Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3 (2015)

Kamen Rider Fanservice: The Movie

Many years ago the evil mega-conglomerate "SHOCKER" created powerful cyborgs called Kamen Riders in their bid for world domination. Despite being created for nefarious deeds, Kamen Rider 1 (Takeshi Hongo) and Kamen Rider 2 (Hayoto Ichimonji) would become champions of justice and unite their powers to destroy their evil creators. Having saved the world, the two rivals rode off into the sunset. Or at least they were supposed to. After Shocker's demise a fearsome contingency plan was set in motion.

 

Shocker's Ultimate Rider?

Kamen Rider 3 (Kyoichiro Kuroi) emerged from the ashes of Shocker and set his sights on Kamen Rider 1 and Kamen Rider 2. Even the combined might of two Kamen Riders were no match for this new foe and thus the greatest heroes of all-time were mercilessly killed. Flash forward decades later and during a typical day detective Shinnosuke Tomari AKA Kamen Rider Drive and his partner Kiriko Shijima are working a case when the entire world changes around them. City streets filled with happy families taking care of their day-to-day affairs are replaced by monsters and armies of combatmen. What were clear blue skies are now consumed by Shocker's armada of blimps and fighter planes. The Shocker flag adorns every house and place of business and nothing is as it should be. Something has gone horrifyingly wrong with the timeline and it's up to Kamen Rider Drive to kick into high-gear and set things right.

 

Buckle up Shocker because Drive is going to take you for a ride.

Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3 is the 2015 entry in the Super Hero Taisen film series. For those who may not know, Super Hero Taisen is a special crossover film that Toei has made each year since 2012. These crossover films typically combine the casts of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai by pitting them against foes that threaten the peace of their shared multiverse. In this case, this foe is Kamen Rider 3. Having murdered Kamen Riders 1 and 2, there was no one to stop Shocker from taking over the planet. In this future Shocker reigns supreme and any rider not on the payroll is hunted down. The odds are stacked against our hero Kamen Rider Drive because he's fighting against a world where the bad guys have already won.

 

The bad guys don't win. They've won.

Because of Kamen Rider 3's meddling, Shocker has taken over the world in this timeline and so many of the characters we've come to know and love are morally ambiguous, some are villains, and others are literal monsters who work for Shocker. In this timeline Shinnosuke Tomari isn't a Kamen Rider, rather he's a Shock Rider - one of the guys on the take. Early on he even goes so far as to attack Kamen Rider Black.

 

The Legend

Shocker has a bad habit of picking the wrong people to turn into Kamen Riders, because often times in trying to pick someone who they think can be easily manipulated, they awaken the spirit of justice in their would-be victims and these Kamen Riders take the powers granted by Shocker and turn it against them. Even brainwashed, many Kamen Riders eventually break free because there's something intrinsically good about them. This has always been an intriguing concept throughout the franchise and it has endured for more than 30 years. The Kamen Riders may make mistakes, but they'll always rise to fight against evil because they represent the potential to be a force of good that exists in all human beings. This is why it's always fascinating when you have a heroic rider versus a villainous one because it creates a contradiction in both the ideological and existential nature of what a Kamen Rider is supposed to be.

 

Kamen Rider 3 vs Kamen Rider Drive

Singer, musician, and songwriter Mitsuhiro Oikawa plays Kyoichiro Kuroi/Kamen Rider 3. Every good hero needs a good villain and Oikawa did a great job portraying Kuroi as a character who is at odds with himself. As a Kamen Rider he did the unspeakable and that was slay his own brethren. Brainwashed or not he can never wash the blood of hope from his hands and he constantly struggles with his decisions and how they've affected his ability to move forward. Winston Churchill wrote "If you're going through hell keep going", but it's doubtful if this is the best move for Kamen Rider 3 as each step he takes is paved with the bones of his enemies. How do you change if you're a killer? Can you change? And how do you live if every action you take goes against your nature? These questions define Kamen Rider 3. He and Drive find themselves at an impasse not only because their way of life is so different from one another's, but because of their gulf in age and experiences as well. I felt that casting Oikawa who was 45 at the time was a good choice because in-universe Kamen Rider 3 has been doing this longer than Kamen Rider Drive and he's been witness to and often the cause of tragedies that Drive can't even imagine.

 

Tetsuo Kurata returns as Kamen Rider Black. Awww yeah!

This film has a massive cast of characters and Tetsuo Kurata (Kamen Rider Black, Kamen Rider Black RX), Yuichi Nakamura (Kamen Rider Den-O), Kousei Amano, Takayuki Tsubaki, Ryoji Morimoto and Takahiro Hojo (Kamen Rider Blade), and Kento Handa (Kamen Rider 555) all reprise their roles in the film. Kamen Riders from Showa and Heisei eras engaged in mortal combat throughout the film and it was great seeing my faves on-screen again. In typical Super Hero Taisen fashion there is a giant free-for-all at the end of the film and this is probably where I lost touch with the film albeit briefly.

 

Dial it back. Just a bit.

It pulls a Batman v Superman in that there is way too much going on in the final minutes of the film. While I'm a huge fan of Kamen Rider and somewhat of a fan of Super Sentai the combination of the two in the final act was too much. A minor-spoiler, the riders are in trouble and it looks like it might be the end for Kamen Rider Drive and literally out of nowhere the cast of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger walks onscreen. The rational for Shuriken Sentai showing up is literally "Hey Drive. You're cool. We're cool. Let's fight together" and I could not fire off enough Jackie Chan memes to express my "what even" at this part of the movie. Is the team-up cool? Absolutely. But it took an already long action sequence and just made it chaotic. There's also an event that happens which has implications for Kamen Rider Drive and sets up the sequel Kamen Rider 4. Again, way too much was going on in the final act and I feel if the movie just cut the last action sequence it would have had a more memorable ending.

"Who's That Guy?"

As you can see the film has its flaws, but those are mostly in the last few minutes and up until that point what's here is a very well-choreographed, well-acted, well-written tokusatsu. I enjoyed seeing Kamen Riders gathered together to do battle against their foes (and each other) and there were several twists that kept me guessing. Mitsuhiro Oikawa did a great job as Kyoichiro Kuroi/Kamen Rider 3 and the character really left an impression on me which is no mean feat for a character making his debut in a film filled with recognizable Kamen Riders. Oikawa also performed "Who's That Guy" - the main theme of the film. Newcomers will be understandably lost, but may still latch onto all the intense Kamen Rider action while long-time fans will find a flawed, but enjoyable experience.