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This one is probably always going to be my favorite of the Phase 2 "epilogue/side story/crossover" format Movie Wars. It helps that this is the first time where all of the parts feel solid on their own; nothing rewritten at the last minute or farmed out to Toshiki Inoue. Neither story feels truly essential to the series, even though Fourze's does come up again (even if it takes Gentaro 20 episodes to remember that Rocket States is a thing), but they're still all really fun. I especially loved having Shotaro and Philip in there; the brief scene were all 3.5 Riders were interacting is a personal favorite. I was really looking forward to having all of the Phase 2 Riders keep showing up in subsequent films, but that obviously didn't happen. That leaves this movie as the one time when it really felt like Toei was developing a permanent bench of returning Kamen Riders.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Nadeshiko isn?t much of a character, unfortunately. Suit?s great, and her fights are more fun than I remembered (I mostly recall the Butt Bump, which is not this movie?s proudest moment)

I generally enjoy Koichi Sakamoto as a director. He has a fantastic eye for dynamic visuals and highly kinetic action sequences that was largely unmatched for most of the '00s and '10s. There are times, though - and I think that the Fourze summer movie is probably the worst Rider example of this - where his appreciation for action girls starts getting into fetish territory.

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And, in case the gigantic NO. 40 HANGAR in the background doesn?t give it away, this was the second 40th Anniversary Kamen Rider film. Look at all of them Showa guys! That?s going to make someone?s day, and that someone is not Kamen Rider Die. I think they?re used a little better than they were in Let?s Go Kamen Riders, if only for the stellar montage of Every Showa Finisher, but it?s still not a thing I care a ton about. (I think this is the first movie where they gave Nigou a black helmet, though? To make him more visually distinct from Ichigou?) They?re not here to tell a story with them, or about them. They?re here to make the movie feel massive. At that, they succeeded.

I'll always feel that having the O7 here feels kind of pointless in the overall scheme of the film's story. That said, I love getting to see all of the classic finishers done with modern cinematography, especially stuff like V3 and X's, which always depended on multiple shots to mask the questionable physics. It was also nice to see Stronger getting the leading role as a tribute to his actor, who had died earlier that year.

Rider 2's black helmet is not unique to this film. I don't remember its full history off-hand, but there were some appearances during the 80s where he'd show up with the black helmet and/or red gloves and boots to more clearly differentiate him from Rider 1.