I’ve talked a lot about tokusatsu, the umbrella term for a variety of special effects shows in Japan. One of the earliest of these series, and one that helped define the form, was Kamen Rider.

Debuting in 1971, Kamen Rider tells the story of Takeshi Hongo, who is kidnapped and turned into a cyborg by terrorist organization SHOCKER. Before the final step of brainwashing occurs, Hongo escapes and transforms into a grasshopper-themed cyborg hero riding a motorcycle to wage a one man war against SHOCKER.

Shin Kamen Rider is the latest adaptation of the series and the latest in a project called the “Shin Japan Heroes Universe” (despite the name, it is not a shared universe like the MCU or Universal Horror), following Shin Godzilla in 2016 and Shin Ultraman in 2022. The “shin” part of those titles being chosen for the many ways it can be read. It is written in katakana as シン , and its meaning can be read as their “new” ( 新 ), “true” ( 真 ) or “God” ( 神 ).

The film is directed by Neon Genesis Evangelion creator, Hideaki Anno, a creative who is known for doing the unconventional with his work and Shin Kamen Rider is no different.

The movie follows much of the same description as I provided above, but starts in media res with our hero (Sosuke Ikematsu) already turned into a superhuman being and on the run from the SHOCKER organization along with his cohort Ruriko Midorikawa (Minami Hamabe). The pair work together battling SHOCKER’s various agents, including other augments themed after animals (Wasp-Aug, Spider-Aug, Bat-Aug, etc.) in an attempt to stop SHOCKER from their evil machinations.

Much like Shin Ultraman, this movie feels as though it was made for an audience that is already familiar with the themes, ideas and concept of Kamen Rider. For all the talk online about how tired people are to see origin stories in superhero fiction, it is often important in establishing your character and letting the audience see the person they were before their change.

Shin Kamen Rider ops to catch the audience up to speed with some clumsily delivered exposition that feels like the actors are reading off a Wikipedia page (but then again, that’s an Anno thing to do). It never feels like we have enough time to learn about the characters and this world they inhabit before we need to move on to the next fight or plot point. And when we do learn something, it is often right before someone dies or is otherwise indisposed for the rest of the film.

Of course, perhaps that is being too harsh on the film, because for all the above criticisms, it does deliver what it sets out to do (for the most part anyway).

The Kamen Rider franchise is steeped in action sequences, and this movie delivers on that. Superhuman animeesque fist fights and motorcycle chases are the bread and butter of this movie. When the action is good, it is solid and visceral. The movie’s first fight scene is an excellent example of what would happen if someone with superhuman strength fought a group of regular guys…those regular guys get turned into bloody smears. Make no mistake, despite the cartoonish plot and tone, this movie gets down right gory in some fights and it is really sad the movie doesn’t stick to this.

And now we have to talk about some of the negatives, all of which rest on the creative choices of director Hideaki Anno.

As mentioned above, Anno goes for the unconventional and is very postmodern in his style, even to the detriment of the thing he is working on. Anno seems fixated on trying many bizarre camera angles that leave a lot of fights as incoherent messes by either shaking the camera, or utilizing iPhone cameras strapped to the chests of actors and stunt performers.

While I’m sure this seemed like a good idea in his head, unfortunately, it makes for dizzying fights that ultimately undermines the choreography of the fights. Some of the most baffling choices involve one scene during an important fight where the epic chanting choir music suddenly stops and we’re treated to dead silence as our hero rolls around on the ground with an antagonist awkwardly. It took everything in me not to burst out laughing during this particular sequence.

I also have to wonder about the creative choices in lightning for some scenes. There are two notable occasion in the movie where shadows are heavy, and darkness is utilized for dramatic effect. But as anyone who watched Season 8 of Game of Thrones can tell you, making your scene too dark only leaves your audience straining to see what is going on. This isn’t helped by the way the movie likes to switch between extreme darkness and extremely bright environments, leaving little time for your eyes to adjust.

That isn’t to say Anno doesn’t have an eye for a good shot. There is a lot of great framing and cinematography in parts of the movie, but those moments are fleeting and I just wish we got more of that.

Shin Kamen Rider also suffers from a lot of pacing issues, and even though it is only 121 minutes long, you really begin to feel those two hours in some places.

Its definitely a style-oversubstance movie in the vein of Shin Ultraman. A love letter and homage made by a fan, for fans of a given work. But that means this movie is likely to be inaccessible or off-putting to newcomers.

It can’t be said that the movie doesn’t embody the spirit of the old series, but at the same time that makes it feel like a big budget fanfic rather than something more cinematic.

I do think there is something that fans of the series can get out of this, and if you have an appetite for schlocky stuff, this is the movie for you.

For everyone else, I can’t say Shin Kamen Rider is a good introduction to newcomers. It seems Shin Godzilla remains the only of these tokusatsu revivals that doesn’t require a view to come in with prior knowledge to enjoy.

Shin Kamen Rider gets a 5/10.