[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And, you know, I could forgive that, maybe. It’s an AU movie, I’m used to those. Structurally, it’s not a million miles away from the Faiz movie. A small band of rebels in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, everyone looks like they shop at Refugee H&M, whatever. It can work. It’s not automatically disqualifying.

The AU-ness of this one is sometimes debated. It's occasionally argued that the movie is a prequel to the series, with Tendou's time travel gimmick being where the belt came from on the show, too. Avoiding any specific spoilers, there are multiple inconsistencies between what we see in the film and the eventual backstory we'll get on the show. It's a bit like Ryuki's movie in that sense - arguably but not explicitly canon.

But yeah, the film definitely feels like somebody looked at the post-apocalyptic Faiz movie and the Kurosawa homage Hibiki movie and decided to combine the two for a post-apocalypse with French restaurants and hair product that has some loose Yojimbo elements. I didn't dislike it as much as you did, but it's not a favorite by any stretch of the imagination. The only part that really stands out in my memory is the fight between Kabuto and Ketaros (I think) on the space station exterior. That part was cool - also, Clock Up means you aren't affected by a vacuum, I guess?

The Hiyori stuff was 1000% shlocky melodrama. And yeah, anything where Hiyori is smiling feels wrong.

As for my favorite movie, it's probably the Showa vs. Heisei one. The tacked on fight at the end and reuse of Shoji Yonemura Plot #1 (of 1) aside, I really liked all the interactions between the different generations of Riders. The X and Faiz stuff alone makes this one of my favorites.