[Sh Ranger]

Like I said before in the Kabuto thread, Movie War Ultimatum is my favorite Movie War and also my overall favorite Kamen Rider movie, so of course I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve than giving lots of praise to one of the best winter movies I've ever seen!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER X KAMEN RIDER WIZARD & FOURZE: MOVIE WAR ULTIMATUM (DIRECTOR?S CUT)

The Fourze section has the roughest patch in it, where, again, I appreciate what it?s trying to say. Saburou is a villain who?s just lashing out from loneliness, and he needs someone his own age to tell him he?s worth befriending. It?s just, it?s a resolution that?s asking everyone around Saburou to bend over backwards to make him feel better, when he barely does anything to warrant it. It needs Miyoppe ? who is victimized by Saburou ? to ask for Saburou?s forgiveness for? I?m not even sure what? It?s Saburou who?s constantly harassing and endangering her, while she?s solely focused on her own goals and activities. It?s like she?s being penalized for not thinking enough about how the surly asshole in her class is feeling, selfishly focusing on her own happiness, and it?s gross? It?s a little gross, the way she?s made to bear responsibility for her bully. It?s preaching a moral that wants to say Sometimes Mean People Just Need Compassion, but it definitely comes off as Maybe You Had It Coming. Not a fan of that!

I mean, there was that arc in Fourze about that guy Shun bullied becoming addicted to being a Zodiart and Shun feeling guilty about it. The only reason Shun and Miu ended up in Kamen Rider Club was cause Gentarou was the only person who saw beneath their untouchable status, that they were actually suffering people. As a teacher, he's trying to pass on that wisdom to Miyoppe, which is an important lesson for members of Kamen Rider Club. It's not so much that Miyoppe is being wrongfully blamed for Saburou's behavior, more like Gentarou's encouraging her to exercise empathy and look beneath the surface to see that Saburou is actually suffering inside. It's not just Miyoppe who learns from this, as Saburou realizes how his actions were misguided and makes peace with the old humans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The other big thing that people are probably going to kick about from the Fourze part of this movie is Gentarou throwing away his Fourze Driver, and I?m of two minds on it. On the one hand, it?s completely the sort of Big Dumb Gesture that Gentarou would make. He?s someone who is very focused on the current interaction, and he?ll gladly toss away everything Fourze accomplished if it means getting through to one struggling teenager. On the other hand, the plot immediately shows what a short-sighted maneuver this is, since Gentarou needs to borrow a Fourze Driver if he?s going to save the world. There?s some obvious calculus here, about the needs of the many versus the needs of the one, and I get why Gentarou throwing away an apocalypse-averting piece of gear would bother folks. I think it works for the character, but I wish it was being done for a kid who maybe deserved it more? Gentarou?s throwing away a hero that saved millions of lives for a grumpy bully who?s making himself the victim. I don?t love that trade?

Kengo's line about Fourze Driver returning someday has an awesome payoff in a future winter movie! Gentarou can afford to throw Fourze Driver in to lava, cause Fourze Driver is his friend and he trusts that it will find its way back to him somehow. Kengo doesn't even attempt to explain how, he just kind of knows that the universe will make it happen. I think it's an extremely powerful statement of how much Gentarou trusts his friends and believes in the strength of each person to make a difference. Of course, Fourze Driver is only able to survive due to being technology. Throwing a human in to lava wouldn't have the same effect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The Wizard section? boy. I really loved about 99% of it. The idea of Poitrine drawing strength from her love of toku, but needing to find a healthy way to incorporate it into her adult life? YES. Relatable! But, wow, to sort of it toss it all aside for a Gay Panic joke? When (and I know this was never going to happen in a million years) you actually have a sort of poignant trans metaphor to work with, something that could speak to a whole group of kids watching toku that never thought they?d get a chance to see something that spoke to their experience or perspective? It?s heartbreaking. It?s a great story about identity and expression and how hard it can be to not see yourself in the stories you love and how we get to pull the parts we want out of toku to make something just for us and how being an adult means keeping some of that love for toku out of sight? and then you find out its written by someone who thinks gay people are a joke, and that sucks. It super sucks.

There is some meta payoff to this though. Yu's actress Kaba-chan completed her sex change transition sometime after Wizard ended. Which means she no longer identifies as a gay dude, but a straight girl instead. While the moral is good, I will admit that the delivery does kind of get a little diminished in the end, due to Haruto's typical insensitivity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Those disappointments aside, I think the movie works okay. It?s a Sakamoto joint, so the action is top-notch. (Folks complained about his male-gaze-y direction before, but this was the movie where I found it too distracting. Every girl in a skirt needed a close-up and slow-mo shot of her twirling skirt! There were a bunch of Nadeshiko butt bumps! Inga Blink was perpetually glistening!) Every Heisei Phase 2 Rider makes a return appearance, even if it?s just the main hero suit and zero dialogue. Eiji?s here, because Eiji?s cool. We get modern-day refreshes on classic Ishinomori characters. There?s a massive Mad Max-esque vehicle fight that lasts about as long as a Mad Max movie. It?s a gigantic action film with a ton of cool-looking characters, whatever its other failings.

The action in this movie is so awesome, I have to mention it! Gentarou's and Saburou's parkour chase featuring a cute Moogle plushie. Rinko getting to clean the floor with a bunch of Ghouls like a bad*ss. Koyomi and Shunpei joining in despite not being experienced fighters. Wizard fighting a giant turkey. The explosive chase with the Riders on their bikes and the Akumaizers' armored truck. Fourze Meteor Nadeshiko Fusion States and Wizard Special Rush syncing their powers against Zaiderbeck in a giant pit of lava. What doesn't look awesome here?!