Shin Kamen Raidâ

One can't step very far into exploring Japanese film or television without stumbling across 'Kamen Rider' and related tokusatsu fare. Finding a suitable point of entry for the neophyte is another matter, though, and with that in mind, I do not envy Anno Hideaki for the task he took up with this movie. Rebooting a major, fifty-year old franchise, with many series and off-shoot features, retaining core qualities while updating it for modern audiences, providing ample elucidation of necessary plot and lore (or at least, interpretation thereof), and keeping it all fast-paced and action-packed: more famous filmmakers with bigger budgets have attempted much the same, to very mixed results. There are many paths by which to pursue such goals, however, and I wonder if Anno didn't actually choose the smartest one. I'm not saying that 'Shin Kamen Rider' is perfect or essential, and I'm not familiar enough with the previous works in the franchise to fully remark on faithfulness, but overall I'm quite pleased with how well made this is, and I think it's a pretty good time!

The secret to Anno's success here can be summed up as "just go for it." We're thrown headlong into the plot from the very start with one big action scene, then an even bigger one, and then loads of exposition, all within the first twenty minutes or so. This flick has no care for grandiosity, emphasis of snarky humor, or nods to the past; it is unflinchingly direct and straightforward, offers subtle, cheeky wit only occasionally and in passing, and charges ahead without looking back. Partnerships are formed without question, and information is divulged without blinking; lines are delivered very drily, fundamental movements are executed with cold-eyed precision, and stunts and actions are performed flawlessly. And through it all, the picture carries an unyielding deadpan tone - like John Carpenter's 'Ghosts of Mars,' but without the winking sensibility. Rather, this is the devil-may-care, fun-loving, yet nevertheless carefully crafted equivalent of a flustered worker forthrightly discharging their responsibility by throwing it at their superior, in this case the audience: "You want Kamen Rider? This is what you want? Fine, have it. It's all yours."

Such thoughts quite extend to or are reflected in everything in these two hours. We meet our two primary characters right from the start, too, and while Hongo Takeshi may be the superhero, leading lady Midorikawa Ruriko is the one who is ALWAYS prepared, and has an answer to every problem. In turn, star Ikematsu Sosuke is allowed to demonstrate some human emotion, while co-star Hamabe Minami is as unwaveringly straitlaced and brusque as Anno's writing and direction. Often elaborate stunts, fight choreography, and practical effects look fantastic; visuals rendered in post-production range from "decent," on the high end, to "I dare you to hate this," and always with a thousand-yard stare. And the latter verbiage readily applies to most all else, including the cinematography, editing, costume design, hair, makeup, sound effects, and music. Scenes that in another title would be played up or drawn out for dramatic effect sail past smoothly and quickly with the effortlessness and confidence of seeing the enemy was defeated and the story beat recorded. Appearing as Scorpion-Aug, Nagasawa Masami is an especial joy because she is so enthusiastically unhinged in her ham-fisted performance. And so on, and so on.

Whether Anno's approach to this reboot is something that one can remotely get behind depends completely on personal preferences; I can understand how it will not appeal to all. Yet even as the movie embraces abject, unfettered, ham-handed outrageousness - well in keeping in its own way with the spirit of classic tokusatsu, truthfully - it knows exactly what it's doing, and 'Shin Kamen Rider' really well made such as it is. Every last trace of the screenplay might be dispensed with the dead-eyed, curt efficiency of a shark pursuing its prey, but there are deliciously flavorful, imaginative ideas all throughout that are ripe for cinematic storytelling. The costume design, hair, and makeup erally are sharp and fetching across the board. Iwasaki Taku's varied, dynamic original score goes hard, supplying the wholehearted (and over the top) vitality that is broadly, deliberately withheld from the proceedings otherwise. The cast give committed, spirited, admirable performances even within the tenor of unabashed, tersely dispensed nonsense, including Hamabe; Nishino Nanase, portraying Wasp-Aug with a sly playfulness, is a definite highlight. I repeat that all tangible goods and action sequences, including the production design and art direction, really are swell; every now and again the digital artists worked extra hard to make a specific moment look good, and they ably do so if and when they want to.

It's a wild, somewhat peculiar ride, alternately artful, artistic, and artless; clever, and brazen. In the latter half 'Shin Kamen Rider' finds a little time to even try a bit of earnestness amidst all the stone-faced bombast - and still that slant is foremost, informing the whole from beginning to end. For those who are open to what it's doing, though, it's also splendidly entertaining, to the extent that I wouldn't mind if there were more to come. It's hardly the sort of film that demands viewership, but if you're at all receptive to the space it plays in, this is worth checking out and I'm glad to give it my recommendation.

As the third of "Shin-" series, it is safe to say this title is much better than "Shin Ultraman" but way less developed than "Shin Godzilla" in terms of story, character and most importantly, relevance to the originals. My expectation had been low mainly because of the heart-broken experience in the disastrous parody of Ultraman by the multi-titles-holder Anno, thus the first sequence in this film surprised and even betrayed me a lot in a good way. Visual character designs are retrospective but fresh (almost as always), and battle scenes are exciting and speedy even though some parts are unrecognizable to see what is going on. If you can swallow some obnoxious fetishized scenes (a strong and straightforward woman& quiet but justice boy, rustic and long wordy scene, smell of woman for example) as his authenticity, it is recommendable.

The movie starts pretty strong, with a good fighting scene and the introduction of the Shin Kamen Rider who basically pays homage to the original Kamen Rider from 1971. Sadly, after the strong start, things started to go downhill slowly. The plot became cringy and the fan favorite Kamen Rider was more of a secondary character since they were focusing a lot on someone else.

When it comes to the fighting scenes, they weren't good, it's like they were inspired by animes like Dragon Ball Z and Nartuto, it doesn't sound too bad, but the CGI felt like I was playing a few years old PC game. Was it really that hard to make good fighting scenes like in the other Kamen Rider movies and shows?

The cast, the acting, the costumes, the bikes and the music were great, and the kid from The Last Samurai is actually our Kamen Rider.

Unfortunately, I wish I did something better with my time, compared to Shin Godzilla, the movie is a huge letdown. I'm giving it 5 stars because of the nostalgia factor and the positive things i mentioned above. It really pains to give such a low score to a Kamen Rider movie.

This is a very old-school tribute to the Kamen Rider character or that is what I felt from watching this without actually knowing the history. The way the design of the suit and action scenes can be directly placed in the 70s and won't make a difference is immediately juxtaposed with the amount of bloody violence and the introspection about it that comes right after that. There are a lot of themes that are very familiar through Anno's previous works but it never felt anything more than surface level. For the most part, it felt like a straight-up superhero story that is low-budget. But the episodic entry of characters, the monologues about happiness etc feels like it needs more time to have any heft to it amongst this campy action. As someone who doesn't have any idea about the character, this felt like it would have worked a lot better as an anime series. A lot of it is directed like an anime with the kind of shots and dialogues used but as it is not an anime, it doesn't have the same power. Also, the action would have been cooler and the cool music would have suited more in anime form.

I have to admit that I wasn't harboring any expectations at all when I sat down to watch the 2023 Japanese superhero movie "Shin Kamen Raidâ" (aka "Shin Masked Rider"). I was only familiar with this movie by its title and from the mask worn by the main character. However, I haven't seen the Anime, so I am not really familiar with this character or the universe in which the story takes place.

However, I must say that a movie such as "Shin Kamen Raidâ" is somewhat of an acquired taste, and I think you need to be Japanese and having grown up with these type of strange superheroes in order to enjoy their movies. I found very little entertainment in the script that writers Hideaki Anno and Shotaro Ishinomori had put together. And I made it about 50 minutes through the 121 minute runtime, and then I just tossed the towel in the ring. I had found nothing enjoyable in the movie, and it was quite a struggle to keep focus on what happened on the screen, as I just simply didn't care one bit about the story or the characters.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but I am sure that the actors and actresses put on good performances. I just didn't take a liking to the character gallery in "Shin Kamen Raidâ".

Visually then "Shin Kamen Raidâ" was an okay movie. Not top of the line special effects, but definitely good enough.

My rating of "Shin Kamen Raidâ" lands on a three out of ten stars. And having made it 50 minutes through the ordeal, I can honestly say that I am not returning to attempt finish watching "Shin Kamen Raidâ".