Kamen Rider ZO - Movie Review

To commence our "Kamen Rider Week" we'll be starting with a review of the movie "Kamen Rider ZO"! So, lets get started, shall we?

ZO, is not a BAD movie. However, i have a hard time saying it's anything more then just...mediocre. I guess it was pretty decent for a Kamen Rider movie, but that's all i can really say. It just wasn't what i had gone in expecting it to be. I'd heard from a lot of people ZO was a good Kamen Rider movie, and it wasn't bad at all. But...Just not that good.


The movie has our protaginist, Masaru Aso, waking up...somewhere. He gets a message through telepathy telling him to protect Hiroshi Mochizuki, the son of the man who turned him into a...I want to say Cyborg, as that's what Showa riders were, but they never really said he was. In the flashback, it was said he was being turned into a Grasshopper.

He's a pretty cool guy.

The plot itself is...Well, very cliche. But that's to be expected from Kamen Rider; and it's not a problem by any means. The problem is the pacing. The first 3/4 of the movie is just...ZO running after this kid, saying he has to protect him. This would be okay if the fights weren't so horribly boring. The fights were not very climatic, even the one's that were supposed to be climatic weren't. I have to admit though, it's a nice break from all the Heisei era i have been watching, and it was much better seeing characters doing stunts without using the CGI we always see today (see OOO).

One thing i think this movie succeeded in was design. Both the Kaijin and Rider designs were well done and likeable, i think. I personally am quite a fan of ZO's suit design, i think it looks very simple, yet it's that simple look that makes it look so cool.

The design for Doras is one of my favorite among any Kamen Rider monster.

One thing i will say about this movie is that...Well, it seemed kinda like Shin Kamen Rider. Well, no, not like Shin Kamen Rider. But, similar, in some ways. I myself thought it was like a much much, toned down version of Shin to appeal to kids, seeing as Shin itself was considered failure. Don't get me wrong, it's very different from Shin. I just found some of the themes were the same.

All in all, If you're a Kamen Rider fan and want to start watching Showa series, but don't want to commit to a series right away, just dabble a bit and see what it's like, then i can highly recommend it you. If you're a Kamen Rider fan in general and want to watch this movie, i can also recommend it. If you're not a KR fan, then i would suggest steering clear of this film, as it will likely not appeal to you at all, as it offers very little to non-kamen rider fans.

This film wasn't anything great, but it wasn't anything bad either. It was watchable, and enjoyable for the most part. Well, this is the first review for Kamen Rider Week, here at JoekerStraightFlush, so look forward to what's to come next!