Kyomoto Masaki's vanity project "Skull Soldier" is a mediocre superhero direct-to-video action film with some interesting concepts but ultimately is just another "Batman" ripoff.
Kyomoto Masaki is a man of many talents, a Renaissance Man of sorts. He was a former guitarist/musician (scouted by the famed Johnny's Jimusho talent agency) who became an actor and starred in a number of notable projects such as "Hissatsu Shigotonin V" and the Kadokawa film "Satomi Hakkenden". With his trademark full head of hair and boyish, pretty boy looks he was an idol of many adorning female fans.
It was during this time that he also got his first exposure to the world of Tokusatsu (Sci-Fi Live Action) and adventure TV. He made guest appearances on the "Kamen Rider-Black" TV series as well as played the main villain in the "Sukeban Deka Kazama San-shimai No Gyakushû" film. I guess these experiences made quite an impression on him as he produced, wrote and directed "Skull Man" as his own semi-Tokusatsu themed movie.
Combining elements of the aforementioned "Kamen Rider" series, "Sukeban Deka" and especially 1989's "Batman" movie, Kyomoto crafts a movie that tries hard to be a dark, adult-oriented superhero film but the results are a mixed bag.
Kyomoto portrays former detective Narumi Tatsuya, a somewhat happy-go-lucky loner who is always looking for quick money-making schemes. His companion is the strange hook-nosed misfit "Gaja " (portrayed by the wonderful character actor Ushio Kenji) who is mute.
Tatsuya is still reeling from the death of his adored younger sister, Shoko who was killed by mysterious assailants a number of months back.
In flashback, we see Tatsuya, consumed with revenge, quitting the police force to track down the murderers whom he finds connected with a clandestine research facility, Gokurikyu Labs, which is owned by the wealthy industrialist Hakuga Genko. Tatsuya confronts Genko, who tells him that his sister (an accomplished athlete) was killed in order to extract her DNA which would be used in manufacturing a special hormone (nicknamed "S or Skull Hormone") that would be used to create "super soldiers" with increased human speed, endurance and strength. Tatsuya tries to escape the facility but is stopped by Genko who throws Tatsuya into a chemical vat where all the discarded athletes whom they have abducted are left to die and decay. On the verge of death, Tatsuya is rescued by Gaja, who at the time was the "igor-like" assistant to a brilliant scientist (Original Ultraman Kurobe Susumu) who is working on the "Skull Soldier Project". He injects Tatsuya with a sample of the S-Hormone. Tatsuya's life is saved but must take regular injections of the hormone every 16 hours or else his body's enhanced physiology will turn on itself and kill him.
Using his enhanced powers, he creates body armor and a masked identity to seek out those responsible for the "Skull Soldier Project" and kill them.
As mentioned, Kyomoto was probably influenced heavily by Tim Burton's "Batman" film and he tries his best to match the dark humor, atmosphere and look of that film. Kyomoto's character is not very much like Bruce Wayne and instead could be seen as more like Clark Kent, with a somewhat nebbish, milquetoast persona but at the same time cool and confident among women.
The "Skull Soldier" character doesn't look very much like Batman but does look have a sort of Gothic inspired vibe (almost like a ghostly samurai) and his powers derive from various hidden weapons on his uniform (guns in his gloves; swords and knives hidden on his body; wires and other flying darts). His powers could be said to be more like Marvel Comic's Captain America and Wolverine.
There's a lot of trivia regarding this film that many Tokusatsu fans will probably appreciate in a geeky way -- Ushio Kenji's Gaja bears a striking resemblance to his famous "Akuma-Kun" character Mephisto. The costume design of "Skull Soldier" was done by none-other-than popular Tokusatsu illustrator/designer Amamiya Keita (who also did the "Zeiram" designs). The action director was Takakura Eiji, whose credits include "Silver Kamen", "Super Robot Red Baron" and "Iron King".
Kyomoto makes for a great hero and does have charm in his role.
Character actor Nakado Hiroyuki plays another signature veteran police character role and does so with little fanfare. It's a familiar role and he is as always good playing the role of a cop mentor to Kyomoto.
The rest of the cast which includes a number of cameo appearances from the likes of Morita Kensaku, Yokoyama "Knock", Ryoko, Umezu Sakaya, "Dump" Matsumoto, "Guts" Ishimatsu, Kaneko Mitsunobu and Kitamachi Yoshiro and they play just amusing misfits whom Kyomoto runs into in his adventures. Their scenes are funny at times but don't really add much.
Fellow "Hissatsu Shigotonin V" cast mate Honda Hirotaro (Gamera 3, Who's Cadamus Anyway)is shockingly over-the-top as villain Genko. I'm not sure if Kyomoto had Jack Nicholson's Joker in mind when creating this character but Honda's performance is absolutely terrible and he just comes off and totally silly. Genko, is supposed to be the main villain but his antics and crazed behavior make him out to be a lunatic. He is neither menacing or comical and Honda just derails the film every time he appears.
Pretty Hamada Julie is okay as Genko's abused younger sister whom Genko has an unhealthy romantic love for but doesn't bring anything special to her role. She plays the atypical damsel in distress.
On the whole, "Skull Soldier" has an interesting plot and Kyomoto's direction style is engaging but the overall film is nothing special and while Amamiya's "Skull Soldier" design is good, it can't really overcome the cheap, direct-to-video B-movie feel of the film and Honda's manic villain portrayal.
Kyomoto Masaki is a man of many talents, a Renaissance Man of sorts. He was a former guitarist/musician (scouted by the famed Johnny's Jimusho talent agency) who became an actor and starred in a number of notable projects such as "Hissatsu Shigotonin V" and the Kadokawa film "Satomi Hakkenden". With his trademark full head of hair and boyish, pretty boy looks he was an idol of many adorning female fans.
It was during this time that he also got his first exposure to the world of Tokusatsu (Sci-Fi Live Action) and adventure TV. He made guest appearances on the "Kamen Rider-Black" TV series as well as played the main villain in the "Sukeban Deka Kazama San-shimai No Gyakushû" film. I guess these experiences made quite an impression on him as he produced, wrote and directed "Skull Man" as his own semi-Tokusatsu themed movie.
Combining elements of the aforementioned "Kamen Rider" series, "Sukeban Deka" and especially 1989's "Batman" movie, Kyomoto crafts a movie that tries hard to be a dark, adult-oriented superhero film but the results are a mixed bag.
Kyomoto portrays former detective Narumi Tatsuya, a somewhat happy-go-lucky loner who is always looking for quick money-making schemes. His companion is the strange hook-nosed misfit "Gaja " (portrayed by the wonderful character actor Ushio Kenji) who is mute.
Tatsuya is still reeling from the death of his adored younger sister, Shoko who was killed by mysterious assailants a number of months back.
In flashback, we see Tatsuya, consumed with revenge, quitting the police force to track down the murderers whom he finds connected with a clandestine research facility, Gokurikyu Labs, which is owned by the wealthy industrialist Hakuga Genko. Tatsuya confronts Genko, who tells him that his sister (an accomplished athlete) was killed in order to extract her DNA which would be used in manufacturing a special hormone (nicknamed "S or Skull Hormone") that would be used to create "super soldiers" with increased human speed, endurance and strength. Tatsuya tries to escape the facility but is stopped by Genko who throws Tatsuya into a chemical vat where all the discarded athletes whom they have abducted are left to die and decay. On the verge of death, Tatsuya is rescued by Gaja, who at the time was the "igor-like" assistant to a brilliant scientist (Original Ultraman Kurobe Susumu) who is working on the "Skull Soldier Project". He injects Tatsuya with a sample of the S-Hormone. Tatsuya's life is saved but must take regular injections of the hormone every 16 hours or else his body's enhanced physiology will turn on itself and kill him.
Using his enhanced powers, he creates body armor and a masked identity to seek out those responsible for the "Skull Soldier Project" and kill them.
As mentioned, Kyomoto was probably influenced heavily by Tim Burton's "Batman" film and he tries his best to match the dark humor, atmosphere and look of that film. Kyomoto's character is not very much like Bruce Wayne and instead could be seen as more like Clark Kent, with a somewhat nebbish, milquetoast persona but at the same time cool and confident among women.
The "Skull Soldier" character doesn't look very much like Batman but does look have a sort of Gothic inspired vibe (almost like a ghostly samurai) and his powers derive from various hidden weapons on his uniform (guns in his gloves; swords and knives hidden on his body; wires and other flying darts). His powers could be said to be more like Marvel Comic's Captain America and Wolverine.
There's a lot of trivia regarding this film that many Tokusatsu fans will probably appreciate in a geeky way -- Ushio Kenji's Gaja bears a striking resemblance to his famous "Akuma-Kun" character Mephisto. The costume design of "Skull Soldier" was done by none-other-than popular Tokusatsu illustrator/designer Amamiya Keita (who also did the "Zeiram" designs). The action director was Takakura Eiji, whose credits include "Silver Kamen", "Super Robot Red Baron" and "Iron King".
Kyomoto makes for a great hero and does have charm in his role.
Character actor Nakado Hiroyuki plays another signature veteran police character role and does so with little fanfare. It's a familiar role and he is as always good playing the role of a cop mentor to Kyomoto.
The rest of the cast which includes a number of cameo appearances from the likes of Morita Kensaku, Yokoyama "Knock", Ryoko, Umezu Sakaya, "Dump" Matsumoto, "Guts" Ishimatsu, Kaneko Mitsunobu and Kitamachi Yoshiro and they play just amusing misfits whom Kyomoto runs into in his adventures. Their scenes are funny at times but don't really add much.
Fellow "Hissatsu Shigotonin V" cast mate Honda Hirotaro (Gamera 3, Who's Cadamus Anyway)is shockingly over-the-top as villain Genko. I'm not sure if Kyomoto had Jack Nicholson's Joker in mind when creating this character but Honda's performance is absolutely terrible and he just comes off and totally silly. Genko, is supposed to be the main villain but his antics and crazed behavior make him out to be a lunatic. He is neither menacing or comical and Honda just derails the film every time he appears.
Pretty Hamada Julie is okay as Genko's abused younger sister whom Genko has an unhealthy romantic love for but doesn't bring anything special to her role. She plays the atypical damsel in distress.
On the whole, "Skull Soldier" has an interesting plot and Kyomoto's direction style is engaging but the overall film is nothing special and while Amamiya's "Skull Soldier" design is good, it can't really overcome the cheap, direct-to-video B-movie feel of the film and Honda's manic villain portrayal.
