Before we move on to new series to talk about, we will be discussing the movies that released for W, so first up is W crossover with its predecessor, Decade in Movie War 2010. But I know what some people are thinking, Zach, shouldn't you have watched and discussed Kamen Rider Decade before you talk about this movie. Maybe, but I am still going to talk about it anyway.
SYNOPSIS
It is the true ending of one series and the beginning of another. Tsukasa Kadoya has accepted his fate as the destroyer of worlds and has set out to card each and all of the another riders he met through his journey. Despite this, Natsumi Hikari attempts to reach out to him to stop this carnage as the rements of Dai Shocker regroup to become Super Shocker and intend to take advantage of the situation.
Meanwhile, The Narumi detective agency is preparing for christmas when they get a case from a pop star who is being haunted by the ghost of her sister who died during a boating accident a year ago. Upon finding the dopant that they intially think is a death dopant, he proceeds to bring forward Sokichi Narumi, Shotaro's dead mentor and Kamen rider Skull. This incident causes Shotaro to quit and Phillip to follow him to where it all began and to remind him of why they became Double on Begin Night.
You may have noticed that no where in the above synopsis do I mention either rider meeting up, that's because they don't immediately team up. Here is how this movie is set, the first two segments are about the respective riders that are in the title for the film while the final segment sees both stories meeting up for one big climatic final battle. I am not fond of this, instead of feeling like a major team up between two shows taking on a threat great than the two alone can handle. What we have here is two episodes of the TV show put together with an big action set piece finale at the end with both teams going their separate ways after the fighting is over. That is the biggest problem here, outside of a "Hey there man, how is it going." "Oh you know, dealing with something, wanna deal with this?" "Sure." Its not exactly like that but if you go into this expecting some major crossover team up, prepare for a massive disappointment. Sadly, this format for Rider team up's would carry on for the next five films after this. This triple segmented format also leads to a problem of inconsistencies in potential quality. Both segments are written by seperate writers, in this case, the head writers for both series, Shoji Yonemura for Decade and Riku Sanjo for W. While it makes sense since this is because of the format, this could lead to both portion being varying in quality or enjoy-ability with the watcher. You may like one portion but may not care for or like another. Speaking of that.
DECADE PORTION
Again, haven't watched decade at the time I writing this review, and boy was that not a good idea. This is not some epilogue to the show itself, if you didn't watch Decade before viewing this portion, prepare to be lost on what is going on, why Decade is this destroyer of world and why does Natsumi want to bring Tsukasa back because he kind of comes off as kind of jerk who wants nothing to do with. Granted, this could get me to want and watch Decade to get a better understanding ab out this segment. Despite that there were just some things that just bothered me, the fact that all of the riders mostly go in groups of two and end up getting themselves slaughtered by Decade each time, and not once do they think to maybe send more than two in an attempt to fight him if just going in two at a time was not working. Then there were some of the conveniences that the film brought up, more regarding Tsukasa's revival following his role as the destroyer of worlds as the other rider's he had mercilessly destroyed decide to help revive him. I know, the show probably had him befriending the others across the multi verse but I haven't watched and as someone just coming in zero info, why would anyone want to revive him because this film does not put him in the brightest light as this tragic character destined to destroy the Kamen riders because of just how much a ginormous prick he was throughout the movie and how apathetic, yes, he is in a very terrible position that puts him at odds with people he befriended across his journey, but when I do get to Decade he is going to need to do stuff to make me like his character. I'll probably come back to this when I get to Decade to give this a proper review, but I was not enjoying this at all, I was not liking any of the characters, the action scenes mostly see everyone beaten up by Decade up until he just decides to let Natsumi kill him as Kamen rider Kivala, and it drives itself with plot conveniences that move the story rather than feel natural, maybe others find something in this but I was feeling none of it and just wanted to get to the next part.
W's Portion
W's portion of the film does fare far better, for both newcomers and people who had already watched the series up to the point when the movie takes place in the series main continuity. Skull's overall design, giving off this kind of corpse feeling seeing as how its user is dead. I also kind of like how he still wears his fedora in this form, yeah it is probably one of the dumbest things ever, but there is that kind of style or characterization that yeah, I am that awesome.
But at the heart this story is overcoming the guilt of the pass and knowing that you are good enough to succeed. The "death" dopant brings back Sokichi which raises guilt in him about potentially killing his mentor again causes him to quit. It gives us good reason to go back to Begin night as they call it to understand what happen. Here we see a much more naive and hot-headed Shotaro who is out to prove himself with Sokichi trying to reign in his rather energetic pupil from doing something stupid, which ends up happening when he leaves him alone for a few seconds. Then things play out the same way as the prologue of the first episode, they find Phillip, get caught and attempt to escape, Sokichi gets shot and passes the torch to Shotaro. But we do get a little more as we get a sneak preview of the fang joker form. Anyhow, after reaffirming their mission, they return to the city to face the "death" Dopant. You may have notice me using quotation marks because plot twist, he is not the death dopant but rather the Dummy dopant, who had brought back Sokichi to dissuade him from investigating.
Oh and the Sonozaki family shows up at this point to take in and protect the Dummy dopant becasue they think he is death but in reality isn't so they just leave. This is probably this film portions weakest point, the main villains are just kind of there to exist and remind us they are here, they really don't add much and could've probably just shown up in flashback. But overall this is a good special that reveals more of the lore of the series with many of the series main strengths.
MOVIE WAR
The final major portion of the movie is basically one long action set piece where the Dummy dopant from the W portion and this weird thing that New Shocker was making and cultivating over the film that gains its own mind. I didn't bring it up then because it didn't really have any major relevance over Decade's main contribution to this film. The two riders have a brief conversation and then the rest is them and the other AR riders fighting the enemy. If it sounds like I am skipping a bunch that's because there isn't much here, if you wanted to see a crossover fight between riders, then here it is. But I feel like it's impact is lessened because of how the movie is set up. Instead of seeing the two casts interact, W and Decade just meet and say, Hi, before going back to fight. Yeah there is a little bit near the end and some mid combat banter. It's disappointing especially if you are a fan of both series and this is all the cross-over amounts to. But it sure is a spectacle with everything going on. Any who they defeat the combined villain with a triple rider kick, because Decade splits the two in one rider to two riders, because shut up. The day is saved and Shotaro gets the affirmation that he is a worthy successor from an A.R version of Skull, and both groups celebrate.
FINAL VERDICT
Movie War 2010 is good, but there are problems. The fact that both riders only team up in the final act can be disappointing as it could feel two episodes of the T.V show rather than a proper movie, and that kind of shows in the quality of the two parts. Again, I haven't watched Decade and probably I will come back to this with the knowledge of the series under my belt but this was just not doing it for me, again making it a finale locks many out of enjoyment because unless you have an idea about decade and what happened in it, you won't care why this one girl wants to bring back this one guy who comes off like a complete prick and all the other characters who have no real introduction, its expected you have watched Decade before you watched this and if you were just wanting the W part well than that is a third of the movie that means nothing for you. W portion's fairs far better honestly, expanding on already established plot points and moving the characters along in development. I wouldn't say it is integral viewing for W, but it is a good ride and example of why W is such a beloved series.
FINAL GRADE: B-
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