In 1994, New Line Cinema decided that they wanted to do a follow-up to their 1991 film "The Guyver", so they quickly went to work developing what would become "The Guyver 2: Dark Hero". The film picks up about a year or two after the events of the previous film. Sean Barker has become mentally unstable due to the biomechanical Guyver armor that lives inside him. He tried to become a crimefighter, but the suit always ends up taking control and killing the criminals, which Sean does NOT want to happen. One day, he hears about an archeological dig site that has discovered a set of cave paintings that are the same exact pictures that he has been having nightmares about. Putting two and two together, he figures it all has to be connected to the Guyver unit's origin, and joins the dig team in order to get some answers. Of course, the Zoanoids have returned, despite Sean thinking he had destroyed them all in the first film.
When the producers were originally coming up with the idea for the sequel, they needed to look at what didn't work in the original and improve on that. One of the first things they did away with was the casting of Jack Armstrong in the role of Sean Barker. Instead, they decided to go with a relative unknown actor that goes by the name David Hayter. And if you're any time of fanboy or video game nerd, then you known the name David Hayter. Other than being one of the screenwriters of the first two X-Men films AND the "Watchmen" film adaptation, he is probably best known as being the voice of both Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the "Metal Gear Solid" videogame series. I'm a much bigger fan of Hayter stepping into this role than I was of Armstrong. The guy just seemed to get it. He completely understood the character of Sean, and the inner turmoil he was going through with the Guyver Unit. The moment when Sean is standing inside the space ship being told all the secrets of where the ship came from and how the Guyver units were made, and he just badassly tells the ship "I'm nothing like you!", I knew this guy was perfect for the role. It's a shame they never did another film after this one. I would have loved to have seen where he would have went with the role.
When the producers were originally coming up with the idea for the sequel, they needed to look at what didn't work in the original and improve on that. One of the first things they did away with was the casting of Jack Armstrong in the role of Sean Barker. Instead, they decided to go with a relative unknown actor that goes by the name David Hayter. And if you're any time of fanboy or video game nerd, then you known the name David Hayter. Other than being one of the screenwriters of the first two X-Men films AND the "Watchmen" film adaptation, he is probably best known as being the voice of both Solid Snake and Naked Snake in the "Metal Gear Solid" videogame series. I'm a much bigger fan of Hayter stepping into this role than I was of Armstrong. The guy just seemed to get it. He completely understood the character of Sean, and the inner turmoil he was going through with the Guyver Unit. The moment when Sean is standing inside the space ship being told all the secrets of where the ship came from and how the Guyver units were made, and he just badassly tells the ship "I'm nothing like you!", I knew this guy was perfect for the role. It's a shame they never did another film after this one. I would have loved to have seen where he would have went with the role.
The Zoanoid creatures were also an improvement. They weren't as goofy this time around. And I loved how they tried to hide the late night Zoanoid attacks in the woods as being just a random bear attack on a helpless, unsuspecting citizen who "got too close". And adding the first ever Zoanoid to wear a Guyver unit was pure genius. It was probably taken right out of the Japanese Manga which came before the film, as almost EVERYTHING ELSE in this film is. That's what I love to see whenever anyone decides to do a film that's based off a book/comic/novel/manga. They should try to stay as close to the original source material as possible. If they stray too far, then the entire thing goes off the tracks. And trust me, I've seen some incredibly baaaaaaaaaaaad adaptations where they took liberties that didn't need to be taken, and the whole thing just basically shut down. But that's a story for another time.
The fight sequences are tremendously better this time around! You could tell they added in a little wire work, but it's almost like the Sean from the first movie went to the Mr. Miyagi karate class, then immediately jumped into a course taught by Jean Claude Van Damme, and finally got his ass kicker degree from the highest master, Chuck Norris. That's right, I DROPPED A CHUCK FREGGIN' NORRIS JOKE INTO THIS REVIEW! Anyway, they also showcased a couple new powers for the Guyver armor, like the little silver ball on his forehead that shoots lasers. Or its ability to blend in when underwater, so it appears to be virtually invisible. And the scene where Sean jumps off a cliff to get to his new love interest before she is horribly mangled by a couple Zoanoid creatures, and the armor shoots out of his body and takes its form around him in mid air, all before he even lands on the ground is just badass!
This movie is not perfect, however. The music is in dire need of work, and some of the acting from some of the characters that help make up the archeologist dig team is sub-par. But all in all, this film is a much better take on the Guyver mythos than the original movie was. I would even go as far as to say that you wouldn't even need to watch the first one. Just jump headfirst into this film, and you'll know everything you need to by the end, and get a better movie. Sadly, it went straight to video and TV, but it did get SOME limited theatrical time...in foreign countries. I heard that David Hayter had pitched an idea for a third installment, but the studio felt that the Guyver story just didn't catch on like they had hoped it would, and discontinued the franchise. I would have loved to have heard Hayter's pitch. Who knows, he's a pretty big name in the videogame world now. Maybe someone could come along and give this franchise a proper videogame treatment, and Hayter could voice the role. It's the perfect story for a videogame. Man in alien biomechanical armor battles human/monster hybrids created by an evil corporation hell bent on destroying mankind. It's worked for the Power Ranger franchise!