Movielogr
Kikaider Reboot (2014)
Directed by Ten Shimoyama
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
In the near future, the brilliant Dr. Komyoji is enlisted to lead the ARK Project—a scientific endeavor dedicated to forging a brighter tomorrow through robotics. However, the doctor’s mysterious death puts those plans to an abrupt hold… Not long after, the grieving Komyoji children wander into the crosshairs of a black ops squad on the hunt for their father’s research. But from within the cross fire emerges Jiro—a bleeding-edge android programmed to protect the siblings! Now on the run, the Komyojis soon discover their father’s once hopeful ambitions have taken a DARK turn…
Rated NR | Length 120 minutes
Actors
Jingi Irie | Aimi Satsukawa | Yuta Ikeda | Maryjun Takahashi | Shingo Tsurumi | Daisuke Ban | Minami Kajihara | Renji Ishibashi | Kazushige Nakashima | Hirotaro Honda | Ryûji Harada | Ikuji Nakamura | Kenichi Suzumura
Viewing History (seen 2 times)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/12/2022 | TV | Broadcast | TV | 6 stars |
| 07/09/2020 | TV | Broadcast | Other | 6.5 stars |
| (Average) 6.25 stars |
Viewing Notes
DKUTV kicked off their KaijuCon.Line programming today in conjunction with the virtual Kaiju convention kicking off this weekend (after Ultraman Day tomorrow). Was excited to see this movie on the schedule. Was hyped for it on release but forgot about it when it never found distribution in North America.
This is an almost very good movie. The screenplay is not good but the updated Kikaider and Hakaider are really nice. I’d love to have either a 1/6 scale of that Kidaider or one of the SH MonsterArts or Kaiyodo figs of it (assuming any of them exist). The action is choreographed well and some decent long takes. The suits hold up nicely.
The weak spots are the script and general dumb things like the Men in Black shooting at the kid (being protected by Kikaider) when they are supposed to be abducting him alive. Like sure, you want to show that Kikaider is bulletproof but YOU ALREADY DID THAT DURING HIS INTRODUCTION so there is no need to do it again and make the viewer question this moment. Script issues: the prime minister saying the mad scientist has no conviction WHEN THE MAD SCIENTIST IS DEADSET ON DESTROYING THE WORLD is a really dumb line. Just a couple examples but there’s plenty more.
The characters are solid. The action is p great. MARI is AWESOME. She is so underutilized it had me screaming. I do believe that Maryjun Takahashi was doing most if not all those stunts. I’d love to see a making-of for this movie. She’s so excellent that it hurts the film that she’s not featured more. That and the aforementioned weaknesses drop what could’ve been a 7.5 or 8/10 rating.
And I guess since the movie didn’t do so well we’ll never see that sequel they set up. If this movie exists on Blu outside of Japan I would get it.
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