Garuda Critic This film is wonderful. It's has quite many flaws, but it's still a great film to watch. A remake of the famous Kamen Rider from 1971, it is truly nostalgic.But this film is kinda confusing, especially with the subplot of the young man and woman who ran away from their hospital. The subplot drags the viewers away from the main story (Takeshi Hongo get's kidnapped by the evil Shocker and turned into a grasshopper cyborg), and renders what should be an action movie into a drama.The special effects seem rather lousy, Hongo and Ichimonji don't seem to have a true henshin. All they do is open their jacket, reveal the belt and the armor suddenly appears out of nowhere. Then they put on the helmet manually, come on, it's 2005! Shouldn't there be a cooler henshin? But anyway, the suits look baddass. In the original 1971 Ichigo and Nigo looked rather simple and round, in the 2005 movie they look much more detailed and much more complex in design, the monsters/inhumanoids also look much creepier than the original 1971 television series.The story itself is both sad, dramatic and romantic. Overall it's a great film you should watch.ps. I'm addicted to the film's OST Bright! Our Future

HenshinHero I watched the movie recently. I gotta say I LOVED IT. Friggin' amazing.Pro:-Loved the romance between Hongo Takeshi, Asuka and Ichimonji Hayato. -Excellent acting. They were so good. -The Shockers. My gosh. I loved them all, especially Spider. -The subplot about two illness people who later became into Cobra and Snake. I loved that subplot. I must say it's nice to see them together and then became into villains. -The wire work were excellent. Well done. -The Choreography Fights were really well done. -The Legendary Actor who used to play as Kamen Rider V3, Hiroshi Miyauchi... it was NICE to see him in this movie. I hope he comes back in the sequel (If the rumor is true). Hiroshi Miyauchi FOREVER!Bat looks very interesting and it reminds me of Agent Aburera from Dekaranger.Con:-One thing that bothers me, it's like something went go fast. I wish they put the UNCUT version in that movie, just like Hakaider Movie. But heck, it was very enjoyable to watch.Overall, this movie gets an A-. Good plot and subplot as well. Also, Behind-The-Scenes was really cool. I must say it's a worth to buy it and watch the movie!!I'm definitely looking forward to see the sequel...if the rumor is true.HENSHIN!

le_chooche Continuing Japaense movie industry's recent exploit of classic tokusatsu (casshar, Tetsujin 28), here comes the (yet another) remake of the Kamen rider series. On the plus side, the cinematography is wonderful. there are quite a few brilliant ideas: Shocker is like a modern Costa Nostra, forcing converts into living a double life. A stable of potentials are kept in a secret hospital for later material. The 2 riders both performs questionable actions as criminals. The creepy agent from Shocker. The taking off of the mask. These are all ideas that could have made up a great script. But sadly the scrip-writer failed to deliver on this one.This could be a great movie, if only the script didn't spent half of the running time on predictable romances by paper cutout characters and badly written cliché' ridden rumination about life, On the other hand this movie offers plenty of unexplained plot lines that just fizzled out, and, Oh, unanswered questions:1) Who got pick for conversion? Why? 2) Do the Inhumans have free will? Or not? What do they got in return for having their body altered? 3) How did Hongou Takeshi beat the need for blood transfusion? 4) WTF did Hongou do to earn him a BRAND NEW bike as a GIFT?I did force myself to sit through it. But boy, it wasn't fun.

jmaruyama Next to Ultraman, Godzilla and possibly Tetsuwan Atom, Kamen Rider is probably one of the most recognized of the Japanese heroes. Ever since his debut in 1971, Ishinomori Shoutaro's insect-themed, motorcycle riding, "bug-eyed" hero has become an almost iconic character to millions of fans not only in Japan but also across the world. The original Kaman Rider series ran for an amazing 98 episodes and spawned a long running franchise which lasts to this day. Nagaishi Takao's "Kamen Rider: The First" is the first attempt to revisit the original hero in nearly two decades (although several "new" Kamen Riders have appeared since). While "Kamen Rider: The First" does a good job at attempting to reinvent and update the original Kamen Rider character for a 21st Century audience, it also tries its hardest to appease fan boys of the original 1973 series (who are now probably now in their early 30s) . The resultant movie is however an odd hybrid that doesn't quite know what it wants to be – tribute, redo or reinterpretation? By looks alone it would seem that director Nagaishi wanted to go with a tribute to original TV story. The subtle changes to the Kamen Rider costumes for example are not striking and stay very true to the original costume designs of the hero characters. The global evil organization "Shocker" is back again as the main antagonist with even one of its original leaders, Shinegami Hakase portrayed by the late, great Amamoto Hideo making an appearance (interestingly Nagaishi's decision to use stock footage of Amamoto in character in the movie parallels Bryan Singer's similar decision to use stock footage of Marlon Brando in the upcoming "Superman Returns" film). There are also other casting winks at the franchise with several actors from other Kamen Rider TV series playing parts in this movie, the other most notable cameo being Miyauchi Hiroshi (who portrayed Kamen Rider V3) portraying Rider mentor Tachibana Tobei.Yet as with Kitamura Ryuhei's recent "Godzilla: Final Wars", KRTF is also quite a bit different from the original (not all for the best). While the original Kamen Riders #1 and #2 were cyborgs, these new "Hoppers" are alluded to be biologically altered humans with no cybernetic enhancements (quite possibly to make them more akin to "Spider-Man"). In fact, much emphasis is placed on the fact that these Kamen Riders needed to undergo periodic "blood transfusions" in order to survive (although it quickly becomes forgotten towards the ending half of the movie).While the opponents are updated variants of his past villains albeit with more modern touches, they are revealed to be just elaborately costumed humans with genetically enhanced bodies, unlike the TV series in which they were altered human fused with the DNA of animals and given cybernetic weaponry.As with some recent Hollywood adaptations of superhero characters ("Daredevil", "Fantastic Four") a lot of the more fantastical elements that made the Kamen Rider TV series so endearing to viewers (the grand conquest schemes, the diabolical costumed monsters, the cheesy SFX, the tongue-in-cheek banter) all seem to be purposely suppressed in favor of more "adult drama" and realism. Unfortunately as was the case in "Fantastic Four", KRTF also suffered from the tweaking. The Shocker organization of the movie seemed more like a criminal cartel or mob than a global menace. I missed the likes of the Ex-Nazi reject Col. Zoru, and the flamboyant, whip wielding crazy Ambassador Hell and the sneering despot Black Shogun. As young and attractive as both Sada and ISSA are they made Shocker look more like the "Brat Pack" than a terrorist threat.There were some missed opportunities with the story as well that I wish were explored further.One of the most interesting aspects of the film was Shockers' exploitation of the characters of Haruhiko and Miyoko. Shocker used their terminal conditions as a meaning of recruiting them into their organization with the promise to ending their suffering. I wish this angle could have been expanded and elaborated further as it brought an interesting dimension to the story. What if Shocker had used the hospital as a front for its sinister recruitment and abduction plans? "Cobra" and "Snake" while not seen much in their "kaizou" (altered) forms are much more interesting if not ultimately tragic villains. In fact their stories made them even more sympathetic characters than the heroes. Nagaishi must have felt a connection with their plights as he devoted almost as much screen time to them as he did the main protagonists (which unfortunately made the heroes even more one-dimensional). It would have been interesting if similar back stories could have been applied to not only Hongo and Hayato but perhaps even to both "Bat" and "Spider", who unfortunately were just relegated to atypical shadowy movie ghouls.The overall acting from all the principals was passable if not undistinguished and the action was serviceable but not extraordinary given other similar films like "Cutie Honey" and "Casshern". I was halfway expecting the almost titanic struggles that faced the original Kamen Riders in their Toei movies of the 70's but alas this newest movie left me somewhat under whelmed and disappointed with its somewhat low key approach.