Shin Kamen Rider

Before sitting down for Shin Kamen Rider, I decided to revisit the other films in Co-Director/Writers Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno’s trilogy. Narratively unconnected, each one is a reboot of a popular Japanese sci-fi franchise, with the “shin” in the title meaning “new,” “real,” or “heart.”

I’m a big fan.

First up… Shin Godzilla.

"Gojira” translates as "God Incarnate." It’s a film about accountability, bureaucracy, and politics in the face of disaster, while also being about Godzilla stomping the shit outta Tokyo.

Which he does… gloriously.

Next up was Shin Ultraman.

With its surf guitar theme and its iconic giant silver hero, this film is a commentary on faith and religion, showing how our systems let us believe that we’re in charge of the world, but that there are still some things far beyond our control.

It’s also a fantastic giant monster movie.

And now… Shin Kamen Rider.

The Kamen Rider franchise is primarily concerned with the eponymous Kamen Rider, a motorcycle-riding superpowered vigilante in a grasshopper-themed outfit, and their war against a malevolent force, which is usually a terrorist organization bent on world domination, one that often employs bug-themed supervillains.

Understandably, there’s a lot of jumping.

Oh, the violence. Oh, the lament. Oh, the stylish leather-clad superheroes. Oh, the absolutely unhinged villains.

Shin Kamen Rider follows the adventures of the grasshopper-themed, red scarf-wearing, motorcycle-riding superhero, whose main power source is his pinwheel-activated belt buckle. The film is mostly about the brutality of the system, and how a person must reconcile remaining true to themselves while they are trapped in those systems, as the main character struggles against his brutal insect-augmentations and his cold-hearted computer-programmed survival instincts.

Some might find the movie’s jerky pacing, outdated action choreography, and cheap-looking special effects to be off-putting, but this is not only true to the source, but is a big part of the charm. If you’re not thinking a super-up Power Rangers type of thing, then you’re just plain ol’ in the wrong place here.

Like the other films in the trilogy, the whole point of this trilogy is that Higuchi and Anno not only deliver the genre goods, melding the specific franchise’s classic tropes with their own modern visions into a relevant commentary on society, they do so all while preserving their title character’s core essence.

It’s a blast. And the fights are fantastic.

The mash-up of giant monsters, aliens, and superpowers with “realistic” real world responses is something that is right up my alley, and each one of these films really nail it. They’re not only interesting and fun, and often really funny in their ridiculousness, the injection of that “realism” adds a previously missing aspect to what is not only complete nonsense, but it’s also the kind of stuff we’ve all otherwise seen before too, and the new life that brings invigorates these classic franchises.

This alone would make all three of these films a triumph, even if they weren’t also awesome at the same time.

Also, I really love how the constantly present specter of nuclear radiation, or the possibility of US involvement, or the capricious whims of billionaires, is always the real and ever-present threat looming in the background.

Great stuff. Loved it.