REVIEW: Amazons 04
So okay yeah, we got the Raid-esque episode this week and in an interesting move, within a shorter runtime. There isn’t much to say in regards to introducing the episode since it really does just focus upon this central premise of an apartment complex overrun by Amazonz. Was it good? Was it bad? Read on to find out!
So I want to start off this review with a bit of a discussion about how to do cliff-hangers and how Amazons is doing it well. So long time readers of my work know one of my biggest gripes with the Kamen Rider franchise is how it handles cliff-hangers, where they have a cliff-hanger in episode A that is super over dramatic and serious, but then promptly in episode b it’s solved within five minutes. It’s really poor pacing and planning that makes the cliff-hanger have less and less impact the more they use it as well as because it was solved so easily. In short Toei a lot of the time does cliff-hangers really poorly.
But here, with Kamen Rider Amazons episode 4 and 3, the cliff-hanger worked because the tough and tension filled situation wasn’t solved in a few minutes, but over the course of the whole episode. It doesn’t cheapen or lessen the tension from the end of last week, but in fact enhances and elevates it tenfold because it’s maintained over the course of an episode. Interestingly this episode is shorter than any of the others prior, clocking in around 30 minutes to the usual 40 something. Now I bring this up since the shorter run time since it really helps the tension since it doesn’t overstay its welcome and become too much. It feels like the exact right amount of time needed for the premise to do its best; which in all honesty is probably thanks to the freedom afforded through being on Amazon Prime Streaming.
As for the plot of this episode, well since it’s such a high-stakes and high tension premise it’s a mostly action filled episode. I think this is a fair enough move to make since we have been getting only brief action scenes over the course of the past two episodes, with those instalments being more focused on exposition. Again I think within the structure of the series as a whole this works in its favour. I say this as this episode is the big blow off action set piece after a few quiet episodes; the series has kind of earned it.
But my complaint last week about the bait and switch from episode 3 still stands. It is an extremely small complaint to make, but to call an episode ‘Colony of Ants’ and have the premise that fits that episode be a separate episode is some poor naming. Plus the preview for that episode made it out to be more like episode 4. It’s such a nitpicky thing to say, but I feel every part of a piece of art, here being an episode of a TV show, has to work with the other parts to make a cohesive whole; so if the naming of the episode, one of the most important aspects of a TV show, is off, the episode feels a little off. But I will admit this has more to do with expectations rather than the show itself, but I will still fault it for creating those expectations in the first place.
Despite being mostly action heavy, we did get some brief character moments this week, again mostly with Haruka. Now that Haruka has joined the extermination team (who I’m going to refer to as such from now on because honestly Peston Service is such a bad name) to prove that he is human, he is being more careful with his fighting, at least for the majority of the episode. I think this is a great technique of showing his character and props must definitely go the director and the suit actor for deciding to perform as such. But by the end of the episode, he seems to have tapped into a more vicious state based on advice given by Jin. Now I find this quite interesting since Jin, the one who cares less about being human, is the one who acts least beastly, while Haruka is in an opposite scenario, where he wants to be more human, but when he transforms is the opposite. It’s an interesting contrast between the two protagonists and certainly sets up more drama for Haruka since he keeps acting beastly, yet wants to be human. It was also quite nice to see Haruka interacting with the extermination team because hey it’s a new dynamic that should work and I look forward to more of it.
So since the episode was mostly filled with action, I feel that I need to talk about the action scenes this week and maybe with the action of the show on the whole. So this week’s action was really entertaining since its all within cramped corridors, which is slowly getting overused by the likes of Daredevil, but it’s still a joy to watch, especially since this sort of action hasn’t really been done before within tokusatsu, let alone Kamen Rider. But one thing that got me thinking about the show on the whole at some points this episode is holy shit it’s violent as fuck. I know I’ve mentioned this briefly before, but this episode really clinches it with Amazon Omega throwing a spear through three Amazonz, ripping one’s arm off and launching it in the air and ripping one in half. It’s still kind of laughable since it’s so over the top and the CGI blood isn’t that convincing, but Jesus Christ it’s pretty violent. This violent fighting is honestly quite fresh compared to the toned down action in the usual Toei tokusatsu and fits in quite well with the themes of the show since it’s all about beastliness (as well as the fact that it’s based on one of the more violent Showa riders). Point is this is a violent as hell show and I can’t help but enjoy it; it also helps that the action on the whole is quite different from what we usually get.
With episode 4 in the bag, I can confidently say that Amazons is quite a good show. Yeah we have more than half of the show left, but if it maintains this quality of action, storytelling and characterization I think this weird little experiment by Toei will be quite successful.
