The Truth Is Out There

Beginning in Boston as an art student piss-take, Kaiju Big Battel combines the beat-down skills and over-the-top storylines of pro wrestling with the "giant city-crushing monsters" of Japanese drive-in flicks and the cutting-edge special effects of Power Rangers. Then they push their pop-cult parody to disturbingly absurdist lengths. Foam-rubber stars include the self-explanatory Team Space Bug, doomed tuber-hero Silver Potato, Latino tag-team Los Plantanos and my girl's favourite grappler, Kung Fu Chicken Noodle, one bad-ass can of soup. But the brains behind Kaiju (and no, fight fans, I don't mean Dr. Cube or the ever-mysterious Kaiju Commissioner) have truly outdone themselves on Shocking Truth. Going beyond squared circle monster mayhem - though there's plenty of that, too - their second DVD provides a primer for Battel virgins and a tabloid traipse through the increasingly complex Kaiju-verse, where alien baby-mama drama, evil square-headed scientists and in-ring J-Pop performances meet D-movie production values, "Engrish" gags and bizarro faux-mercials. It's the next best thing to being ringside.