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Kamen Rider The Next is a 2007 Japanese Tokusatsu Film
directed by Ryuta Tasaki and written by Toshiki Inoue. The film was
released on October 27, 2007. The film borrows elements from the Kamen Rider television series and is a sequel to the Kamen Rider The First movie (which was a film adaptation of the original Kamen Rider series).
The film is largely of the horror genre, unlike The First which was mostly action sci-fi.
Actor Kazuki Kato, who had previously portrayed Daisuke Kazama/Kamen Rider Drake in Kamen Rider Kabuto, portrayed Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider. Both Masaya Kikawada and Hassei Takano reprise their roles as Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1 and Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider 2, respectively.
It was given a PG-12 rating for its brief nudity and mild violence.
Kazuki Kato As Shiro Kazami
Two years after the events of Kamen Rider The First,
a strange series of bizarre murders occur with the victims mutilated in
a most gruesome fashion while pop star Chiharu's "Platinum Smile" is
being played, becoming an urban legend. Meanwhile, Takeshi Hongo has
become a high school science teacher with a troublesome class with one
catching his attention, a troubled girl named Kotomi Kikuma who was best
friends with Chiharu and is worried about her. By the time Hongo and
she find a dying "Chiharu", they learn she's actually an imposter as the
Shocker Inhumanoid Chainsaw Lizard arrives with the six Shocker Riders
to carry out the task of executing Hongo, forcing him to reveal himself
in as Kamen Rider 1 to Kotomi before escaping his hunters. At around the
same time, Hayato Ichimonji is shown still alive but slowly weakening
due to his body's rejection of the cybernetic changes which made him
Kamen Rider 2.
The next day, after saving Kotomi from some punks by exposing his physical ability, Hongo accept Kotomi's offer to help in finding Chiharu by finding her older brother Shiro Kazami, who is former president of the rising IT enterprise ExaStream, which is tied to the mysterious disappearance of its staff two months prior. Making their way to his holiday home to meet Kazami, Hongo and Kotomi soon learn that he in league with Shocker as Chainsaw Lizard and the Shocker Riders battle Kamen Rider on as Kazami joins the fray as a Shocker Inhumanoid code-named "V3". After chasing down Rider 1 in a high speed chase across the countryside, V3 and the Shocker Riders take down Rider 1 until Kamen Rider 2 re-appears to cover Rider 1's escape. But after realizing his "sister" was another imposter, Kazami reveals the incident at ExaStream was a Shocker experiment of Nanobots designed to convert all humans in Japan into cyborgs, with him being a survivor of the experiment. The three riders later learn that Kotomi found the other girl, revealing the gruesome fate the real Chiharu suffered as she and predecessor were involved, horrifying Kazami as Kotomi is telepathically shown the truth of the real Chiharu's final moments as "Chiharu" runs off and eventually is brutally murdered with the manager and the record dealer who were covering up her death as Kotomi uses Platinum Smile to communicate with Chiharu, learning that she's still alive as the "ghost" took its leave.
After Kazami reveals to Hongo that Shocker's foreign branch
brought a shipment of nanobots to spread them across the nation, Rider 1
arrives to intercept the convoy while battling Scissors Jaguar, the
mastermind behind the Nanobot Operation, with Rider 2 arriving to back
him up as the battle brings to the Legend of Gathering in an all out
fight for the nanobots. Though the Double Riders were overwhelmed, the
tables are turned as V3 arrives to support them. While the Double Riders
kill Scissors Jaguar, V3 manages to destroy Chainsaw Lizard and the
nanobots before coming face to face with Chiharu, horrifically mutated
by the nanobots into a monster as she pleas her brother to put her out
of her misery. Though reluctant to do it, Kazami executes the V3 Punch
to honor his sister's wish to die rather than live as a monster in
agonizing pain. After the Triple Riders escape the burning restaurant,
Ichimonji takes his leave to spend his final moments in bliss at a Ginza
bar he regulars, while Kazami decides to start a new life for himself.
As for Hongo, he is forced to quit his job after a few complaints made
for his earlier stunt as Kotomi decides to walk him home. The Platinum
Smile incidents seemingly end as the credits roll.
However, though Chiharu finally died, the "curse of Platinum Smile" is still in effect.
