[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Krim tried, but Kiriko's mind wasn't compatible with the Rider System. She got those cool shoes instead, which were sadly forgotten about after a few episodes.

They were very cool! Big fan of Kiriko getting to fight some Roidmudes, rather than the standard Kiriko, Get The Civilians To Safety thing. She's too awesome to to be shunted to the background!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Not sure if you've forgotten the episodes that lead up to this movie? Krim's betrayal is actually explained, as Banno planted an evil chip in the Drive Driver's system while he was unconscious. Of course, nobody but Banno knew about that, so Paradox, disguised as Eiji, was able to use that to deceive Shinnosuke by hiding the fact that Eiji was originally Dark Drive before he stole the Driver.

I have definitely forgotten most of Drive (fun fact: I was wondering why it was taking Gold Drive so long to appear in this movie, before figuring out that he was the show's villain), but it doesn't affect my take on the movie's story. I just figured Eiji had done something to the Driver when he was wrestling with Shinnosuke in the beginning, so whatever setup was done on the show doesn't move the needle for me.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

As a character, yeah, I'll agree with you here, Paradox isn't deep or anything like that. But I think he succeeds in being intimidating and once he revealed that he murdered Eiji, it gives a lot of personal motivation for Shinnosuke to defeat him.

Oh, sure, he's a solid villain. He's got a real sneering swagger to him. He even does a mocking slow clap when he reveals that he's tricked Shinnosuke, which is deliciously camp. But there's not much substance to his vendetta or anything, which is less than I'd hope for, considering the specific buttons he's pushing.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

But Shinnosuke was innocent! Going back to the theme of believing in your friends, the police should absolutely have faith in him, especially after he outed Brain and Freeze (Brainfreeze?) and Nira as double agents. They owe him big time for that, so it's honestly pretty bad that they continue to treat him like some suspicious criminal after all the good he's done. I totally agree with Kiriko scolding the executives for behaving like that.

I'm not sure He Should Be Brought In For Questioning is such a big betrayal? Shinnosuke went on the run, first because Eiji goaded him into it, then because... I guess he just forgot he could try and explain things? The police escalated their attempts to capture Drive because Drive kept running from the police. I don't... I don't think the police should give him the benefit of the doubt, considering the alluded-to casualties from the opening explosion?

Like, yeah, sure, Drive's being framed, but Shinnosuke spends the whole movie avoiding any opportunity to explain himself to his superiors. There's not having people believe you, and then there's not explaining yourself. Shinnosuke is doing the second one!

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Originally Posted by Frontier

I feel like re-ray might be one of my favorite Ending themes to a Summer Movie.

I mean, Mitsuru Matsuoka's delivered so many great themes to Rider content, they're always a banger, and he already knocked it out of the park with W's...but there's just something about how atmospheric, catchy, and engrossing Drive's is.

It's another great track!

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I don't know if it's something other people think back to a lot, but this is without a doubt one of my favorite moments for Shinnosuke.

Look, my definitive Ryuki moment is one non-Rider character straightening cutlery; I am not going to push back on your Drive choice.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Naturally, I'm quite fond of the movie around this scene, too. I really need to rewatch it more often than I do. I guess I wouldn't quite call it one of my absolute favorites, either, but it's got some fantastic thriller-style drama and a lot of really strong high concepts. You seem disappointed with some of the payoffs, which is understandable, but I feel like you're way underestimating the value in the movie going for the obvious lie about Krim. I'm not sure another Rider summer movie was ever promoted in such a hype way? I mean, you've got promos with Krim calmly telling you Kamen Rider Drive is not justice and trailers prominently featuring Shinnosuke taking an axe to his own partner/belt (way before Gou would smash a belt with that thing, too!), and this sick as heck looking Dark Drive guy complete with his own car and I mean IT WAS AWESOME following the buildup to this film.

Well, like a lot of things, all of that buildup pre-dates my engagement with the Kamen Rider franchise, so I can't really speak to how it shaped my expectations for the movie. I'm sure it would've helped! But I wasn't here for all that, so I've just got this movie to judge.