squid costume could be put into and if this movie had been produced by Hollywood you can guarantee that's exactly what would have been done. Don't get me wrong; there's no shortage of laughs generated by seeing the Calamari Wrestler casually shopping in an open air market, buying sardines from a sushi chef that can't help but be nervous when approached by a giant-sized version of something he regularly makes a meal out of, praying at a temple, becoming a pitchman for a popular beer, trying to romance Miyako, and just going about his daily life on the streets of Japan while everyone treats him like a celebrity and never seems to question the idea that there's a squid man walking amongst them. But all of these scenarios, as amusing as they are, are handled with subtlety. Again, a Hollywood production would have forced the humor and pushed to make things even more over the top than they are. The single funniest moment in the entire movie is one so simple its brilliant: Miyako and The Calamari Wrestler holding hands, walking together, very much in love. It's priceless.

But there are so many other issues that are brought up, again, subtly. Issues of self identity, loyalty, friendship, ego, fighting spirit, and whether inner beauty is more important than one's exterior self are all touched upon. Admittedly, this does cause the film to feel a bit scattershot at times as one theme after another gets introduced and dwelled upon briefly before moving on to the next. THE CALAMARI WRESTLER isn't a profoundly deep movie by any stretch of the imagination but it does possess far more depth than you would ever possibly expect from a film involving pro wrestling sea life.

And at the heart of the film is professional wrestling. It literally is the heart of the movie. THE CALAMARI WRESTLER is a virtual love letter to the wrestling business and treats pro wrestling with a level respect never before seen in any wrestling themed movie I've ever seen. Usually, movies based around pro wrestling treat wrestling as a three-ring circus or a sleazy line of work. THE CALAMARI WRESTLER does not. This is almost assuredly because the film is Japanese and wrestling in Japan is not only far, far, far more respected there than in the US, but Japanese wrestling matches are often designed to look and feel more like legitimate sporting contests showcasing the "fighting spirit" of the combatants than the more theatrical, cartoonish American style of wrestling we’re used to seeing in WWE. THE CALAMARI WRESTLER brings up issues as to why fans watch wrestling and one of the big issues brought up repeatedly is whether or not a wrestling squid would be detrimental to the sport. Sounds absurd but it’s handled in a manner so thoughtful that it manages to be both poignant and laughable at the same time. In the end, the argument is made that even if the wrestlers are humanoid versions of aquatic creatures what truly matters is their passion and ability for pro wrestling. Iwata (played by real life Japanese wrestling superstar Osamu Nishimura) even states matter of factly that he loves pro wrestling so much that getting back into the ring to win the championship was/is the primary thing that kept him alive and allowed him to survive the transformation ritual that turned him into the Calamari Wrestler.

But for me, the true highlight is the film's third act. You'd think the whole Iwata/Calamari Wrestler vs. Taguchi/Octopus Wrestler showdown would be the film's finale. Nope, it's just the set-up for the finale. After Calamari Wrestler wins the championship, the film begins taking on shades of ROCKY III. Calamari Wrestler is jumped on the street by a creature that identifies itself as the Squilla Boxer, a humanoid mantis shrimp with a crustacean claw for one hand and a boxing glove on the other. The trashing talking Clubber Lang-like crustacean knocks out Calamari Wrestler with a single punch and challenges him to a winner takes all match. Calamari Wrestler, having already begun letting success get to his already massive squid head, schedules a "New Year's Eve Seafood Smackdown" against the Squilla Boxer, much to the chagrin of Miyako, who feels he doesn't stand a chance. Neither does Taguchi, who feels Calamari Wrestler is taking this new foe too lightly, and the two begin training together ala Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in ROCKY III. Yes, there’s even a training montage and it’s hilarious.

Everything builds to the big match between the two that's highlighted by a still photo montage of Squilla's entrance where he attacks fans on the way to ring, poses arrogantly for the crowd, and terrorizes the ring girls. The match itself features a series of surprise twists and turns that only goes to cement how much love the film has for professional wrestling despite the ludicrous nature of the combatants in the ring.

After waiting impatiently for two years, THE CALAMARI WRESTLER has finally made its way to American DVD shelves courtesy of Pathfinder Films and they deserve much credit for not only giving this oddball Japanese comedy a domestic release but also for providing a more loaded disc than any of the recent Godzilla flicks released through Sony. Reasonably priced too! In addition to boasting a nice letterboxed print of the film complete with easy to read subtitles, the disc features two different theatrical trailers, two different TV spots, an amusing 22-minute behind the scenes making of documentary, and a music video that sadly does not come subtitled. The song is the one that plays during the film’s closing credits and given the film’s subject matter one can only imagine what the lyrics much translate to.

Whether or not you're a fan of professional wrestling or don't have even the slightest knowledge of Japanese pro wrestling itself, I'm fairly certain that THE CALAMARI WRESTLER is an enjoyable bit of absurdity that will appeal to young and old. Don't go into expecting a berserk comedy exploding with manic energy or to laugh out loud from beginning to end, just expect a very odd, very quirky, very fun, very Japanese film loaded with no shortage of silliness and charm. And expect to smile an awful lot.