Shin Kamen Rider (2023) - Movie Review

Where Shin Ultraman looked at superheroes as an ideal, tapping into the loftiness tied to a lot of DC superheroes and even some of the cosmic areas of Marvel’s continuity, Shin Kamen Rider is a more street-level affair. It’s just as indebted to the styles of its predecessors, from the high-flying low-angle shots to the often-jarring scene transitions mid-fight scene, but with a much darker tone. Well, that and a much bloodier presentation; the first major fight scene involves a lot of goons being punched and expelling clouds of gore, and the fights to follow are just as visceral.

Shin Ultraman (2023) - Movie Review

When I watched and subsequently reviewed Shin Godzilla back in 2016 (man, remember when it felt like that year was the worst that things could get? Good times…), I didn’t think a whole lot of it. Cheap special effects, wordy bureaucratic story, general lack of engaging material; what little I do recall of the film itself isn’t all that positive.

What I certainly wouldn’t have anticipated is that that film would be the origin point for its own cinematic universe: The Shin Japan Heroes Universe as spearheaded by Shin Godzilla’s co-director, writer, and co-editor Hideaki Anno. This universe thus far consists of Godzilla, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time (and yet, for some reason, none of the other Rebuild Of Evangelion movies), along with today’s subject. And honestly, just based on this latest entry, not only am I looking forward to where this cinematic universe goes, but I might even give Shin Godzilla another honest go at some point.