MECHANICAL VIOLATOR HAKAIDER , 1995 , Another Amemiya film.
Just like the title seems, Hakaider is walking heavy metal. From what I understand he's a villain normally in the series he's from, so he's playing the anti-hero 'dark knight' role. He is a very handsome cyborg (Dai Matsumoto) who transforms grotesquely into an upgraded, armored version of himself, and destroys shit-- he's kinda like a "Terminator man", and the movie is very upfront about him being the representation of a fallen angel. You'll also possibly find similarities to Judge Dredd, Batman, Ghost Rider, or Robocop.
Oh yeah and he rides a motorcycle, has a sawed-off super-shotgun, and he's bulletproof.
The antagonists in the film are portrayed as being a hierophant and angel from Christian mythology-- to properly oppose Hakaider's Lucifer thing-- his name being Michael. His boss/god is a typical faggoty slimy Japanese psycho type who isn't very remarkable, but Michael plays the part of a robot without will who serves prescribed justice.
"If you have no will, there is no point in having a life." -- Hakaider, before he splatters a henchman who claims he was following orders.
Hakaider is a free living man who burns justice away. He destroys.
Obviously the prop/armor/character design is what shines here, with satisfying color palettes and a suitably dark smoky atmosphere in many scenes. Very well done designs on everything as I've come to expect with Amemiya. I got what I came for in that department, and more
The cinematography was good... interesting, some interesting choices in editing, but overall, a lot of scenes had a certain J-pop music video effect that seemed, maybe, a little ahead of its time for this type of movie. I can't say for sure, because I'm not that familiar with the director or genre, but the surreality of some composed shots were really pleasant and cool. One that comes to mind is a digitally superimposed giant statue of Jesus (?) sticking out from a lush forest background in an "oasis". A 'new age' feel.
There's minimal CGI, and it's tasteful when it's used. There existed a familiar scene that I recognized the structure of from Makaraga only this time it was entirely claymation-- Hakaider included-- which looked like shit and could have been omitted or imagined a little better in order to avoid having a piece of clay represent an actor in the year 1995, but it has its charm valued beyond what it is for the same exact scene in the later, aforementioned film, thanks to the lack of CGI.
There are plenty of combat scenes-- Hakaider's super shotgun blows numerous roboguard heads off, people are gunned down and dragged down the highway by motorcycle, etc. ... the mechanical warriors make loud clanking sounds whenever they walk, and it's cool, it intentionally creates an exaggerated ringing effect when metal makes contact with metal in a fight, so the director is aware that it's ridiculous and he uses it to his advantage. The splatter violence elements are strong, I got my rocks off & it's great, but I'd have liked to see one or two more explicitly blood-oriented scenes in the film.
Very enjoyable, will be watching more of these types of films.