[FreshToku]

I really don't like the Gaim portion of thos movie. I admittedly went into it biased because I dont' like how Mitsuzane's arc ended in the show, but this movie went in an even further direction I didn't like by having him prove himself by rescuing Mai... even though his obsession with 'protecting' her was one of the reasons he was evil to begin with. It kiiiinda feels like here he is finally being rewarded for his 'commitment'. You are totally right about Mai's relationship with all the guys being horrible, but at least in the show, her thing with Mitsuzane was supposed to look bad. Not anymore, I guess!

And they put Takatora into the inferior Genesis Driver suit for the back half! (Really funny that this is Ryoma's second time being a robot though)

I really like the Drive part though! I actually really like all the Drive cinema stuff, and I think a big part of it is how much I like all the action across Drive material in general. There's such a consistent physicallity to it all that I enjoy that for me, strikes a perfect balance between the more style-focused flash of Wizard or the methodical slugging in Gaim. I could watch Drive or Chaser or anyone else from that series duke it out all day any day.

The story's nice too! They fit in a surprising amount with Lupin's introduction, Krim's 'death' and Shinnosuke's comeback, in just a portion of a movie, but none of it feels too cramped? I honestly think this one third of Movie War is on par and maybe in some ways better than Surprise Drive (and I like that movie a bunch!)

The team part at the ene is also a lot of fun. The two heroes are mostly just goofing around and I'm all for it. These team ups rather expectedly treat these occasions as momentus occasions and when the heroes have to look their most composed or competent, but I think I much prefer Gaim and Drive trying badly to fit into a car and yelling over each other on the (space) road.