[DreamSword]

Kamen Rider: Beyond Generations

Audio podcast is HERE.

If there's one thing Kamen Rider is known for, it's terrible parents. Fathers especially.

Which is why it was so refreshing for me that a movie came along to actually face the issue of terrible parenting head on.

Rynosuke and Hideo make the leads of the movie as Kamen Rider Century, and their very bad relationship forms both the emotional core as well as the biggest talking point in the entire movie. And I felt it was pulled off rather well!

The key that makes it all work out is the actual acknowledgement of just how bad of a father Rynosuke has actually been, and how he's making a genuine effort to make amends for his past actions both as a father and as a member of SHOCKER. He's not instantly forgiven nor does he downplay any of his deeds.

It's worked into one of the bigger ideas/lessons of the film too. The moral being about how neglectful parenting only leads to more neglectful parenting, and that active effort is needed to break the cycle somewhere. Hideo's' lack of self-awareness leads to him neglecting his own son, and it's only corrected via the lesson he got from the most unexpected of places.

In terms of a movie made to celebrate 50 years of Kamen Rider, making these two the center focus while make the casts of Saber and Revice supporting characters was a very smart move, I think. It works especially well in terms of Revice, given that show's' overall center focus on families. Outside of Century, Ikki is very much the front man in terms of the rest of the cast.

Overall I just found the entire thing to be a great movie in terms of both character development and meta commentary. Combine that with the usual fun that comes with Rider movies such as bombastic action and fun character interactions, and I had a great time all throughout.