After a creature known as Spider attacked a man, the film opens with this:
Shocker.
An organization that manipulates society in the underworld.
The soldiers they create [Remodeled Humans]; have superhuman abilities that they use for their dark operations.
They keep their feelings and identities a secret no matter what.
Thus they wear a [mask].
An organization that manipulates society in the underworld.
The soldiers they create [Remodeled Humans]; have superhuman abilities that they use for their dark operations.
They keep their feelings and identities a secret no matter what.
Thus they wear a [mask].
Takeshi Hongo (Masaya Kikawada), a graduate school student of the Jounan University is busy in making his thesis about the beauty of water when he met Asuka Midorikawa (Rena Komine), a journalist who is interested about his research and is just finished writing an article about it.
While Hongo is riding a motorcycle, Shocker a member called Bat, abducts him. After he was reconstructed into an Inhumanoid who is known as Hopper, was brainwashed and was under the command of three head Shocker officers, a mysterious Youth, Dr. Shinigami and a mysterious Lady.
On his second mission as Hopper, along with Spider, are ordered to eliminate those who know about the organization. Because of the falling snow, he remembers that he is a human. However, before when his humanity returned, Katsuhiko, Askua’s fiancé died. Asuka wokes up after the attack and blames Hongo in killing his fiancé.
It was later revealed that all Shocker Inhumanoids need to have regular blood transfusions for them to continue living but it seems it doesn’t affect Hongo. It is then revealed that Shocker has created a Second Hopper to fight against the first.
Hongo went to Tobei Tachibana (Hiroshi Miyauchi) who gives him his bike, the Cyclone and gives him good advice about the struggle he is facing right now. His advice was, “If you lose something, you will gain something.” Using this advice, he moves on and fights Spider.
It was revealed that Katsuhiko was alive. It turned out that the name that he revealed to his fiancée was a fake one, his real name was Hayato Ichimonji (Hassei Takano). It was later revealed that he is Hopper 2, the one whose mission is to fight against Hopper 1 because he is a traitor of the organization. Will the film end up with a duel between Hopper 1 and Hopper 2? Or will they cooperate to fight Shocker like the original series? It is for you to find out.
On to the review, if you haven’t watched the original series, you do not need to worry. The film is an entirely different story compared to the original series. Like the Nolan’s Batman films, it takes a realistic route that it takes. In short, no funky transformation sequence the series is known for and no weird looking monsters of the week, which is good in a way.
Why is it good? Based on my research in the franchise, most of Shocker’s monsters are once human beings that were reconstructed as a cyborg. Unlike in the original series, you can identify who is the bad guy and who is the good guy. But in this film, if you would just look the designs of the suits between the Shocker Inhumanoids, including the Hoppers, you might not see any difference.
Aside from that, what makes the series fun to watch even without the transformation sequence, they add up to the good action sequences. When Hopper 1 was first introduced, he really made an impact in his arrival… by destroying a certain facility with epic slow motion effects.
Moreover, since this is a Heisei Kamen Rider film with Toshiki Inoue writing it, obviously, there is a Rider vs. Rider battle. The fight scenes between Hopper 1 and 2 are well done and the slow motion effects added the drama and impact of every attack they did. Their first fight was fun to watch but it makes you want to ask for more. The second one was worth praising. Aside that the fights inside the mask are well done, the fights outside the mask was really fun to watch.
The final battle scene was something worth loving about Kamen Rider. Aside that the Hoppers entered Shocker’s base with the Cyclones, the did their classic transformation poses! Sure, you might call it cheesy but that is a reason why Kamen Rider is memorable in Japan.
Aside from the awesome fight scenes, the film has good amounts of bike stunts in which the series is known for. The bike chases were fun to watch. How Hopper 1 uses his bike while fighting Spider was something that caused me to hit the rewind button to watch it again for me to believe that stunt actually happened. I was speechless when I saw it!
Even if the story is focused on the love triangle between Hongo, Ichimonji and Asuka, we have also a love story between two dying hospital patients, namely, Haruhiko and Miyoko. It was first started as girl likes boy that later ended up the two hooking together at the end. Shocker gave them an offer to save their lives by doing a surgery which ended up the two becoming Shocker’s Cobra and Snake Inhumanoids.
While watching this side story, at first, I find it useless in the plot to begin with but it had a purpose in the story. This is when I remembered Go! Go! Kamen Rider with Lizardron in it. Before he became Lizardron, he was a football player and because of his kicking ability, he was abducted by Shocker and turned into an Inhumanoid. Its purpose is to point out to newer fans that not all Shocker Inhumanoids are forced to be Inhumanoids. Some of them became one due to false hopes coming from the organization. It also points to fans that some of Shocker’s Inhumanoids were tragic characters that we viewers have no knowledge about it.
To the Hoppers, Hongo and Ichimonji; Takeshi Hongo gave the same similar impression I had while watching the first Kamen Rider episode. He is someone who is heroic, someone who is certain in his beliefs. Kikawada gave a good performance as Takeshi Hongo.
Hayato Ichimonji is not Hayao Ichimonji to begin with. I knew him after watching Kamen Rider vs. Shocker and reading Kamen Rider Spirits in his own arc. To be honest, based on what I saw and read, he is like a clone of Hongo but he is more kid friendly and does photography. He is more like a cheerier version of Hongo. Here comes Kamen Rider THE FIRST, Ichimonji here is the traditional Heisei Kamen Rider douche bag/jerkass or whatever you will call it. He is impulsive, he wants what he wants and he wants to defeat Hongo whatever it takes. In addition, as pointed out by Bat, he summarized his entire attitude in one sentence.
Hiroshi Miyauchi was just there for a cameo as Tobei Tachibana. Even if his character never appeared much, his appearance and his advice to Hongo gave a lasting impact on the series. It is something I want to see in a Kamen Rider series, an older Kamen Rider training a newer Kamen Rider the ways of being a Rider. Well, I saw this kind of scene again in Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. DaiShocker thanks to RiderGackt, I mean, Joji Yuki’s appearance in the film. However, in my own opinion, it would be better if the original Riderman were the one who will say those lines on Tsukasa.
The Shocker Officers were mysterious, something you have unlikely no clue on how they function properly as a group. They never made an official appearance physically but you know that there is something behind them that makes them mysterious, and someone you might fear if you try to delve much more behind each character.
The only that bothered me in this film is that the term, Kamen Rider was never mentioned or declared by any of the characters in the film, but what the heck.
Overall, Kamen Rider THE FIRST was a good Kamen Rider film but not as good as the other films in the franchise. The fight scenes were good and are on par with the original Rider series but there is a part of me that says that it lacks that level of heroism that the original Riders have. The final scene of the film gives viewers an impression that next time Shocker will appear, they will do something massive. Since the film was good, I think I should give THE NEXT a try.