Reviews

“Nature or Nurture?”; The Ultimate Question of ‘ Hwayi:A Monster Boy’

Director Jang Joon Hwan and screenwriter Park Joo Seok’s attempted to delve deeper into the ultimate debate of “ nature vs nurture” with ‘Hwayi: A Monster Boy’ - a savage action-thriller that is expedited by its gratuitous fight scenes. Despite Jang Joon Hwan’s film bringing forward TV star Yeo Jin-goo’s first silver-screen debut, the film’s scant insight into the motives and drives of its odd ensemble of characters alongside shoehorned storytelling and dialogue, will likely test the patience (at times) of action-genre enthusiasts and casual watchers alike.

The movie focused upon the titular main lead Hwayi ( Yeo Jin Goo); a high-school boy who was kidnapped as an infant and brought up by a gang of sadistic thugs. From a young age Hwayi has been reared into becoming a perfect killer by his five “ dads”: Suk-tae (Kim Yun-seok), Jin-sung (Jang Hyun-sung), Ki-tae (Cho Jin-woong), Dong-beom (Kim Sung-kyun) and Beom-soo (Park Hae-jun). However after turning seventeen, Hwayi is soon forced to face the reality of his upbringing as questions soon rise towards his birth parents against his violent nurturing and environment.

Jang Joon Hwan’s 2003 success ‘ Save The Green Planet’ was a work that combined graphic violence, fantasy and social critique to create a daring result. In many ways ‘ Hwayi: A Monster Boy’ shared a lot of similar themes with its predecessor- bloodlust gore and themes revolving around captivity and humanity blooming to life in an attempt to hook and intrigue viewers. However, whilst ‘ Save The Green Planet’ was a movie that possessed tactful multilayered themes and topics, ‘ Hwayi: A Monster Boy’ struggled to sketch-out the same depth as Joon Hwan’s previous work due to a notable key issue; writing.

In theory, Hwayi’s complicated relationships with his five fathers should have been the backbone of the entire movie. However, their character-drives and definitive personality traits were so ineptly draw together at times in Park Joo Seok’s fictional and niche microcosm of convicts and killers, that it was often difficult to truly differentiate them apart. Aside from Suk-tae acting as the boy’s main rearer and as the leader of the group( who is revealed to have his own motives in a twist which whilst climatic, lacked pretension, )and doltish Ki-Tae who sincerely showed affection for the boy , the other men’s reasons and personal motives for bringing up the boy and corrupting Hwayi were rarely tackled or given convincing explanations.


Playing Hwayi as a character pushed over the edge, Yeo Jin Goo could admittedly often lack an air of subtlety by overstating his character’s angst. Nonetheless Yeo Jin Goo gives the main lead an edge of complex fragility, instability and sympathy for audiences. His budding romance for classmate and potential love interest Yoo-kyung (Nam Ji-hyun), one of the few female characters of the movie( who lacked definitive qualities) , acted as a lighthearted respite from the movie’s downbeat narrative.

Costarring alongside Yeo was Kim Yun Seok. The venerable actor added a running streak of brutality and viciousness to his onscreen persona Suk-Tae. Nevertheless despite the brilliant dynamic charm of Kim Yun Seok onscreen, tedious dialogue exchanges against lukewarm chemistry between him and Yeo during scenes rarely instilled tour de force moments when ambiguous feelings of love and contempt became apparent in their final conflict.

In terms of pacing the narrative is filled with adrenal energy- suspenseful and expedited by its violence, but given the myriad of action sequences and locations shown throughout the film, the pinnacle conflict of the movie was climatic yet slightly incoherent also . ( Especially due to sporadic editing at times.) A notable issue which should also be addressed within ‘ Hwayi: A Monster Boy’ was its presentation of female characters. Whilst it is arguable that Joon Hwan and Joo Seok may have been trying to present a critique towards the infringement of gender stereotypes within South-Korean society, the lacking scope for female archetypes aside from the nameless, abused wife of Im Hyung Taek ( Seo Hyung Hwa), and “ love interest” Yoo-Kyung, served little purpose or depth exploration aside from being plot devices to keep the storyline moving.

Of course it’s wrong to entirely critique the movie. Admittedly well-mounted cinematography served as aesthetic eye candy for viewers with inventive and intuitive choreographed fight scenes paired together with a subtle yet momentous score.


Overall ‘ Hwayi: A Monster Boy’ was a film which will likely appease and irk audiences alike. The notable cast lineup did not disappoint and whilst the polished and slick fight sequences and gruesome violence will likely appeal to many fans of the genre, the bogged-down dialogue against cliche-ridden characters and plot will test genre aficionados and casual watchers alike. However, whilst the ending certainly helped to wrap up several key plot points, the end outcome of ‘ Hwayi: A Monster Boy’ was a mixed-result of gory and hare-brained carnage against some insightful delves into nurture, crime and parenting along the way.

Read More

Uncle Vanya after a nuclear disaster.....!

That must have been the most overrated, over hyped, unjustifiably long and pretentious film I've ever seen. I don't know and I can't even imagine why this film got so many awards.
For me at least was an unsuccessful attempt to convey with some beautiful cinematography and pretentious moody acting some very questionable ideas.

BE AWARE SPOILERS AHEAD




Fukaku Yusuke a stage actor and director, who is repeatedly cheated by his wife Oto , feels cheated. ( how original!!)
The messed up by the death of their child wife Oto, cheats on him and has sex with her lovers even in their own home . Having sex with her husband and other men is a very inspiring process for her though, because it makes her create stories that made her a famous screenwriter. Fukaku Yusuke's wife dies at some point from natural causes and he feels, - on top of being cheated- guilty because he wasn't able to save her.

Two years later, Misaki becomes Yusuke's driver for the duration of his stay at Hiroshima, where he is assigned to direct a stage play, ( Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov), In the process we learn that she feels anger and hate for her psycho mother who brutally abused her when she was a child. Her mother dies in a natural disaster accident and Misaki feels guilty too because she didn't want and probably wasn't able to save her.

Takatsuki Koshi a young idol actor and one of Yusuke's wife's lovers is cast to play Uncle Vanya in the stage play that Yusuke is directing, a multilingual adaptation of this stage play where all the actors and the actresses of the cast speak a different language. Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and even sign language ( I don't know what could have been the purpose of such an adaptation. If the concept after all was to make the audience of the play read over titles then it should have been a more valid option to play Uncle Vanya in Russian!!).
Takatsuki's career is messed up too after being caught up to have an affair with a minor.
During the rehearsals of the play, assaults a guy who photographed him without his consent and afterwards he is lecturing Yusuke about how truthful in her ideal was his wife, how much she loved her husband ( !!) and how inspirational and deep was for her to f@ck with other men (including himself of course!) The guy he assaulted dies after a while at the hospital.


And then we get to the point ( at last). And the point is that Yusuke shouldn't feel angry and he shouldn't feel wronged because his wife was after all true to herself, ( even though she wasn't true to him) that Misaki shouldn't feel this way about her mother, because her mother was also true to herself (even though she had a multiple personality disorder !).

But the same absolution doesn't apply in the case of Takatsuki who ends up being arrested even though he was probably equally true to himself and his intentions when he assaulted and eventually killed the guy who took the photo.

And that's what the movie is all about. Almost three hours of beautifully filmed but completely pretentiously acted attempt to persuade us that everything is fine as long as we take other people's shit as they are, hoping perhaps that things will get better in the ... afterlife... ( ??) ha ha haaa

4 out of 10 from me just for the sake of the cinematography.
The plot sucks and it's intentions are at least questionable.

Read More

forgettable

This was a bad movie . The story was super bland, the characters were not likable. The only redeeming quality about this movie is Mr. Chen Feiyu. That man is an angel and deserves more than this movie gave him.

Story: Never once during this movie was I anticipating what would happen next in this movie. There was no story at all. The plot was very very bland. This movie supposedly tells of a high school romance and what happens 10 years later but there really is not much to tell. I can barely remember a thing that happened in this movie it was so boring.

Characters: The main character Geng Geng was super annoying, I did not like her one but. She just yelled a lot and would heavily breath afterwards for an absurd amount of time. Her friends were forgettable as well, every character peaked in high school no character had any development whatsoever. Yu Hai was just there, I can’t remember him doing much either. None of the characters did much of anything. Chen Feiyu played that role though and he looked really handsome during the time jump.
The chemistry was not there at all, this is because the script and the plot was so lacking. I was rooting for them to not end up together.

The would not recommend this movie to anyone. Only those who are fans of any of the actors present maybe I would recommend it to. For me I watched this for Chen Feiyu and I was not disappointed in him, I was disappointed in the story and script he was given to work with, he did the best with what he was given but he deserves so much better. Hopefully Immortality will get to air soon so we can see him in a role that deserves him and one that he is passionate for.

Read More

On her first day in high school the FL meets the ML and provides him direction to their high school. The boy turns out to be handsome, outgoing, and popular. Although she’s been bullied and made an outcast since a child, the FL never lost her kindness, cheerfulness, or innocence. The ML sees this side of her, beyond the girl people call “Sadako,” and starts to like her. She doesn’t have the confidence to believe that anyone would like her, or would like to be her friends. Her goodness, however, wins over two girls. These two girls are great friends, and people she much needed in her life. They don’t give up on her and defend her from bullies. I love her BFFs. The ML, too, is kind and sweet. His actions, to any other girls, would certainly convey the message that he likes her, but for the FL, she’s confused and cannot believe that the ML would like someone like her. When he finally asks her out and to be his girlfriend, she panics and turns him down. Her friends convince her to tell him the truth about how much she likes him but just panicked. The homeroom teacher counsels the ML that he should see beyond the FL’s words and to understand why she turned him down. So, the end we have a love confession and the two ends up together. This drama is so cute and innocent. I love the most her two friends. I love that the ML never wavers in his love for her from day one, and I love how he is so sweet and kind to her.

Read More

irrational and unbelievable

I know that this movie is a remake of a show, so you’d think that I’d wish it was longer? Yet- this movie feels /so/ long.

I don’t like romances that are just about two people falling in love. They have to have something that sets them back, something that they are going through to make it interesting. This story doesn’t.

It’s about Geng Geng and her attatchment to her desk mate (Yu Huai). The reality is, this is supposed to be a romance between the two, unfortunately I only believe it’s Geng Geng and her infatuation with Yu Huai . Why do I say that? Well Geng is the main character and you see this through her, and what I see is her character lying to find reasons for herself to hang out with Yu Huai . He is supposed to like her, I see what the story is supposed to be- but I don’t believe any of it.

It’s like this is a recap of something, going back and forth between the past and the present. The past takes up way too much time and is uninteresting as it’s just Geng most of the time either thinking about Yu Huai or talking about him, and when Yu Huai is in the story she is just looking at him. I don’t see any reason why he’d like her, other than her just being the main character so it’s a default. She isn’t rational, she is annoying and unrealistic and does things she doesn’t have to. She expects Yu Huai to like her after one meeting and reads into things, and the most frustrating part is that the story does that too. The story wants to make up something that isn’t there and plainly doesn’t make sense. Why does Geng Geng like Yu Zhuhai?Why does Yu Huai like her? I’d love to see more backstory of him but it’s not there. What is interesting with the dynamic between the two at all? Her life seems to revolve around the fact that she likes him, she studies for college for him and doesn’t have anything for herself at all.

Now talking about the future. I couldn’t pay attention to any scene other than Chen Feiyui being on screen. He is the reason I watched this because he is so handsome and my all time favorite. As for his character Yu Huai.. since his backstory hadn’t been fleshed out I don’t care for him. I found him to be arrogant as a kid and able to do so much because he was smart, what made him likable was the pressure he was given.. since that wasn’t developed enough in the end he was a character I was frustrated with. The motives for him- I couldn’t find any. These characters are together just because they have to be, because that’s what the source material was. They were together there, so they are here

This movie is boring, not a linear plot. It leaves a lot to be desired. BUT Chen Feiyu is such a handsome guy, he’s putting the effort here and has so much charisma outside of what character he was given. Waiting for HYX to see him with a more fleshed out character that’s worth the effort.


Story/Plot: not paced well at all. It goes here and there and to every place but the ones you’d want to see. Focuses on the past too much, I understand it was from the source material but that was a show. Since this is a movie something else should’ve been done, or maybe not have been done at all

Acting/Cast: Chen Feiyu gets all the best with the rating. It would be higher if I cared for the characters.

Music: pretty generic, not too outsourcing but it does it’s job.

Rewatch Value: I was checking the time to see how much was left thirty minutes in, and then an hour in also. It’s a pretty movie, but I don’t care for it. I won’t watch it again. Only would to see Chen Feiyu, that is when he’s on screen.

Read More

too short

i get this a short film - but u blink and this is over - so really donno how i feel, after watching this. how can u judge and come to any conclusions from 7min's (if that) of film?!?
u get a rough idea of what is going on, but how can u judge the motivation behind their words an actions?!? is Jung Soo really the bad-guy (a load of commenters r calling him) we forgetting he's gay and probably in the closet - deep in the closet(?) so maybe his indecisiveness and breaking up with Ho Bin, didn't steam from him not loving him, or being a player. but by his inability to live out in the open as a gay. this Korea we talking about, it's not just the public's reaction but the parents, family and friends and as far as i know, it's not(!) that easy to live 'out and proud' in Korea.

so looking at this, with that in mind - i saw desperation in his actions, yeah he manipulated the situation even forced Ho Bin to admit that even though he's saying "no", he really isn't over Jung Soo or their relationship. not mature way to deal with the situation, but when the heart is concerned r any of us capable of acting rationally?!? here we go back to ex's (that we Know r bad for us) knowing they playing us, and nothing good with come out of resuming the relationship - just cause our heart can't "stand strong" against them coming back for a second or third chance.
so this was interesting, but left undecided as to what i feel about this film as a whole. thinking positively, i hope that this time around Jung Soo has decided that he will stand tall and fight not only for Ho Bin to take him back - but for them to make it as a couple and live out and proud.
considering in life nothing is definite - Jung Soo could get cold feet and after a while again (cause of pressure from his family) break-up with Ho Bin to be with a woman. and the only way Ho Bin could have a relationship with Jung Soo was if it was a secret. not unheard off.

so this leaves a lot of food for though, let alone avenues to how this could develop. but as it's left to our imagination - i feel let down by how little we get to "chew on" and that's why it only got 3.5 stars.

Read More

WARNING: Spoilers Below, Read at Own Risk

This movie is set in Amsterdam. The ML is a hired assassin. The FL is a painter. Ever since he saw her painting daisies in the countryside, he has been essentially stalking her, leaving potted daisies for her daily. One day, she meets a man, an undercover Interpol agent, and by chance he brings her potted daisies. She tells this agent about her secret admirer, but instead of telling her the truth he stays silent because he doesn’t want to lose her. The ML, although extremely dangerous in his line of work, decides to approach her. So, a love triangle ensues, with both men refusing for their own selfish reasons not to tell her the truth. The ending is tragic. Although there is no happy ending, the acting is superb and the movie is so emotionally charged and beautiful to watch.

Read More

It's another city kid gets dropped off at rural grandparent's and has a hard time adapting but grows attatched with time story, but that doesn't make it any less heartwarming! Absolutely adorable and genuine, so worth the time. Cutie patootie baby Yoo Seung-ho! And the mute grandma, she looked way too real in her hunchback and demeanor, I was telling my mom that this doesn't look like an actress acting the part, and to my amazement turned out I was right! The granny is not an actress, nor had she even seen a movie before, and the director did extensive research in rural areas to hire actual villagers to play themselves so it'd look authentic. This granny was merely following the director's guidance, in her 70's!
Rip, she passed away last year 🥺

Read More

That was so cute! Yoshizawa Ryo as Yori, a shy, introverted student in love with an up and coming actress, his childhood crush. Yeah, yeah, cliché, I know, I get it... but I can't get enough of "the ugly duckling is actually a swan" trope, so sue me!

And this had some really sweet scenes regarding the Reveal(TM). First when Yori crashed into the director and lost his glasses and the director went all O.O! And then, when said director allowed Yori to be the stand-in for a famous actor who left the set prematurely, before the filming was done, and when they prepped him up and he walked in, when the whole crew went O.O!!! It had me all a-giggle! Because Yoshizawa Ryo is really, really but REALLY pretty!

So, nothing new, true, basically your typical romantic movie but it still made me smile. Also, have I mentioned that Yoshizawa Ryo is REALLY pretty here?

Read More

A Summer at Grandpa's sounds like an idyllic childhood romp through the flowers. And while there are moments of childhood glee, this is a Hou Hsiao Hsien film and there's always a deeper narrative camouflaged under the sunny surface.

Tung Tung (11) and Ting Ting (4) were sent to their maternal grandfather's rural house for the summer while their mother lay ill in a Taipei hospital. Far from a cuddly grandpa, this grandpa was the village's doctor and rarely interacted with the children. Tung Tung made friends quickly with the local boys. In the days before cell phones, dvds, cable, and video games they did what most kids did, went outside and played. They skinny dipped in the local creek splashing and playing. Again, Hou never leaves any scene too shiny, and the boys had to exit the creek when cow dung floated into their play space.

Ting Ting suffered the fate of many a little sister and was left out of the boys' games. She spent most of the time with her stuffed animal or plastic fan, ultimately befriending the local mentally ill woman.

As Tung Tung hung out with his friends or lounged bored at his grandpa's house, he began to see behind the world of the adults around him. His childhood became breached by reality and the signaling approach of growing up. Even in the pastoral town, rape, an aggravated assault and robbery, a shot gun wedding, and family discord took place. Tung Tung went from casual observer to participant in the adult world around him as the movie rolled on. He also discovered that adults were capable of childish, petulant behavior. Adulthood, it would seem, is an ongoing process.

This film is a slow slice of life story shown through the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy as those eyes begin to open to what is happening outside of himself. A Summer at Grandpa's bids Tung Tung and the audience to become more observant of the small details and meaning in the world around us.

(Trigger warning---if you are sensitive to animals being harassed or dying you might want to skip this movie or fast forward through a couple of scenes.)

Read More

a different kind of love story

Just like what other says, it is a toxic kind of relationship. althought it is a toxic love i personally love this movie. I love the flow of the movie, and how it makes the character change. this is not a typical gay movie that we all watch, this is something new that everyone should watch. There are many lessons that we can learn to the characters and to the their actions. Just like "If you love someone too much, youll lose yourself and shatter". So in the movie, you will be questioning the actions of the characters because those actions were painful that you hope that he or she will do the opposite thing. But i really like how otomos character improved throughout the movie, imagase's character can be seen in some relationship where they tried to do everything for there love even if they hurt themselves.

I really commend the actors in this movie and the directors, producers and other staffs for producing such an excellent movie.

Read More

Are these visions of the future or memories of the past?

Recalled was a mystery, thriller, melodramatic and stars Seo Yea Ji and Kim Kang Woo. We follow Soo Jin(Seo Yea Ji) a woman suffering from amnesia due to a horrible accident and Ji Hoon(Kim Kang Woo) a loving husband who is always by her side.right from the start we are shown the confusion of Soo Jin not being able to remember anything and experiencing hallucinations. This continues for like an 1hr into the film and we are left to wonder who Soo Jin can really trust, Her "memories" or Her husband? I personally didn't know who to trust either and is in the same dilemma with Soo Jin. I wanted to trust her memories however she always gets these visions wrong, on the flip side the husband was suspicious and secretive. It was predictable and lackluster that had me unengaged at times because of it seemingly having little to no progression. Adding to that I was worried if the movie will be able to finish strong, however after the pieces are fitted in together does finish strong and I would recommend it just for the last 30minutes. The story is common and added nothing new to thrillers but it was still delivered well and gave ok thrills, so that's a plus. Acting was also amazingly done, Seo Yea Ji gave us an amazing performance and showed us the complexity of his character as the girl who blames herself, lost her memories, and no one believing in. Kim Kang Woo also was great giving us a pitiful, caring, and wholehearted brother that is willing to sacrifice himself for her step sister whom she loves. It shows us to what length a person can go to protect his/her love one. The music was terrible it added no value to the movies which is unfortunate because a good music could have leveled this up. It gave a similar tone and experience personally to memoir of a murderer with the amnesia and unreliable storytelling. Cinematography was okay, at times it was perfectly shot at times it was bad. Not something you would want to rewatch because of it's slow pacing and reveal but was an okay 1 time watch. Overall recalled was decent watch not something you should immediately watch right now but if you're a fan of either Seo Yea Ji or Kim Kang Woo then I do recommend this, just not set too high of expectations.

Read More

A loving metafilm for Ishinomori's toku staples, strongly recommended, a blast.

*pulled from my LB review, vague spoilers*

The Matrix, Evangelion, and now Kamen Rider (and Sentai), was 2021 the year of the major metatext movies or something?

A pretty rousing anniversary crossover movie, it actively delves into the burden of storytelling in creating conflict and that even the pretence of heroism exists as a response to evil, something that the Decade x W crossover movie was a bit more subtle about, so it is almost familiar territory, but nonetheless, the maximalism here is incredibly captivating in its own way.

One of Rider’s newest protagonists literally having a conversation with the—fictitious recreation of—Rider & Sentai’s original writer, questioning the value of stories of conflict and the idea of subjecting characters to harm as a haunting act of creation before arguing its necessity in dealing with the inevitable good and bad inherent to reality and humans themselves and not fully retreating into escapism.

While the lens of Toei as a pretty major company making some incarnation of a dead figure having a dialogue with a new character from a franchise he spawned but who he didn’t directly create while the new character argues for the continued existence of heroes almost seems dubious, you can’t help but feel the earnest sincerity and accepting the bittersweet declarations at the end as heartfelt and truthful, it works quite well.

There are maybe some complaints to be had in how it feels like more of a Rider movie than a balanced one with Sentai, and some of the early parts feel like fluff with so-so cameos, the film is really carried by its pure spirit and spectacle. Just when I thought Heisei Forever was jaw-dropping in how over the top and fun it is, the back half of this film cranks it up even further, just astounding.

With concerns to Touma being the representative for this big meta story, it makes sense since the motif of Saber is stories after all, and I think I’d consider him more of the proper 50th anniversary Rider since the bulk of Saber fell on 2021 as opposed to Revice STARTING in 2021, so it was pretty contextually appropriate even though Touma may not be the most popular Rider (I think he’s solid at least), and just as Saber’s own TV ending was the affecting and grand finale about the power of storytelling, so too is this a similar complement to that.

Just an absolute blast, tender and exciting; I think Touma’s reconciling with trying to return to reality happens a bit too suddenly including the hardship he feels in parting from Luna, but the notes are still there broadly, and you could hardly ask for a more loving tribute to the 2 major franchises here (even if Sentai is a bit skewed against Rider, though Rider has the bigger anniversary here after all).

One of the best Rider movies, highly recommended.

P.S. This movie also gets bonus points for making Reika more serious again, cutting her brocon crap, as well as downplaying Den-O’s role in the back half mercifully (and I say that as someone who likes Den-O but think it’s way oversaturated), even if they do have a part in the front half to a degree.

Read More

Not bad, but not nearly as good as Ghost proper (which is great btw!)

*pulled from my LB review*

Retains some of Ghost's energy in a quaint story about the world of heroes in some afterlife-esque place where Makoto's dad got stuck at during his research on the Eyecons and all I guess, and Alain's other brother, Argos tries to collect 100 Heroic Eyecons (to the main series' 15 or so) to turn everyone into ghosts for immortality presumably because he failed to get himself revived earlier. Argos' plan is kind of intriguing in that sense, and the family connections with Makoto and Alain here hope to add relevance, but it all feels kinda barebones, needed way more fleshing out.

The pacing is also pretty uneven, and it concludes with some weird plot devices and yet another Takeru death & revival, but it feels especially unbelievable with this movie's inherent pseudo-canon side-story nature, but yet they still try to sell you on Takeru's noble sacrifice and all, even closing on the dramatic reveal of his revival then the credits roll.

Feels like your average Rider movie with the typical shortcomings and all, but I think the criticisms are a bit overblown (given Ghost's pre-existing bad rep among the other entries of the franchise, but is one of my favourites), and again, still has some of Ghost's charisma, sense of fun and all to make it digestible.

It's fine; I was amused.

Read More

Inoue's best toku thing in YEARS, a loving tribute to KR old & new.

*pulled from my LB review*

Winds up kinda simple, the ponderings on life and Nova Shocker trying to rule the world through economic power as opposed to Shocker with their authoritative, physical power wind up as footnotes than more elaborate philosophy and plotting, but it’s still fun nonetheless.

The idea of the changing face of both good and evil is quaint, and it’s fitting that this movie came in time for one of Heisei’s more self-conscious and doubtful heroes to be the representative of modern struggles (more personal challenges and socio-political anxiety) against the more pure, emblematic ideas of heroism back in Showa (Japan’s post-WWII aspiration for moral atonement, recovery and direction) bouncing off each other.

We see Takeru’s open admission of needing support while sharing his inherent want to protect others challenged by the more self-sufficient and stoic values of Takeshi, the latter asking the former, carrying the torch just what exactly life means and what makes it precious, leading to Takeru charging head first into danger after Takeshi’s initial “loss” even though he and Makoto had continually lost to the villains themselves, but recognize that they had failed to protect a life, but instead of doubting, running away and resigning, they press on in the hopes that they won’t fail again and there will be further losses. Then Takeshi comes back to recognize his own enduring importance in guiding the new generation and lending a helping hand when he had the option to back out of the conflict, his spirit reborn, fighting for peace for as long as he is able before the torch will properly pass anyways.

It’s a nice anniversary film celebrating Rider’s long history, a bit similar broadly to the Decade crossover movie’s idea about Tsukasa/Decade being the Rider born whenever a hero is needed again, but this was more of an homage to 2 different times and all and didn’t feel too redundant anyway.

Nothing major and occasionally a bit choppy, but the action is pretty solid, the character interactions are nice, the pacing is decent and it’s all around pretty amusing and fun, good Sunday afternoon cinema.

Read More