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James Marsh

3/5 stars
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the iconic superhero created by Shotaro Ishinomori, Shin Kamen Rider (aka Shin Masked Rider) is the fourth and – for now – final film in writer-director Hideaki Anno’s critically and commercially triumphant Shin Japan Heroes Universe.
Arriving in the wake of Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman, as well as the 2021 anime blockbuster Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, Anno’s movie is a fast-paced and knowingly kitsch love letter to the beloved franchise of tokusatsu films – meaning live action with lots of special effects.
Anno directs alone this time, without the collaboration of Shinji Higuchi, with whom he shared credit on the rest of the Shin franchise.


However, eagle-eyed viewers will spot a number of performers from those earlier films, including Masami Nagasawa, Shinya Tsukamoto, Takumi Saitoh and Yutaka Takenouchi, in cameo roles, while much of the technical crew also returns.
That said, the film feels relatively smaller in scale than its predecessors, in keeping with the character’s more modest televisual roots.

Rather than hold Anno back, however, this appears to embolden the director to create something even more wacky, violent and conceptual than he was permitted with the monolithic Godzilla and Ultraman – all of which adds to the film’s oddball charm.
Bursting with grotesque rubber-masked adversaries, fiendish underground organisations and tragic, motorbike-riding heroes – all set to the strains of Masato Shimon’s iconic theme song – Shin Kamen Rider is sure to delight generations of hardcore fans, while even the most sceptical of casual film-goers should be swept up in the film’s giddy sense of unadulterated fun.
Sosuke Ikematsu assumes the lead role of Takeshi Hongo, a motorcyclist who is abducted by evil organisation Shocker and subjected to heinous experiments in their efforts to create synthetic animal hybrids.

Takeshi manages to escape, with the help of defecting agent Ruriko (Minami Hamabe), but not before he is disfigured with the attributes of a grasshopper.
Dubbing himself Kamen Rider (also known as Masked Rider), he vows to use his newly acquired superhuman strength and augmented bodysuit to take down Shocker, which leads to a series of bloody stand-offs with a variety of “augs” resembling a spider, bat, scorpion, a wasp and many others.
Admittedly, these showdowns become somewhat repetitive, despite the wonderfully elaborate costumes and make-up, and after two solid hours of somersaults, spin kicks and rapid-fire editing, audiences may feel they have gone 12 rounds with the rider themselves.

But for anyone who grew up on the big- and small-screen adventures of this heroic bug-eyed biker, Shin Kamen Rider offers nostalgic nirvana.
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Shin Kamen Rider movie review: Hideaki Anno’s wacky, violent and fun fourth film in his series of  ‘tokusatsu’ superhero revivals

A still from “Shin Kamen Rider”.

A still from “Shin Kamen Rider” (category: IIA, Japanese), directed by Hideaki Anno and starring Sosuke Ikematsu and Minami Hamabe.

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Sosuke Ikematsu as Takeshi Hongo the Kamen Rider in a still from “Shin Kamen Rider”.

Tasuku Emoto as Hayato Ichimonji in a still from “Shin Kamen Rider”.

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Ryo Kase (left) and Hidetoshi Nishijima in a still from “Kubi”.

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Lifestyle

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Film & TV

Director revives his superhero franchise with this live-action take on the classic Kamen Rider story, starring Sosuke Ikematsu and Minami Hamabe
Nostalgic fans and new viewers alike will love this tale of the augmented human-animal hybrid, although the non-stop action sequences may be a little tiring


Kamen Rider is back. Director Hideaki Anno’s live-action film, starring Sosuke Ikematsu and Minami Hamabe, follows the augmented human-animal hybrid as he battles evildoers.


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Review | Shin Kamen Rider movie review: Hideaki Anno’s wacky, violent and fun fourth film in his series of ‘tokusatsu’ superhero revivals