Aug 9, 2015
Before condemning me for not mindlessly praising DBZ Movie 15, Revival of F, you should know that I am one of the biggest Dragon Ball fanboys out there. I've read the manga, watched DB,DBZ,DBGT, movies, specials, etc. Dragon Ball has had a ton of impact on my life and sadly, if I had to describe DBZ Movie 15 in one word, I would use disappointment.
My disappointment for the movie stems not from a case of overHYPE but rather from something much different. After all the anime and shounen I've watched over the years, what makes Dragon Ball so special? It's certainly not the fight scenes
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or the over the top transformations and power ups, that's for sure. It's the emotion. The feeling of desperation when the planet is going to blow in 5 minutes. The feeling of despair as Gohan watches Cell kill his friends and family. The feeling of hope as Goku descends to defeat the Saiyans. The feeling of weakness as Vegeta discovers how weak he truly is. These feelings are what makes Dragon Ball, and these feelings are what the new movie lacks.
THE BAD:
THE LACK OF EMOTION
Now let's see why the new movie is lacking in the emotion department directly. A new transformation is fine and all but it just kinda happened. Super Cyan was just there as a means to show that Goku/Vegeta had reached a new level of power. But did you feel the desperation that came from SSJ1. The loss that caused SSJ2? Even the sheer epicness of SSJ3? How about the need for SSJG in Battle of the Gods? Nope, Goku/Vegeta just casually transform into the strongest power up, no biggie.
The need to defeat Frieza didn't even feel like it was there. As it is, the DB universe is filled with too many failsafes. Dragonballs overcoming death, and now, even time is a crutch when they screw up. This leads to the feeling that you don't actually NEED to defeat Frieza. Even with his power up, the fight seemed pretty anticlimatic, he didn't really have either of them on the ropes.
"Power comes in response to a need not a desire, you have to create that need" - Goku
The need for a new SSJ transformation was never really there. I guess it was sorta there for Frieza to become stronger but it was never really elaborated on.
The lack of emotion in the new movie really got to me but I suppose I should talk about the other parts of the movie as well...
UNNECESSARY FANSERVICE
It's cool and all that they brought back some Z fighters and even had a cameo with Jaco the Galactic Patrolman but I felt like it was a little unnecessary. This kinda plays in with the emotion thing. The fact that the only reason they are there is for the sake of fan service, bothers me. As stated by Frieza, Gohan alone could easily take out all of the Frieza forces alone. So why doesn't he? Fanservice.
PLOT INCONSISTENCIES
Why is Master Roshi able to fight on par against opponents that Gohan/Piccolo are fighting? Why is a railgun able to almost kill a Super Cyan God, a being that could go toe to toe with a being that could destroy planets with a yawn? Why does Frieza stop trying to blow up the Earth when Goku approaches him with a Kamehameha? These are the questions. Yeah, I know that DBZ has a ton of plot holes but come on, these are really stretching it. Are railguns the new Kryptonite?
THE GOOD:
Well the art style is pretty polished and the sound reminds of the good ol nostalgic dragonball days. I thought the idea was great with Frieza, the original universe conquerer coming back for vengeance was great. After that, I'm running out of good things to say about the movie.
THE REST
Dragon Ball has never been a super serious anime, but at the very least, it was serious when it needed to be. Now, it feels like the whole thing has become a complete joke.
I have a feeling that people only liked the new DBZ Movie for the sake of it being a new DBZ Movie. As in, imagine if the movie wasn't DBZ, would you still like it? Do you like it because it's good or just because you're Dragonball starved and want new content/want to feel nostalgic? Hopefully, Dragonball Super can pick up the slack with it's adaption of the movie.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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