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

DecembeRth2001 the movie raises too many questions with no answers. for example, *SPOILER* why was hongo chosen to be a part of shocker? what are shocker's motives for killing people? if they kill witnesses of their killings then we will go back to the question of their motives for killing. why was hongo given a motorcycle? is katsuhiko the same person as ichimonji? added that the subplot has no point of it being there. the action scenes were cool. the whole movie was good for a one time/casual watch, but if you're the kind of guy who watches movies for the story, i suggest you don't watch it, because a part of you will hate this movie and will just leave you confused as soon as the credits start rolling. i'll rate it a biased 6 just because i am a kamen rider fan, but if i weren't maybe i'll give it a 4.5 or 5 tops for the props, costumes and action scenes.

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.