Fantasia XXVII Review: In SHIN KAMEN RIDER, Hideaki Anno Reaffirms A Beloved Tokusatsu Classic
Arriving just in time for the 50th anniversary, Shin Kamen Rider marks the latest treatment reviving the beloved Tokusatsu franchise first birthed on the small screen in 1971 from creator Shotaro Ishinomori. It’s a franchise that’s right on par with the cadre of Showa-era hitmakers that still bear relevance to this day, which film duo Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno have been apt to revisit in recent memory via their Shin Japan Heroes Universe.
For Shin Kamen Rider, the aforementioned Anno took on writing and directing duties with none other than Sosuke Ikematsu setting the stage in the role that made the classic TV series a hit for the ages. Joined by Ruriko Midorikawa (Midori Hamabe), Takeshi Hongo (Ikematsu) is successfully rescued from the clutches of a mysterious organization that nearly brainwashed him after transforming his body into a cybernetic Grasshopper hybrid. Little does Hongo know that his newly-minted body has given him superpowers strong enough to take on a life of their own, along with an ability to kill, expeditiously.
These are mysteries Hongo ultimately learns the answers to all in real time as he’s put through an earnest trial-by-fire, forced to battle other augmented mutants, all acting in the name of SHOCKER, a terrorist organization emboldened with an agenda to oversee their twisted agenda to achieve mankind’s true happiness. At the same time, Hongo is forced to cope with his conflicted emotions, which also stem from a tragic past, as does Ruriko who apparently holds a discernible indifference to her scientist father, who was the mind behind Hongo’s suit.
As the hour approaches with Hongo and Ruriko closer to their fated battle with one of SHOCKER’s most powerful leaders, the two will soon cross paths with another creation nearly matching Hongo’s skill. The questions awaiting Hongo and the people counting on him will ultimately reveal if the new Rider is friend or foe, and if whether or not Hongo’s prana-based lifeforce can last him through his greatest battle yet.
The only iteration of this franchise I grew up with was a version of the titular hero played by once-upon-a-time actor and martial arts star Ted Jan Roberts in the Ameritoku TV series, “Masked Rider.” Getting to acquaint myself a bit with Anno in the past decade as well as a few streaming opportunities with the classic TV show featuring Hiroshi Fujioka has helped me gauge the franchise just a tad better, although there are still other critics who can probably weigh the new film against its predecessors, so I won’t go into any specifics or presumptions about how closely Shin Kamen Rider hews to series helmer Koichi Takemoto’s iteration.
What I will say, to that affect, is that Anno’s adherence to nostalgia never wanes if nostalgia is your thing. Shin Kamen Rider is a film that speaks ardently to a fandom that has embraced the franchise far beyond the reaches of Japan, giving face to a different breed of hero fans can cheer on alongside the evolution of Ishinomori’s Super Sentai. As a reboot of a classic, it definitely feels fresher and more vibrant, while never straining too far into being new that it loses its aesthetic.
Ikematsu, who I would have never guessed if the internet didn’t remind me of his role opposite Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai as the young son of a slain samurai warrior, is a great addition to the franchise reimagining Hongo. Hamabe’s portrayal as Ruriko brings a very stringent, rigid character who goes through her own emotional and poignant changes. As an ex-SHOCKER agent now working to bring her former organization down, she’s no fan of the experiments created by her scientist father, Hiroshi, played by Japan cinema stalwart Shinya Tsukamoto. As her albeit reluctant partnership with Hongo ensues, she also projects much of her animosity onto Hongo due to his kindness, which she sees as a threat to their mission, which inevitably involves using the super strength and capabilities he’s been imbued with. Eventually Hongo has no choice but to do the internal work of realizing the purpose of his powers, and their alignment with his longstanding dreams of being strong enough to protect people.
That endevaor involves a great deal of dishing out some hard-hidding violence and gore with a bevy of head-smashing blows, and a pulverizing kick in which Hongo’s body soars at high-speed to his target, sending them flying and into oblivion, post-impact. These feats are paired well against most of other augmented insect hybrid agents working for SHOCKER, although one of the biggest tests here comes when after confronting elite SHOCKER agent Ichiro (Mirai Moriyama), Hongo is forced to fend off another cyborg Grasshopper-Aug named Hayato (Tasuku Emoto), before finally engaging Ichiro and his army of hackneyed Grasshopper-Aug henchmen. Overall development and recapitulation of the film also explores a bit of Ichiro’s shared back story with Ruriko and their father (which has an additional telling in a Shin Kamen Rider spin-off), resulting in the reveal of Ichiro’s final form as he squares off against our heroes.
The Rider battles are among high-flying and fast-paced feats of excitement in Shin Kamen Rider; The sequences were designed by stunt coordinator Keiya Tabuchi, whose credits extend to working on past Kamen Rider treatments, as well as both live-action Hentai Kamen films, the aforementioned Higuchi’s Attack On Titan films, to name a few. The fight scenes often switch to first-person POV at times before stepping back to showcase the rest of the action. The CG can be the biggest test of this depending on your needs. It’s rickety in a lot of areas in my view, but the concepts of the action scenes themselves are executed feasibly enough in that you’re not completely taken out of the action.
A moment to reflect on that last point: While Kaz Kiriya nearly managed to do this in some of his action scenes in his 2004 visual stunner, Casshern, the good news is that he makes up for it by suspending all disbelief and putting all of his grand, anime-inspired ambitions on full display to delivery explicit, thrilling specatacle. It was especially a treat to see in the wake of seeing what fellow Kamen Rider veteran Steve Wang accomplished with the cult rendition of the Screaming Mad George co-directed and more practical FX-based The Guyver, prior to the energizing upgrade Wang brought to the table in Guyver: Dark Hero. Looking back on these two directors, it feels like a staunch a reminder of the possibilities that lie before us as fans observant of a subgenre to which many in fan communities are vociferous and judgemental when fan favorite IPs are handled unfavorably.
I might have some more thoughts on that for another article if I’m up to it or depending on the timing and news right then. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that Shin Kamen Rider is only a few days from its upcoming screening at Fantasia and subsequent premiere on Amazon Prime in the U.S. as you are reading what I’ve spent most of Monday evening and Tuesday morning drafting. By now, this film should be available to you if you’re a subscriber. If you’re a Kamen Rider fan or if you’re relatively new to the franchise, I believe there’s plenty to take away in this film’s enjoyment, whatever your take is on Toku fandom in general.
Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.
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