Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue (1992)

The original Kamen Rider Shin

What could have been a great deconstruction of the Kamen Rider franchise sadly falters due to its bare-bones plot, wonky writing and unlikable stock character archetypes. It's one of the only Kamen Rider productions to feature direct creative input from the original creator, Shotaro Ishinomori, the film takes a large amount of influence from the original manga run as well as Kamen Rider BLACK's manga.

The film was intended as a treat for more adult fans of Ishinomori's original works by Ishinomori himself but due to his death in 1998, the series planned to continue the story of this prologue never developed leaving Shin in a weird limbo of existence. The problems presented in this film could have easily been ironed out had it been given the chance but the final product is extremely stiff and somewhat bland compared to the likes of ZO which would release the next year.

I'll be honest, I like a lot of this film's production aspects, the music is frankly brilliant and it is that nice transitional period between the synth-heavy 80s and hard rock 90s; the gore and practical effects are simply top-notch with a seriously gnarly transformation sequence almost like it was ripped from a Cronenberg film with a design of the titular character being equally Cronenberg-esque.

Overall, the film is a curious example of when early 90's visceral science fiction met a classic Tokusatsu franchise. Still worth watching but with tempered expectations.

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