Directed by Keita Amemiya
Starring Yuji Kishimoto, Mai Hosho, Yasuaki Honda
Over the years, I’ve attempted to watch Mechanical Violator Hakaider three or four times, and only on the third or fourth attempt did I make it to the credits – not intact. This movie always puts me to sleep, so it’s just a matter of picking up where I’d left off or deciding it had been too long and starting over. And I’d think, “How is this happening?” One of the strands running through this (strand-type) blog is the film’s director Keita Amemiya, whose career serves the hyper-specific, me-shaped niche of “non-kaiju tokusatsu and also R-rated violence,” with the bonus of an appreciation for action heroines (usually played by one actress, Yuko Moriyama). Hakaider could be the result of the slightest deviation from that formula, but I think its sleep-inducing power speaks to fundamental problems, and ironically may speak to Amemiya’s craft.
Like his Kamen Rider movies, Mechanical Violator Hakaider revisits an older property, in this case, Shotaro Ishinomori’s Kikaider manga and the 1970s television adaptation, wherein Hakaider is a villain. This 1995 movie swaps the superhero protagonist for an antihero, and indeed Hakaider looks the part, with his almost xenomorph shape and a permanent grimace. He rides a motorcycle and wields a shotgun like the Terminator, and after being accidentally freed from mysterious imprisonment by post-apocalyptic bandits, he heads to – where else? – Jesus Town. It’s one of those 1984 dystopic cities, which are usually atheistic because the Bible burns most profoundly. Not so here, as even the authoritarian leader’s cyborg henchman has a biblical name: the unimpressive-sounding “Michael.”
You imagine that, at some point, Hakaider will fight Michael and the leader guy, Gurjev, played by the extremely pretty musician Yasuaki Honda, and this is borne out, yes. The problem isn’t the destination but the journey, because they sure manage to convolute the hell out of a 77-minute runtime (I watched the director’s cut, where the theatrical is 51 minutes long). At the same time Hakaider arrives in Jesus Town, a rebel group attacks the government and bumps into him. One of the rebels, a love interest named Kaoru, has been having Brazil-like dreams about Hakaider as a knight on horseback, and implores him to overthrow Gurjev. This is where Hakaider should take the deal and ride off toward the final boss room.
But no, because Hakaider likes the politics but not the methods. Kaoru has to show him that they’re rebelling because Gurjev is lobotomizing the people of Jesus Town, which means more pain for Amemiya favorite Yukijirō Hotaru. This is where Hakaider should take the deal. But no. The bad guys storm the rebel base and kill everyone. Kaoru is mortally wounded, and believes Hakaider is also killed – blown up by a rocket launcher. Then we have a weird scene where Kaoru runs around town yelling at the lobotomized citizens. Hakaider reveals himself as having survived, and they go to the beach, where she dies. Finally, Hakaider decides to stop Gurjev.
This is like the opposite of Elysium, where they kept stacking motivations for Matt Damon’s character to go to Elysium. Hakaider can’t be bothered to fight Gurjev’s forces, even though that’s exclusively what he’s been doing (and why even go to Jesus Town to begin with?!). The film’s second set piece is a chase with bulky cyborgs on motorcycles and some pretty great motorcycle-flipping carnage. This is what he does, so why? It doesn’t help that Hakaider has two facial expressions: the expressionless robot face, and the almost equally expressionless human face underneath. Who knows what’s going on in that robot brain, and being a passive protagonist is one thing, but he’s practically unresponsive.
In this regard, we can locate Hakaider between Mirai Ninja and Zeiram. Where Mirai Ninja also features a masked and therefore expressionless hero, it was jam-packed with enough craziness that it didn’t really matter. With Zeiram, Iria might be another superpowered nonhuman, but she has a human face and a human personality. She’s charming and compassionate and professional, and plays off other, louder personalities. Hakaider follows the same track and ends with a giant monster battle, but even the welcome joys of Amemiya tokusatsu require the foundation of character and plot.
The production design and art direction are stellar as expected – I especially love the cyborg Stormtrooper guys – and it’s all shot with Amemiya’s smart but matter-of-fact style. It’s another example of this very specific genre (would probably pair well with Lady Battle Cop), but I’m comfortable calling it the director’s worst film.
God, I wish there were more like it.
With Eyes East 