Notable Cast: Sosuke Ikematsu, Minami Hamabe, Tasuku
Emoto, Shinya Tsukamoto, Toru Tezuka, Suzuki Matsuo, Nanase Nishino, Mirai
Moriyama, Masami Nagasawa, Nao Omori, Takumi Saitoh, Kanata Hongo, Tori
Matsuzaka
Hideaki Anno’s “shin universe” continues to be one of the
most fascinating series in cinema. Shin Godzilla was a distinctively
Japanese recreation of the iconic kaiju that works as a perfect counterweight
to the American Monsterverse series and Shin Ultraman (released
in the US earlier this year) was a love letter to the monster-fighting hero
that weirdly managed to pack in some thematic heft while balancing silly
monster fights with existential questions.
For his third film in this universe, Anno tackles another
tokusatsu legend by bringing a “new” version of Kamen Rider to the
silver screen. Naturally titled Shin Kamen Rider, this film serves -
like the other two Shin films - as both a reboot and a love letter to
the character's previous incarnations. Although both Shin Godzilla and Shin
Ultraman managed to find a better balance in their respective reinventions,
it’s hard not to love what this is pulling off here too.
Shin Kamen Rider is outlandishly silly and takes each
level of craziness with a stone face while leaning into the aesthetic of the
original series with a modern CGI element. It is the best kind of insane, even
when it leaves its audience feeling like they have to sprint to keep up.