[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE THE MOVIE: REALxTIME



There’s a new Avengers comic that launched recently. It’s called “All-Out Avengers”, and here’s the (typically bombastic) pitch: “THE ALL-NEW AVENGERS SERIES THAT STARTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EXPLOSIVE ACTION AND RACES TO A SHOCKING CLIMAX!” It’s a gimmick that’s laughable on the face of it; what, were American superhero comics lacking in barely-explained action sequences? It shouldn’t work as anything other than a vehicle for cheap thrills and good art. It certainly shouldn’t be good. But it is! Across its first two issues it's been home to both cheap thrills and clever writing. It works, not because it foregrounds pointless action or generic villains, but because it puts all the emphasis on the best part of superhero team storytelling: How are the heroes going to work together to resolve a threat when all seems lost?

This movie works along the same wavelength, telling an action-first story that expands into something poignant and resonant. The thrill of it is the stunning action choreography, where a list made of epic shots could be this entire post without me feeling like I’ve missed describing anything important. (The shot that starts through the AIMS van’s window; all of Valkyrie’s Kuuga-esque bike action; the blacklight brawl between Eden and Zero-One; Horobi’s corkscrewing sting attack; etc etc etc.) The joy of it is how it’s a celebration of all the Kamen Riders that made Zero-One such a great series, providing roles big (Horobi, Yua) and small (Naki, Ikazuchi) to every single hero the show had. The beauty of it is in the subtle ways this movie leverages the Ark-One plot’s aftermath to make Aruto face off against a man whose grief has become a world-threatening rage.

It’s the rare standalone Kamen Rider film that manages to work as celebration, commentary, and continuation. The unprecedented circumstances that pushed this ostensible Summer Movie into some weird Winter Epilogue space did it a ton of favors. If nothing else, it gives the movie the kind of scope and scale that’d be tough to accomplish alongside a regular TV filming schedule. (The action sequences in this movie are nuts. I genuinely can’t think of a more impressive showcase for Kamen Rider action than this movie.) But it also gives it just enough distance from the show to feel like it can tweak some endgame stuff, while still feeling like it’s part of the same narrative thread. I don’t know that this movie feels integral to the last couple episodes of the show, but it definitely benefits from trying to tell a story about grief that feels like one coherent thought. It’s the last four episodes of Aruto’s story, but maybe a little smoother in its execution.

It helps that Eden becomes a more compelling villain (well, antagonist) as the movie goes along. We’re still dealing with the Ark as an inescapably corrosive influence - humanity’s capacity for evil reflected back at it - but the better story is in how S loses perspective in his grief, and how that loss of perspective creates a self-destructive feedback loop of shame and guilt. The way the movie rolls out his motivations allows for a greater investment in his struggles, so that his reunion with Akane feels like a victory for both them and the heroes. Aruto can break through to S in ways other than just shouting thematically-appropriate statements, because the movie lets Aruto slowly piece together Akane’s frustrations, S’s backstory, and Thinknet’s specific role. After the excitement of the first half, the second half of the movie is all heartbreak and recriminations, and the pacing is better for backloading it.

It’s a great movie, all the way through. There’s some stuff I could maybe quibble over (Izu’s story gets lost in the middle; can’t believe the Naki and Ikazuchi suits aren’t at least around for the finale), but I spent half the film pumping my fist in triumph, and most of the last few minutes misty-eyed over the resolution to a story about how partnerships can’t work without communication. One of the best Zero-One things I’ve ever seen, and maybe one of the best Kamen Rider things.