[ZeoRangerV]

So that Rider 1 movie. It's....damn near perfect. An incredible anniversary film.

It's not quite as epic as I expected it to be, but man does it have so much more heart. Hongo carries himself incredibly as this wisened warrior who's travelled the world, fought with and lost comrades over time and clearly longs for a quiet life. The moments he shares with Mayu are really, really touching.

He also bounces really well off of the Ghost cast (well, Takeru mostly - Makoto is just generally there to be another Rider is seems) and the veteran/newcomer dynamic they have is perfect.

Another really nice touch was the Shocker vs Nova Shocker in fighting, which shows a lot of love towards the original but also shows off just how dated they are. We've had a lot of "new" versions of Shocker over time but this was undoubtedly the best.

My ONLY complaint is just how shoehorned in the Alexander the Great Eyecon is, since it makes little thematic sense in the film and is mainly there to keep Ghost's gimmicks relevant. If they had just gone with a Great Shocker Leader Eyecon the plot could have been exactly the same and worked SO much better.

But yeah, this is one heck of a film.