Paradise Regained is a decades later follow-up to the Kamen Rider Faiz series. Coming out 21 years after the television show and 20 years after its alternative universe movie sequel, it reunites several of the original actors to reexamine the series and its setting some two decades on.
It tells a far more comprehensible story than the previous film with more modern suit work and choreography, but perhaps the most astonishing thing about this is simply that a 20-year-later sequel movie to an old kids show was made in the first place.
Spoilers:
Paradise Regained follows the television series in place of the AU film but it does take a few story beats from the latter. Once again, the dynamics between the human and orphnoch populations have taken a swerve, and once again Takumi Inui, the titular Kamen Rider Faiz, is pointedly absent.
Orphnochs have been revealed to the human public and are being actively hunted by the government. Mari, Kusaka1 and Naoya lead a small organization that rescues and hides newly transformed orphnochs, following the will of Keitaro, likewise absent.2 Opposing them is the malevolent Smart Brain corporation, which has divested itself of its orphnoch loyalties and is now being led by President Kitazaki, previously thought to be deceased.
When Takumi finally reappears — now wielding the Next Faiz smart phone3 and with a voice an octave lower — the situation becomes violent.
Like previous Faiz entries, Paradise Regained has a goodly amount of soap opera style nonsense. On the one hand, everyone being in their late thirties and forties mostly changes the tenor of such for the better, but this also allows the dynamics to get more adult.
Rena, the new Kamen Rider Muez, is embarrassed about being seen transforming and is violently possessive about her crush. A relationship between a young woman enthusiastically pursuing a young man who, in turn, seems completely uninterested in reciprocating, ends with the man apologizing with his dying breath for not appreciating her. Takumi suffers from a fatal turning-to-dust disease only to have it cured after he's rescued from an undeserving woman and reacquainted with his one true love. It's very about (straight) relationships and people's intended roles therein.
All that aside, its hard to argue that Paradise Regained isn't fun. It tells a short but engaging story with some fun twists, the new suits — both rider and orphnoch — are excellent, and the choreography and effects work plainly benefits from 20 years of improvement.
The movie also has jokes! Smart Brain's medical researchers are braver than any riot trooper. Orphnoch sympathizer Keitaro's replacement, Jotaro, wears a "Do The Right Thing" t-shirt. There's a plot relevant evil grandma. We get to watch Kusaka ham things up before becoming the only Faiz character to die in each of the show and both films. There's an in suit orphnoch sex scene.4 Which. Like. Isn't not funny, and I feel earns the films some props on general principal.
Faiz has always been very telenova, so while a story about Mari getting her man back is not the story I would have wanted, it's not exactly out of line for the series. In fact, Paradise Regained is astonishingly true to the old television show. It's wild that this even exists.
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It also wild that everyone is seemingly fine with Takumi killing that one kid. You'd think that'd provoke a conversation, maybe. I guess no one liked him.
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"We all thought Kusaka was dead, but here he is."
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In his absence, his roll is filled by the new character Jotaro, his supposed nephew. This new actor has strong enough resemblance to Keitaro to give the strange impression that he simply hasn't aged these 20 years. It's kind of uncanny. Perhaps he wore the stone mask?
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What an blessing to the writers that "smart phone" became the modern term for mobile phone.
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It's brief and not explicit, if that's a concern.
