Sushi Chefs, The Next Superheroes, Fight Off Giant Squid In Film Teaser

Of course sushi chefs are the superheroes of the food world; Bourdain featured them in his graphic novel Get Jiro!, and Jiro Dreams of Sushi pretty much puts chef Jiro Ono on a pedestal. So here's a teaser of Monster Roll, already compared favorably to Get Jiro with a bit of crazy Dead Sushi thrown in for some humor.

Filmmaker Daniel Blank made this as a proof-of-concept clip for pitches, and the short makes sushi chefs face off against non-discriminating eaters and giant sea monsters. "The combination of sushi chefs, sea monsters, and strip malls just seemed like a clear movie premise, and one I desperately wanted to see," Blank told Wired in an email. The premise? Overfishing and food waste have angered the scary sea monsters, rude diners are angering sushi chefs, and really big knives and sumo wrestlers are needed to battle it all out.

"I thought there could be a good balance of this ridiculous premise mixed with strong environmental themes and interesting characters, so I started to take this whole comedy very seriously," Blank said. Watch the promo clip below, especially as a bumbling eater douses everything in soy sauce or spicy mayo, asks for a fork, and thinks a sushi place that also serves Chinese is actually good.

Monster Roll from Dan Blank on Vimeo.