The Movie Wars up to this point in Rider history had... definitely not been the crossovers people were hoping for. 2010 was dragged down by having to complete a story that is overall not great while Core was a middling duo of specials that while Skull was good, didn't do much for either character and OOO's portion feels so little like the season it is adapting from it feels more like a pilot of what could've been. Rider clearly still didn't have a good idea about this whole crossover thing. But depending on who you asked about the good ones before the Generation. This is one of the one's people say is good. Not that one portion is okay and the other may edge it out but is actually a good movie. So how does it stack up to my high point Movie War Full throttle.
As meteorites begin to fall to earth, Foundation X begins to move in on them. For those who have forgotten, Foundation X was the villainous organization bankrolling Museum and sort of took over as final villain of W. Sending its forces to the locations they are intercepted by the legendary 7 riders meet to fight them. Meanwhile a meteor opens a time portal causing an evil Kamen rider using Core medals from 40 years in the future to attack. As Hina and Erika go to get Eiji they are attacked by a yummy and the rider. They are saved by Eiji and a somehow alive Ankh who now stands to defeat this new rider. Also happening at the same time Amogawa Highschool is hosting its school festival and Gentaro finds love falling from the sky, a girl who seems to come from Subaroshi Highschool whose name is Nadeshiko Misaki and she seems to be the target of a couple of groups from the Zodiarts and the mysterious foundation X, not only that but she also can become a rider?!
The big advantage over some of the other mega max has over other Movie war(Sans Ultimatum) is a better connective tissue between the specials. Rather than just seperate stories that end up coming together in the end. The existence of Foundation X helps to give connection to the two stories that previous and to an extent later movie wars would lack. Just because they are connective doesn't automatically make the film better, its segments have to be also of a decent quality.
OOO's Portion
I can say that OOO's portion is definitely one of the stronger elements. Though that could be just the fact that OOO's still stands as probably my favorite Rider still, its nice to see the entire cast interacting again after a while. Especially seeing Eiji again and the interactions with Ankh. Though I say that and much of Kougami foundation is sort of shunted, with both Gotoh and Date being sidelined early on and not doing much after that. Though we do get enough of both Erika and Kousei to hold people over for a little bit. Considering the amount of time they had, some people needed to be placed on the sidelines.
Behold, your new aquatic tyrant. Leaving the body of his commoner slave
(Oh, he is forcing him out, silly, he is going out on his own.)
Much of the film is dedicated to the new Kamen Rider Aqua, a man from the future named Michal Minato, who fears the powers he can use since he is aquaphobic, with arguably something that feels missing from these, a feeling of passing on knowledge as Eiji helps to build the young man up to become the hero he is capable of being, it isn't a major arc do to the limit, but it is a satisfying arc. Though not much can be said about Poseidon, I like that it shows consequences of the end of OOO's, but he is just a battle mania with little characterization outside of that. More a shadow that Minato will have to overcome.
But the strength of OOO's is still in the interactions between both Eiji and Ankh, who despite having an idea that this meeting will not last does indeed give hope for the future. And the chemistry is still well done at this point. Only making Core Medal of Resurrection even worse.
FOURZE PORTION
I do think however the Fourze portion may be a bit weaker, and that is more from a fact that plot is rather minimal, rather it is more just Gentro hanging out with his new girlfriend and trying to rescue her from some evil goverment guys near the end which leads into the final war portion.
What really helps to elevate this to being one of my favorite war portions, is well Nadeshiko. Not just because we don't get enough female riders but her growth as a person and just having the best moment, when the girls of the Kamen Rider Club have looks of Giddy at her transformation while the boys are more confused at what she basically pulled out of nowhere. And honestly her growth and relationship with Gentaro is actually really adorable, for a guy who is later shown to be quite dense, seeing him get flustered like he does show off that he still is a teenager.
SOLU taken the traditional disguise on earth. School students.
That being said villain wise, it is on the weaker side. We get early peeks at both Leo and Virgo. Foundation X shows up to take Nadeshiko who is revealed to be this super space being but again, they are fine as a villain organization, just not seeing them enough makes them too interesting and the fight against Katal while giving moments to each of the members of the Kamen Rider Club, doesn't give us much since he is not a characterization.
Talking more on the aesthetical design here, I do think most of the newly introduced material here is good. Aqua has this feeling of a mix between modern heisei design and early showa look that gives him a unique appearence against ooo's riders, while poseidon is easily the best suit out of the two, I like the contrast of colors between the top and bottom and the whale pauldron actually looks really good. In terms of Fourze's portion, Nadeshiko's suit looks just as ood as Fourze, the silver working well as the main color along with the blue. While Double Rocket state is... its fine, orange is a rare color but I am not fond of the double rockets.
Overall it may not do much in its plot but Fourze's portion plays to the series strength and pushes through to the war.
MOVIE WAR
Something that also helps to elevate the film is that unlike the previous movie wars and maybe to an extension later films is that it feels grander. 2010 had other riders showing up but felt like it was a bit overblown and in Core it was more like just a duo fighting then a war. But here there is much more going on here. W returns and it helps he got a short segment earlier to introduce him as to why he is in the plot. He mostly serves to deal with mooks and the focus is still on OOO's and Fourze but it is nice to see this pairing, especially since this would be the last time that Shotaro and Philip would share screentime until Fuuto PI came out.
From brown colorless mediocrity
I do think that in compare to some of the others movie wars this is one of the better ones, everyone here gets a chance to shine in some form of others. The new super combo looks really good, kind of offsetting the less than okay looking Super Gingaoh. The color inverse really works well here and the additon of black armaments help to make it stand out. GingaOh, looks to bland in terms of color and I completely forgot how it looked like until I was looking for the image to put here.
To colors abound and extremely amazing looking.
CONCLUSION
Mega Max is by all accounts, a notable improvement over its predecessors. Both stories are solid and build on the strengths that both season had going for them and also brings in other sides that help to make it feel bigger than the others. Arguably the biggest fault is that none of the villains that are fought here are too interesting all things considered. Poseidon isn't too interesting and not much is done to flesh out foundation X outside of they are evil. If I had to go between this and full throttle... I'd probably prefer full throttle. If just because as a villain lupin is just more interesting as an antagonist, but that doesn't mean Megamax is still a decent time.
FINAL GRADE: B+
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