Kamen Rider OOO & Fourze Movie War Megamax Review

So, another year, another Movie War. For this third installment of the crossover movies where the previous Kamen Rider teams up with the new shiny Kamen Rider, we end up with a multi-part tale in which OOO regains his swag, Fourze exudes massive swag, and the Seven Legendary Riders join along for the fun (with Kamen Rider 2 getting a Neo-Old-School makeover). Oh, and that W guy is now the “Sempai” of the Post-Decade Riders. I should warn you, for those who like shiny pictures, well, there’s only the one up on top, but this allows me to get to the meat of things, so enjoy the show after the jump.

In the previous Movie Wars, we were treated to a 3-act arc, one with the Rider whose show had ended, the 2nd with the Rider whose show had just begun, and the 3rd where they have to team up and get rid of the special Big Bad. Simple enough. With Megamax though, the staff had decided to split things up even further to proper incorporate W and the Seven Legendary Riders, so while we might not have a ton of time dedicated to Fourze and OOO, I think it actually makes for a more cohesive whole as far as this year’s Big Bad goes, which just so happens to be another Foundation X member, Lem Kannagi. As this 5-part structure is the focus, I’ll approach things as such and break down my thoughts on each segment before discussing what I felt about the film as a whole.

Part 1: Oh hey, it’s time for an old-school montage! This is basically the setup in which the Seven Legendary Riders are across the globe dealing with Foundation X as a series of meteoroids fall unto the Earth. Now why would Foundation X want anything to do with space rocks? Well, they contain a substance called SOLU (more on that in a bit), and needless to say, the bad guys succeed in retrieving said substance. I did like how Kamen Rider Stronger seemed to carry a bit of the focus out of the Seven due to his connection in name to Gentarou, usually with these Kamen Rider teamup flick, if Ichigo and Nigo are involved in any way, shape, or form they usually take center stage. Well, with the SOLU in the hands of the bad guys, we turn to…

Part 2, or How to Fix A Crappy Ending to Your Recent Kamen Rider Show: You know, after watching this, I now wonder if the decision to end OOO as it was ended up being truly Kobayashi’s decision or more of the particular production staff for the series who I believe had worked on other Heisei-Era Kamen Rider Shows that usually ended with the titular hero unable to use his powers by the end, rendering him unable to truly help future Riders (as well as cause many of the problems with Kamen Rider Decade). This little side story is actually a pretty cohesive means of plausibly explaining how Eiji is able to get his Core Medals back as well as showing how Ankh was able to return from the dead. You can also tell the W/Fourze team is shooting this little side bit as OOO moves and flies compared to the more ground-based fighting style he used unless it was TaJaDor/PuToTyra. The Michael character along with his Kamen Rider Poseidon and Aqua forms was handled well, and his actor did him pretty good justice, which is nice when it comes to movie Riders as they can be very much hit-or-miss. It did kinda blow to see the Twin Births go out very quickly, but due to their need as the comic relief, it was understandable. Oh, Hiroaki Iwanaga should NEVER SHAVE HIS MOUSTACHE while he is in Akira Date-Mode. Seriously. So at the end of things Eiji is back as OOO, but he loses the Poseidon Medals to Foundation X and he decides to track them down, which leads to….

Part 3, or Joker Time: This is a short part really meant to bring W into the mix as it was Shotaro and Phillip who had to deal with Foundation X first. Long story short, Half-Boiled-san catches the bad guys up to no good and can’t get Phillip’s attention, so he decides to go solo as Kamen Rider Joker. I find this idea fantastic as it allows Shotaro’s actor (who is a huge Kamen Rider fan and has said he is willing to come back and help out whenever he can) the ability to grab the spotlight some more and we get to see more of his exploits as Joker. Kinda almost makes one hope they do a Joker Direct-to-Video flick, complete with Gunkata-Terei. Joker Rider-Punches-and-Kicks the SOLU into the sewers, where it just so happens to drift to AHS and in the meantime the Seven Legendary Riders end up in a trap which leads to…..

Part 4, or Gentarou, GoldThrobber: The Beginning: Yes I am using a Hentai as part of my title, because if you have watched any of Fourze from Megamax all the way up until the most recent arcs, it is very much apparent that this man could probably give Wilt Chamberlain a run for his money when he reaches adulthood, and it all started here, with a idol Kamen Rider falling from the sky. This part of the movie was good old Fourze, basically frantic action, good guest-star action via Erina Mano, and yet another scene of the Kamen Rider Movie Trope in which an American portrays a bad guy grunt solider via Dante Carver. You’re not going to get much of the comedy dynamic that Fourze is known for as they are trying to tell a puppy love story here, but by the end of things you do feel for Gentarou as he is forced to watch Nadashiko be converted into the SOLU Switch by Kannagi. I also do have to say, it’s nice to get a Big Bad who just wants to be a dick. At said heart-breaking scene, he just simply beasts out and laughs at the KRC while daring them to come at him. Of course this brings out the first of the Megamax Rider Movie Forms, Rocket States (Which is actually carrying over to the TV show in Ep. 41. Yay continuity!), which works very well despite having Fourze’s arms covered up in Rockets. As the gang tries to figure out their next move, they are joined by one Eiji Hino, while leads to…..

Movie War Megamax, or Well, that all CGI-fight scene could’ve been worse…: Alright, here’s comes the big teamup, or, hey, let’s justify all of those Rider Gashapon Switches we’ve been selling! I do have to admit, I did find it funny that the Seven Legendary Riders were condensed to their Core Medal and Switch forms, plus it’s pretty good proof that the W/Fourze teams leaves very little crevices un-turned when it comes to how Kamen Rider merchandise ties into the main narrative. The W/OOO/Fourze meeting was also well done, with probably my favorite part of the movie being the part where Shotaro and Gentarou bro it up in a Half-Boiled Man-to-Man Combo. The Clearing-Out-The-Troopers scene was also very nicely choreographed, as Eiji got to show off Full Combo while Fourze bounced around with different Astro Switches. The OOO part of the scene should be noted as they had Shu Watanabe’s version of “Anything Goes!”, too bad they couldn’t have a KRC version of “Switch On!”, although I’m sure by the end of the series or the next Movie War we’ll probably get it. As for the final battle, well, to begin I wasn’t a big fan of the Super Galaxy King’s design, it just seemed like they tried to carry over too much of the Utopia design over to it as both men behind the masks are regarded as higher-ups in Foundation X. Still though, things were going as they should with Kannagi whipping the crap out of OOO and Fourze until Eiji activates Super TaToBa, the second of the Movie War Forms, and again, just plain ugly. I can get for what they were going for by using the full Taka head, the full Tora waist, and the full Batta legs, but what I didn’t like was the inversion of their respective colors on the suit. It just ends up looking extremely gaudy, and really makes me wish they could’ve found a way to save PuToTyra rather than give in to rabid fans wanting a “True Final Form” for OOO. As everyone ends up on the outside of the spaceship, Fourze activates his Rocket States, and we enter what has to be a first in which almost all of the outside battle is CG’ed rather than Live-Action/Wire-Fu. It should have been worse as Toei is notorious for being cheap on the graphics department, but for some reason it functions for what it needs to be, which is a movie for kiddies and not adults who had just seen The Avengers at the time. As the Big Bad is defeated, we see the standard resolution for Movie Wars on both sides, followed by the cameo for Kamen Rider Meteor, in which Ryusei doesn’t look all pretty and full of lip gloss.

So overall, what do I think of this particular flick? Well, I certainly liked it better than Movie War Core, and it helped that everyone on the OOO and Fourze team was on the same page to deliver a cohesive package from beginning to end. I now can actually look back at OOO in a more positive light although I’m not looking forward to him and Hina becoming the new Onadera and Natsumi to tag along on the Decade/Den-O train if Superhero Taisen is anything to go by. With Fourze you almost have to wonder if Gentarou will surpass Principal Hayami when it comes to scoring ladies even to where he could save Sonada and make her swoon for him, plus this movie acts as a good test for the future trials the KRC will have to go through, if the episodes starting with Cosmic States are any indication. With all of this in mind, go check out Movie War Megamax. It will leave you wanting more OOO adventures plus for those making their way through Fourze, it serves as a good diversion before Magnet States and the arrival of Kamen Rider Meteor. HENSHIN!