Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

"Gekijouban Kamen Rider Decade - All Rider vs Dai Shocker" (Kamen Rider Decade - All Rider vs. Dai Shocker) is an over-the-top, convoluted and messy film but despite a goofy story and some silly acting, it's an immensely enjoyable film best appreciated by die-hard Kamen Rider fans.For close to 40 years, Ishinomori's grasshopper-inspired, motorcycle riding, Japanese Tokusatsu superhero has entertained Japanese kids in one form or another since 1971. Kamen Rider(Masked Rider) was one of Toei studio's first human-sized heroes to come out and was an instant hit upon its debut. Combining masked wrestling inspired elements, elaborate monster costumes, "James Bond" style thrills and a fairly serious dramatic tone, it seemed less a kid's show than a manga come to life.This winning formula would be retained and repeated with each subsequent and inevitable sequel, the most current of which is 2010's "Kamen Rider W (Double)". "Kamen Rider Decade" (the 19th Kamen Rider Series) was quite a departure from its predecessors. While most of the modern riders (Heisei Riders or those series that debuted from the late 90s and early 2000s) typically shied away from references to other series (particularly those series from the 70s and 80s or Showa series), Decade took the bold approach of not only bringing all of the past 10+ Kamen Riders together in one universe but also brought the classic Riders into the fold as well. Taking its cue from alternate time-line stories like Star Trek's "Mirror Mirror" episode, DC Comic's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" limited comic book series, TV series like "Dr. Who", "Sliders" and most recently the "Fringe", "Decade" brought all the Heisei and some of the Showa Kamen Riders into one time-spanning/reality merging epic. The series made quite an impression and the tie-in movie was just a matter of time. "All Rider vs Dai Shocker" is a grand spectacle and finally gave fans of the Kamen Rider franchise a chance to see all 25+ Riders in one all encompassing movie. It also marked the return of one of the all-time best Kamen Rider villain organizations, the Nazi-inspired "Shocker" secret society. In fact, the film assembled a veritable who's who of past Kamen Rider villains to battle the Riders similar to Tsuburaya's "Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers" film of two years ago). With a brisk running time of just over one hour, the film seems more like an extended TV special than an actual movie (similar to 1984's "Jugou Tanjou! Kamen Rider Zenin Shuugou! (10th Rider Debut - Come Together All Riders" or some of the later Kamen Rider DVD released specials). The intention was obviously to pay tribute to some of the 70s Kamen Rider movie specials which ran under the Toei "Manga Matsuri" (Anime/Cartoon Cavalcade) which featured crowd-pleasing team-ups of the various Kamen Riders or "gekijou ban"(movie versions) of popular Anime/Tokusatsu TV shows, but what was supposed to be a loving tribute to 40 years of Kamen Rider seems more like a movie version of one of those Japanese Amusement Park stage shows albeit with better costumes and better SFX effects.Director Osamu Kaneda and screenwriter Yonemura Shoji definitely know the Kamen Rider World having experience working on some of the Heisei shows like "Agito" and "Decade" and they know how to pile on the fan service. While the story's first half involves mostly KR Decade ("Ike-men" pretty boy Inoue Masahiro) and plucky ally KR Agito (Murai Ryouta) battling an assortment of fan favorite Kamen Riders including V3, Amazon, X, Black RX and Super 1 among others, it isn't until the second half when "all hell breaks loose" and the true villains (the Shocker Army) lead by Jigoku Taishi/Ambassador Hell (Osugi Ren), Jark Shogun (Kato Seizou) and Shinegami Hakasei/Dr. Death-God (played with hammy delight by Ishibashi Renji) reveal themselves and do battle with 30+ Riders from the past and present. Even the aforementioned 2010 Rider, Double makes a quick cameo.Amazingly each Kamen Rider gets his own "guts pose" moment as they battle through seemingly endless waves of Shocker Hei (soldiers) and Kaijin (beasts) but with this many Riders on the screen, one can't expect any type of character development or meaningful dialog between each other. In fact, they merely are there to show up and be seen. One of the few Riders to get any screen time outside of Decade and Agito is Yuki Joji AKA Rider Man (played by enigmatic Androgenous J-pop singer turned actor Gackt). It's merely gimmick to include Gackt, but he does have a screen charisma that is appealing and his look is certainly unique if eerie. Regrettably his scenes are very brief and we don't actually see him in action.Osamu's hyper-active directing style and visual flair definitely serves the film well but sometimes it feels like the viewer is assaulted by all the visual mayhem that ensues. There's just so much going on that it all seems almost overwhelming. While this may work with films like recent blockbuster "Avatar", here it just seems distracting. The film in some ways reminds me of "X-Men United" in that it is just one big long and loud jumbled mess.Some of the visual effects seem a bit uneven. The scene where the Shocker Hei launch themselves like human rockets into Tokyo buildings is just plain silly but on the other hand when all the Kamen Riders jump and do a massive group "Rider Kick" against Dai Shocker ally Shadow Moon is pretty neat. In the end "All Rider..." is pure eye-candy. It is a movie whose sole gimmick is the sight of every Rider from the past 40 years on the big screen battling hordes of villains for just the sake of fan demand. While vastly better than the "Kamen Rider The First" and "Kamen Rider The Next" reboot films that came out a couple years ago, "All Rider" will appeal mostly to nostalgic older fans and young kids.