This film has been on my Tubi watchlist since about the time I started using it in like September, I actually don't remember adding it but it's been on my mind for a day or two, and I got to say. Wow. This film is genuinely amazing and you need to go watch it right now. Like usual, spoilers ahead.
Would I call this movie good? Maybe, but would I call this movie entertaining? Hell yeah. This movie was awesome, it was just nonstop action and looking cool and badass.
For those who don't know, Hakaider is the antagonist of Android Kikaider, a tokusatsu series based on the manga of the same name by Shotaro Ishinomori (creator of Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, co creator of Power Rangers, etc) and in this spin-off film, he's the anti-hero protagonist in a post apocalyptic world taking down a dictatorship in a city and half-utopia called Jesustown, ran by ruler Gurjev.
Now, I haven't watched Kikaider nor Kamen Rider (excluding Shin) and I went in completely blind and wow it did not dissapoint in the slightest...well, except the awful dub for this film.
The Rebels were....pretty pathetic honestly, they get introduced stealing some weapons from a truck only to get surrounded by the white suit guards (who are like heavy units with white p90s) and Hakaider pulls up and aura farms and does his thing. But then he gets knocked out, and they take him to their hideout and they all die to the "It won't be easy to find our hideout" only to get swarmed trope, where everyone puts up an alright fight only to all get shot to death one by one (again like 200 guys swarmed the place) except Kaoru and another dude.
Then Kaoru shows off an oasis to Hakaider and she dreams of him before dying peacefully, it was a really weird sequence but I didn't hate it.
These guys sucked at fighting Hakaider, though to be fair it wasn't like they were equipped to fight him in teh first place outside of heavy explosives.
I really enjoyed watching them get taken down by Hakaider and killed, though, really that's all I have to say about them, they had cool uniforms but were overall fodder and I couldn't care less about them.
The MVP of this film, the title character and the best character the entire film. He was amazing.
He was looking cool and badass since the beginning when he was found by treasure hunters and he was all chained up to a wall and tanking insane gunfire and killing them all.
I loved Hakaider in this film, from the design down to his weaponry, there was not a single bad thing about him in this film and I truly loved how cool and badass he was portrayed the entire film. Dude, like, the scene where he two shot the van with a tank cannon was insane and I loved it a lot, from the arm rocket to his explosive shotgun and his chest rockets, he was true perfection.
While not as present in the film compared to Gurjev and the rebels, he was definitely the 2nd best character in the film beat only by the goat Hakaider himself.
He had a really awesome design with how he was an android and a blueish color and was angelic-like, which fit with the religious theme of the movie along with Gurjev who wore wings and the overall setting being called Jesustown.
This fight is easily the magnum opus of the film, I was hyped to see the two robots fight and it really paid off at the very end of the film.
From how slow and drawn out the fight was with little to no music, the sound design was also incredible with how everytime they punched eachother it sounded like a gong was played accompanied with the fact they were throwing eachother into walls and doing combos on eachother and they would get the upperhand sometimes.
It was a great fight with Michael almost winning before Hakaider pulled out his arm rocket and shot Michael's robo arm off and doing combos on him and I was pretty hyped and being like "Yeah kick his ass Hakaider! Get him!" up to the point he ripped Michael's android head off like a super cool mortal kombat fatality. It was so peak.
Phase two was ok though, Michael gets his head put on a machine and starts kicking Hakaider's ass and ends up shooting his arm off and also the machine and damage gave him Kikaider's blue and red color scheme, then at the end Hakaider pulls out his chest rockets and one shots Michael where he meets his demise.
Badass Mad Max-esque robot with cool action and an ok and forgettable story, if you want a short tokusatsu film that isn't the typical Kamen/Ultra/Sentai stuff, you should go watch it. I give it a 7.5/10 and for a film only around an hour and twenty minutes long, it took me around two to two and a half hours to finish.
Oh and V, if you end up reading this, I highly recommend you watch it, I know you'd love it.
That's all for today and just a friendly reminder.
Just. Be. Ultra!
