So another year and yet another Taisen movie slumped into theatres, brought a couple of cameos for nostalgia sake and just limped back into its hole, but unlike many of its companion pieces, this super hero taisen ends with a main character dead and a cliffhanger of stuff to come. Like with Full throttle, Kamen Rider 3 gave moviegoers a dvd that included the first episode of Kamen rider 4, a week later the episode was released on the net alongised the next episode with its last episode premiering a few day afterwards. Well considering what its tying into I guess I should be going in with the lowest expectations I can manage. After all, the ninninger crossover and the film were fluff even by the standard of the spring taisen film, so let's get this over with.
ONE VIEWING LATER
..., oh my god, that...was... good. No, not just good, it was great it was amazing, its the best thing to come out of any of these spring taisen film, where the heck is this kind of quality when the films are made, is it just that its expected to live by nostalgia, why bury the good and give preference to the boring. Do you know how many people may just skip this over, god I can't believe that...
One day, shinnosuke awakens to Kiriko calling him asking where he is at as they promised to go to the movies on their day off. Feeling unwell, he says they should go watch the movie without him. While getting a check up from Mr. Belt, two people rush in and claim they must move as shocker is attacking. Shinnosuke is confused to who they are as they know him and belt-san. But he soon remembers they are Takumi Inui and Yuto Sakurai, Kamen rider's Faiz and Zerono's respectively. Shinnosuke still transforms and proceeds to join in the battle. Soon Go and Kiriko end up in the line of fire and Go transforms to fight, only to lose his life in the battle. But before the group can fully mourn, time seems to reverse back to the point when Shinnosuke wakes up and things play out the exact same way, only that Shocker seems to be growing stronger as each time warp is done. If that was not bad enough, with each time warp, progress on their ultimate weapon continues to grow, the ultimate evil rider, that this time will stay evil because he is completely robotic and robot's cannot have a heart of justice, oh and they have also given him a biplane like the red baron. Now Shinnosuke and his allies must discover the true cause of the time loop before shocker takes over the world... again.
Now a problem with a lot Taisen films is a need to overcomplicate, that the stories need to have all these moving pieces but often feel lesser with things just happening. Kamen Rider 4 makes its returing stars only to two, Takumi Inui and Yuto Sakurai. It also helps that the remenants of shocker feel like more of a threat rather than them at full power, making use of the groundhogs loop to grow stronger and even recruit's a couple of other riders (Though of the 4 they pick, Baron and Sasword, Ouja and Dark kiva I get but the former are more anti-heroes bordering villain.) But the fights against Shocker here have far more tension and the drama has more weight than anything previous taisen films had. Even in the case of Yongou (Japanese for 4) despite his lack of really any characters, it makes sense in this case, he is a cyborg who is completely evil to the core, loyal to shocker's goals and straight to the point with fighting, with Mitsuru Matsuoka giving the character a chilling cold performance to give this robot menace.
A smaller group with far more impact
But the heart of 4's story, arguably goes to Takumi. With 4 meant to be the true finale to the character (after Kamen rider Taisen, didn't really do that.) Show's the veteran rider a lot more kinder compared to the ice king he was. While I have not watched Faiz yet (My only knowledge is that this one of the most divisive series in the franchise.) But the special shows someone trying his best to assist in stopping the death, and many of the moments through out it do set up the end that when re-watched now makes sense. Whether it is the definitive ending after the supposed ambiguity of ending but he owns the special, he could be considered the main character. As
It is arguably one of the more emotional works I have seen from the franchise, while yes, the idea that Go was going to die does feel a little flat seeing as he is still in the main series and not dead. Saying that they are better off letting him go is almost sad, considering how we have got to know the guy in the show and see his struggles, and Takumi, poor Takumi, Just what is with writers and their decision to make him one of the most miserable riders in franchises history, I joked about riders like Shinji having bad days, but it almost feels heart breaking knowing that everyone he cares about is dead sans Naoya and his fate at the end being rather grim and bittersweet all things considered.
I don't need fancy moves to kick ass, I just punch really, really hard.
CONCLUSION
Defying literally all expectations, Kamen Rider 4 Ends up being good, not just that great. Being the best thing related to super hero taisen by a long mile. Taking cues from Taisen Z. It tones the scope down to deliver a much more personal and dramatic story, then anything Taisen, Rider Taisen or Gp 3 could do. Fans of Drive's core trio, Zeronos, and especially Faiz will find something to enjoy here. Heck you don't even need to watch GP 3 as the special catches you up on what's happening so you can jump into it without prior knowledge of the film. Its a worthwhile crossover in a sea of mediocrity or just bad ones.
FINAL GRADE: A
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