[DreamSword]

Saber + Zenkaiger: Superhero Chronicles

Audio podcast is HERE.

I haven't seen much from either Kamen Rider Saber or Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger.

But despite that, I came out of this movie liking it a whole lot, and it might actually be my favorite Kamen Rider crossover film?

It has alot of the same appeal to me that Samurai Flamenco does, mainly in how what at first just seems like a simplistic hero story full of high energy antics soon turns into a postmodern look at superhero stories themselves.

And it's not even just Toku hero stories either, but folktales such as Journey to the West and The Eight Dogs get thrown in, and all under the banner of not only honoring the legacy of the stories themselves, but also highlighting how such things can just as equally be fun as they can be important.

Sure, Shotaro Ishinomori's' works are often defined by their morally gray characters and/or scenarios, or their larger than life lessons they had to teach children, but just as often part of the appeal was just the simplistic enjoyment factor of seeing colorful heroes with larger than life personalities win the day for the everyone's' future.

The movie does a great job at showcasing how the reason these stories over the past 50 years haven't been just because of any one aspect, but due to so many varying elements coming together into a truly unique experience that's really hard to find in other mediums. Yes, it is possible to have high energy action alongside deeper meanings, just as much as you can balance drama with comedy. "Capturing humanity itself" as the movie puts it.

It doesn't just talk about stories in relation to the audience though, but also touching upon the view and struggles of the creators of said stories, and it really surprised me that such a high concept as a writer being equated to an almighty Godlike being was being presented to the target audience of kids. But even if they fail to fully grasp that, kids can always be sure to latch onto the more straightforward message of going forward in life while keeping in mind the lessons and experiences that stories have granted you. It's nice!

The directing is top notch too, and I don't just mean the cinematography either. The way the movie is able to seamlessly move from comedic action, to intense character drama, to a psychological sequence you might find in a thriller or mystery film was incredibly impressive. The atmosphere it top notch all throughout, most especially coming to a head during the time when Touma ends up in the "real world" as well as when Takeshi Hongo breaks character to talk to Shotaro Ishinomori. It all really does come together feeling like an adventure that encapsulates alot of what people love about toku.

There's alot of layers to this film, and I really do think it could easily appeal to any toku fan, unless they just have a total distaste for alot of what Kamen Rider and Super Sentai are about. The directing is great, the action is great, the character interactions are great, the background details are great...

I just overall really love this movie.