Shin Kamen Rider 2023 Review/Spoiler Thread

[daveblackeye15]

I have to say I probably laughed the hardest at the US involvement in this one, bearing the USAF scenes in Shin G and Shin Ultra in mind. I laughed out loud audibly and was the only one in the theater who did (my theater was actually FULL of Kamen Rider fans by the look of it.)
That scene did kick ass.

Wait what U.S. involvement happened in Shin Kamen Rider? I honestly can't remember anything like that. I certainly remember my theater having a self-deprecating chuckle, my impression, when the Japanese cabinet was horrified at the bombing spread for Godzilla.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I have to say I probably laughed the hardest at the US involvement in this one, bearing the USAF scenes in Shin G and Shin Ultra in mind. I laughed out loud audibly and was the only one in the theater who did (my theater was actually FULL of Kamen Rider fans by the look of it.)
That scene did kick ass.

Wait what U.S. involvement happened in Shin Kamen Rider? I honestly can't remember anything like that. I certainly remember my theater having a self-deprecating chuckle, my impression, when the Japanese cabinet was horrified at the bombing spread for Godzilla.

The drone that Hongo drops down from onto the building where Wasp Women is explicitly a US made drone.

I couldn’t help but think that moment was intended to be an allusion to the bombers in Shin Godzilla and Ultraman.

[OGMechaMothra]

I saw the movie tonight with loose knowledge of the original series and I loved it. It was amazing. Idk why but it felt Kill Bill to me for some odd reason. I'll be watching the original series in full this weekend.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I'll be watching the original series in full this weekend.

You realize the original series is like 100 episodes long, right?

Honestly, I really like the first episode of the original show and how they adapted it in Shin. A simple confrontation in an empty wooden house is surprisingly effective at building atmosphere and perspective.

[OGMechaMothra]

I'll be watching the original series in full this weekend.

You realize the original series is like 100 episodes long, right?

Honestly, I really like the first episode of the original show and how they adapted it in Shin. A simple confrontation in an empty wooden house is surprisingly effective at building atmosphere and perspective.

I guess I only thought it was like 35 to 50.

[EvaGhidorah01]

Shin Kamen Rider is awesome. Definitely one of my favourite films of the year so far. I still need more time to sit on it (and a rewatch) before I know whether I like it more or less than Shin Godzilla or Shin Ultraman; but I think I enjoy all three films almost equally. I love Kamen Rider 71, and even Kamen Rider The First is a guilty pleasure for me, so in my mind this film had some big shoes to fill. It absolutely delivered. I'm really hoping that MASKER WORLD sequel idea Anno had suggested comes to fruition; because just like with Shin Ultraman, I really want to see more of this world and characters.

Even some of the more minor roles such as Tachibana and Taki were well handled. I was happy they gave Tachibana a small moment to give Hongo some advice for coming to terms with his trauma. It was a nice moment true to the original Tachibana. In Taki's case I'm just glad the most overlooked main character from 71 was here.

[StreamOfKaijuness]

Shin Kamen Rider rocks! It takes the essence of the original Kamen Rider series and packs it into two exhilarating hours of mayhem and weirdness!

Everything about this movie is old-fashioned and modern at the same time. The premise, the designs and aesthetics, the action and the horror, it's all straight out of the original show but done with modern effects and cinematography. The soundtrack is an awesome mix of classic music cues from the original series, new renditions of classic themes and badass new music.

I haven't seen Shin Ultraman yet but I have watched Shin Godzilla many times since it was released. I've also watched Kamen Rider Black Sun, last year's 10-episode series which does with Kamen Rider Black the same thing that Shin Kamen Rider does with Kamen Rider, reimagining the core characters and elements of the original work in a modern story. Black Sun is already like the antithesis of Shin Godzilla in its approach to its own pointedly political story. Whereas Shin Godzilla directly cites only the ways in which Japanese people were victimized during WWII while ignoring the atrocities committed by the Empire of Japan, Kamen Rider Black Sun acknowledges the darkest side of Japan's imperial history and brazenly links it to the real-life political party that has dominated the nation's government for most of the past seven decades. Conversely, Shin Kamen Rider seems to purposely avoid any political angle at all, instead opting for more universal themes of how humanity relates with technology. The original Kamen Rider certainly wasn't political but it did depict Shocker as an organization with Nazi roots, and even that element is discarded in Shin Kamen Rider. I don't think there's anything more to that omission than just a conscious effort to keep politics out of the movie but it's interesting how Shin Kamen Rider's elimination of Shocker's Nazi roots is in keeping with how Shin Godzilla ignored the darkest side of Japan's imperial history, especially considering how Kamen Rider Black Sun so deliberately tied its own evil organization to imperial Japan.

The cast of Shin Kamen Rider is phenomenal. Sosuke Ikematsu as Takeshi Hongo and Minami Hamabe as Ruriko really carry the movie. Their chemistry is great and they're immediately relatable, perfectly suited for the story's relentless pace. Tasuku Emoto nearly steals the show as Hayato Ichimonji.

[GoKelley86]

Just got done watching it on Amazon Prime.

First of all, I have a point to make about the subtitles...they were awful! This is not a knock on the film, but rather a knock on Amazon. Fix your subtitles! The text was pure white and there were a lot of pure white foreground elements that made the text impossible to read.

As for the film itself, this is actually the first piece of Kamen Rider I have ever watched. That might have been a mistake on my part. My understanding is that the film heavily references the original series, but everything here felt rushed and underdeveloped as they crammed a bunch of stuff into it, especially the Kamen Rider 2.0 angle.

Guess I should watch the old shows now to get a better feel for the property.