Kamen raidâ: The next

I actually really liked Kamen Rider: The First, but it's sequel The Next absolutely blows it out of the water in every way. From the special effects and fight choreography, to technical aspects, like direction, and especially editing (whoever did the edit on The First should be ashamed).

I liked both Hongo and Ichimonji, though just like in the first movie, you do need to understand this is a reimagining of these characters. If you can't get over that fact, you probably won't like either of these movies.

The story is cool, not anything ground breaking, but I don't think storytelling is necessarily the draw of Kamen Rider (not that it isn't sometimes great).

Like I said before the action is great, and the costumes and stunt work is definitely a step up from the first movie. There's also some awesome horror elements that really fit the tone of Kamen Rider. Reminded me a little of 1992's Shin Kamen Rider, which is another unique rider movie I love.

For me, this checked all my boxes, and is easily the best Rider movie I have seen yet. It got me really excited for 2023's Shin Kamen Rider, though I think these 2 films set the bar for a reboot pretty high.

First of all, the negative review(s) you might read here definitely do not reflect the opinion of all die-hard fans of the classic Kamen Rider series.

I watched the original Kamen Rider series as a kid back in the 70s, and it was really good entertainment for the time. Rewatching these classics about 30 yrs later, I feel the nostalgia, but understandably not too impressed with the old fashion FX and fight choreography. So, pulling this franchise into the 21st century is a very good idea to me. I couldn't get into the other "Rider" series because the story just isn't about Hongo. And the Riders only look derivative of the original and therefore not as good.

I really enjoyed "The First", and "The Next" was a good follow up. It has been many years since we had new and original stories about Hongo and Ichimonji. Hongo is still the straight forward hero character, where as Ichimonji has more of an edge to him. The tone of the movie is darker, which is good for those who were fans of the original series, as we're all adults now. One really cool idea in this new franchise: we can see that the "grasshopper" heads of the Riders after transforming is really just a helmet. They can take it off to reveal their real human faces. This allows the actors a much greater range of emotions while they are Riders. It also confirms for me that the Rider transformation is just changing into the suit, not changing into another being like Ultraman. And the updated suits look great, like actual bike-racing suits, but still very faithful to the original. Other updates like using CG effects to show the riders' powers is really an improvement compared to the old days.

Overall, if you were a fan of the original, I think The First and The Next are must haves for your video library. If you are just getting into Kamen Rider series, its still a great entry-level movie to introduce yourself into the franchise.

It is a second movie following after Kamen rider the first. After watching Kamen rider the first, I knew there would be a second part. Kamen rider the next is basically the remake of kamen rider V3 alongside with Kamen rider 1 and 2. It is the first kamen rider movie to get a PG-12 in japan for violence and nudity. It is probably the most violent kamen rider I saw. Beside the violence and nudity, the point is the story which I thought it is more action-packed than the first.

The story: It is trying to borrow elements from other movies like horror movies. It is like a horror movie with action. They did a bad job in the horror story like putting cheap scares and some creepy moments but I did not care when watching it. It is a kamen rider movie, I expected action and there is, which satisfy me. The story is like an average horror movie: people who listen to a famous Asian pop singer-Chiharu's song, they mysteriously die. Kotomi, Chiharu's best friend, is worried about her and start investigating her disappearance together with Takeshi Hongo, who is a science teacher for a rowdy class and Kamen rider 1. V3 appears with some other Shockers-Scissors Jaguar and Chainsaw Lizard mainly. Kamen rider 1, together with Kamen rider 2 and with the help V3, fights against Shockers with Kotomi solves the mystery. I like the fighting scenes but it is obvious that they had wired-work to help do the fighting they want. There is blood and nudity added.

Overall: I can say it is better than Kamen rider the first. It is action-packed with unusual stunts. Hopefully, there will be a next one as it would be nice to see other riders being remade and more of the unusual stunts. It is not the usual kamen rider series or movies, it is more darker and violent plus mature. It is nice to see some dark kamen rider movies.

R3 DVD single disc only features a trailer with no English subtitles but with English dub. The dubbing is quite bad though. The worst thing is that it is the cut version. Wait for the original version instead. Avaible in Singapore.