Fourze and the Kamen Rider Club return for another awesome Rider summer movie!
- It really was great getting to see Gentaro and the Club again. I had almost forgotten how fun watching their interactions and antics on the show could be, though the movie made sure to include as much of it as possible. I'd say the movie is the epitome of the best parts of Fourze, or at least what I enjoyed the most about it, and cranked up a notch for the big screen. Of course, I think that's what Rider summer movies should always strive to accomplish creatively.
- Admittedly, there wasn't that much in the way of plot for the movie. But having complex and deep plots have never really been the big draw to Rider movies anyhow so I think it's forgivable. What was there, I think was great and worked well. We got some nice character moments from every member of the Club, Gentaro being his ever lovable friendship logic-defying self, and some good scenes with Ryusei that highlight his development from the show. I definitely got a kick out of seeing Meteor be the one to call out Wizard for not taking the Kamen Rider name seriously. As for Gentaro, he had plenty of awesome scenes that reminded me why I liked him as a Rider. And a few good emotional moments too, since with Gentaro you're almost guaranteed to get both. As for the new characters, I liked Inga. She was pretty cool, and it's nice to see a competent female in Rider who can handle herself well in a fight. She also had some great chemistry with Ryusei.... oh God, Tomoko is going to curse me now isn't she :O_O:?
- As for the main villains, I thought the Kyodain were great antagonists. Effective, deadly, and with awesome designs to boot. However, I'll admit that this is coming from someone who hasn't ever seen Space Ironmen Kyodain, so I have no previous attachment to the characters. I can understand why seeing previous heroes used again as psychopathic antagonists could be jarring to those who've seen the Kyodain series. But, I like to think that the Kyodain here were only meant as homages and not as actual next-generation versions of the characters. Hence the name changes. In that regard, they're different from how Inazuman was used in Ultimatum. I think keeping that in mind helps when watching the movie. Also, it was nice seeing Ayumi Kinoshita again, not that I would ever expect her to return as a villain.
- My God, the action, the action, the action :castlerock:! As disappointed as I was that Sakamoto had to leave the main series, especially as the rest of the Horoscopes were starting to be introduced, I now feel content knowing he was directing this in the meantime! Every fight in this movie, both the ones in-suit and out of suit, were high quality. Even all the other members of the Rider Club got some fun scenes against the Dustards! And with a movie budget, it was nice to see Shun and the Power Dizer get to show off a little.
- I have to confess, with all the giant robots in this movie, I was a little convinced Fourze was trying to become a mecha show...
- Was that Giant Step I heard during the training sequence? It's not often you hear an insert song from the show make it into the movie.
- The fight with all 12 Horoscopes was well worth the wait. Each Horoscope got a moment to shine, even Taurus, as they gave Fourze and Meteor the fight of their lives. The fights here actually make me wish that Sakamoto could have directed at least a few more Horoscope arcs before he had left for the movie. I think he would've been able to make the last string of Horoscopes more impressive and deadly than they ultimately were on the show. But back to the fight, there were just some really great moments all around. Fourze managing to take down Cancer and Leo, Meteor using the Meteor Galaxy to deadly effect against Fourze's rivals Scorpio and Libra, and Wizard managing to take down a non-Supernova Sagittarius. And of course, my praising of this fight would not be complete without mentioning how awesome it was that they managed to fit in all 40 Switches during it. Not only that, but they were all used pretty effectively as well. I was always thinking that the movie would be the best chance the creators had to show off some of Fourze's lesser used Switches one last time, but I never thought they would use all 40 of them! Kudos to Koichi Sakamoto and kazuki Nakishima, who seem to be the only part of the Fourze creative team to remember that Fourze has more than just 4 or 6 Astro Switches.
- Wizard's introduction was alright. Shunya Shiraishi sounded a little weird as Haruto, but that's par the course for appearances of the next Main Rider in the summer movies. I liked how Fourze got him to start calling himself "Kamen Rider Wizard," even if that's never come up in Wizard proper.
- My only real disappointment with the film is that Cosmic States didn't get to do that much. I was hoping the movie would get to show off more Switch combinations since it had a larger budget than the series, but I guess they just couldn't fit it in.
- I admit that I couldn't recognize all the old characters that appeared again. But that doesn't make it any less impressive that the creative team used them in the movie, similar to how past clients showed up in W Forever, which I think is a really nice touch. All those characters have been effected by Gentaro being Fourze, and even if they were Zodiarts, being defeated by Fourze ultimately did more good for them in the end. As for Gamou, well, at this point in the show I think he had massive respect for Gentaro so I think that's where he fits in.
- The final fight, Fourze vs. Groundain and Skydain, definitely did not disappoint, and in my opinion was a much better fight than OOO vs. Gara from OOO wonderful. Meteor Fusion States redeemed itself from all those bad scans of it from before the movie was out, though that's usually the case with Movie Forms, and seeing Fourze combine his Switches with the Meteor Galaxy along with some nice Jeet Kune Do to utterly beat the tar out of the Kyodain was an immense pleasure to watch. And when "Switch On" kicked in, I couldn't help but be glued to the screen. Even when the Kyodain turned into CGI vehicles, not that anything more needs to be said about Toei's CGI, the fight was still great, as Fourze put to use the Barizun sword and his bike + Power Dizer to good use. The best CGI fights in Rider almost always come from the movies after all. And we got a nice Rider Kick finisher to top it all off!
- All in all, an excellent Rider summer movie! I can't wait for the return of Fourze in Movie Wars Ultimatum!
