[FreshToku]

Still on my movie kick, though I probably will only bother posting about the ones I feel like I have a lot to say about. I mean, Paradise Lost has a cool premise, though the actual story is a bit weak. There were so many questions that kept popping into my head like... How did Takumi ended up living with a shoemaker's daughter, why did Kiba switched sides on a dime near the end, and why did Psyga only speak English? I'd be lying if I said I cared that much about those details though.

I sadly couldn't quite get into the final showdown between Takumi and Kiba because it didn't feel terrifically set-up, but I very much like associating the Orga suit as Kiba's one true Rider form, as opposed to him just using Kaixa like in the show.

Missing Ace should be another straightforward and fun popcorn flick, and I didn't even care about how it ignored the series' canon, but honestly I found myself kind of resenting the story's treatment of Amane.

They set up the rather understandable drama of her being upset over Hajime's 'disappearance', which I thought would lead to an emotional reunion. But when Chalice comes back, she's unconscious for the whole duration and wasn't even aware of it, and by the end of the movie, the rest of the cast just continue to hold back the truth about what happened to Hajime from her. It was incredibly unsatisfying and frustrating.

Side-note, the climax had an unintentionally funny moment to me. We have the three remaining riders all transforming side by side in a cool and dramatic shot, and the three of them fly up to face the big CGI monster. All of them are knocked back to the ground within a matter of seconds, so Blade just goes into King Form and handles the situation himself. It's like... were they trying to make Garren and Leangle look bad? It got a chuckle out of me.