[Locke]

W A to Z.

Storywise, I found A to Z kinda terrible, but it was a lot more to do with personal taste, than it being truly a terrible story. I don't need things spelt out for me, but I do like things to make sense. And I honestly I just couldn't stand this story of super zombies, ill defined powers and all of the surreal dream logic that bound the film in an impossible to define set of rules. Cool things can exist, without having to make up utter nonsense to contrive it into life. And that isn't even mentioning all the possibilities this narrative introduces, and then never capitalises on.

But in the visuals? Now that is where this film shines. It may have continued the tradition of terrible looking Dopants through Trigger and Luna - Jesus Fucking Christ - but the two new Riders, one Rider surprise and one upgrade, this movie gave us were all treats.

Eternal, for example, was a bit of a mess but somehow it all kinda works as a whole unit. It's like they took Daguva, and then made it battle practical, and it was just kinda glorious. I love all the little touches too, like the combat gun knife, and the fact his Maximum Drive is like an EMP. If it wasn't for the stupid plot of the film, this memory would have been much better named 'War' or 'Tyrant' or 'King' or something. It is neither a character I particularly like, or a character that really makes any sense, but he sure got a great suit.

The other great new Rider was Joker. The idea of splitting W in half seems a really bad one. But Joker singularly allowed Sho to really show off how badass he is, in a series where every villain always looks down on him, before he kicks their asses. I both loved how much it, seemingly deliberately, looked like Kamen Rider Skull and that his two Maximum Drives were the two classic Rider powers, the Rider Kick and the Rider Punch.

Then there was Fuuto Xtreme. Xtreme is an Upgrade I've appreciated less and less as the show progressed. I mean it's awesome, but when you see how perfect Trial is, how fitting it is, how Accel could never upgrade into anything else it makes Xtreme seeming kinda illfitting in comparison for W. So for Fuuto's winds to turn Xtreme into an Avenging Angel, this is more like it!

Plus that surprise visit from Os! Totally didn't see that coming, it was a great little introduction to the character and made me really miss that show. Eiji-san~!

And I just love the movie budgets for the action. From the way W flies all over the place like gravity doesn't apply to him, or the way Accel stands tall and takes it like a man, the action was just incredible in this film and full of incredible moments. The scale of the action is bigger, the collateral is greater and our Riders reveal all kinds of crazy moves they could never do before. Epic.

And although designs like T2 Trigger and T2 Luna make you want to add bleach to your eyes, pretty much all of the villains in this movie are awesome. Minus Weather, W hasn't really had a truly 'oh shit, shit got real ' villain, so it was nice that everyone of the super zombies were a tangible threat in their own right. I enjoyed every fight they had.

And of course, the final battle takes the cake. Loved seeing W cycle through his memories in quick succession and I loved how Fuuto tower was backdrop for the battle. It really was an epic way to close the movie.

Plus, when all the old Memories got disabled, I was waiting for Accel to get shafted like he does in the series. But Ryu was like 'fuck that' and started swinging his Gunblade around. It was fucking AWESOME. I love that guy so much, easily one of the best Rider's in the whole franchise.