Kamen Rider ZO (1993)
Production: Toei Corporation
By Tristan “Dreamseer” Day

Introduction

After the popular series’, “Kamen Rider Black” and “Kamen Rider Black RX” ended in 1989, creator Shotaro Ishinomori decided to take a bit of a break from the formal television franchise. Instead, the Rider legacy would continue in a trilogy (of sorts) of self-contained films. With dazzling special effects and a gritty pseudo B-Hollywood feel, perhaps the most popular of the three films was “Kamen Rider ZO.”

Story

“Who is calling to me…?” A mysterious man awakens in the forest unsure at first of how he arrived there, naked, bare. But when he rises, he becomes something else. Something stronger. He has become Kamen Rider ZO, a warrior that must answer the call that only he can hear, and protect the son of his creator, Professor Mochizuki.

The deadly Neo-Organism is after the professor’s son, for what terrible purpose, no one knows. All ZO knows is that he is determined to use the power he has been given to protect this child, who has lost his father, and perhaps his own sense of self, from the creatures that hunt him down.

But is ZO’s power really enough to combat the forces of the Neo-Organism and the ferocious monsters he forges from his own body? “Professor… it was you!!!”

Review

“ZO” and “Shin” are the only two out of the three 90s Rider films I’ve seen so far. One of them I thought was fantastic. The other… Well, let’s not talk about that one.

“ZO” was directed by the tokusatsu visionary, Keita Amemiya, and done quite beautifully. He gives the film a dark, rich feel, which sets a very interesting tone. In a sense, it feels almost like a Hollywood B-movie (and I say that with love).

It’s unfortunate that the film was only an hour long, because I feel it might have benefited a bit from fleshing out the main character, since he IS the Rider. The film seems very focused on Professor Mochizuki and his little family, and ZO is just sort of the thing that connects everything having to do with those people together. I won’t spoil it, but besides a quick little origin story, we don’t get to hear too much about who this guy is as a person, though he is clearly a tough guy with a good heart (which describes nearly every previous Kamen Rider in the franchise, so that doesn’t help discern him too much).

That minor gripe aside, everything was very enjoyable. The film had a good balance of action and plot, with a very engaging story involving a child that has lost his father. This is the essence of why I fell in love with Kamen Rider- the story is always (well, more than usual in this genre) serious and fulfilling, not just slapped together to show cool fight scenes- that’s a given- we get that anyway, don’t we?

The action itself is very good, for the era in which it was filmed. They used some fantastic special effects, specifically for all the transformations and strange powers of the Neo-Organism. It was also very effective how they handled Neo’s voice toward the end (which I will not reveal, because it gives away the ending), as well as his physical appearance, for certain parts of the scene. Very disturbing, and powerful (come to think of it, all the creatures are a little on the creepy side, for toku characters). I liked also that not all of the monsters are your average “two-arms, two-legs” types. All very original and interesting to me.

The suit designs are all great to me. ZO’s suit was very B-Hollywood to me, very much like the Black suit felt (back when it was new, I mean), which I love. I hate to use this word, because it can tend to sound absurd when talking about this genre, but it looked “realistic”… at least within the world of tokusatsu. Same goes for Neo-Organism, the bat-creature, and the spider-creature. All great.

Conclusion

A great film, which I wish would have been extended another half-hour or so, but still very enjoyable. Being a completely self-contained movie, you don’t have to know anything about Kamen Rider, or see anything else afterward to enjoy this. If you have no previous Rider viewing experience, I’d say this was a nice place to start. Only problem is… Gawd, I really wish they had done a better job on that darn Rider Kick… Oh well, I still love this film. A-. HENSHIN!!!

I’ll See You In My Dreams
-Dreamseer