Breath-taking CG visuals, fight scenes that keep you on your toes, comedy antics that will surely tickle your funny bones and an atmosphere that truly, truly takes you back to your childhood are what’s in store for you in the latest Dragon Ball movie, titled Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.
While both the manga and the anime series have both ended long ago, the Dragon Ball franchise still has a very strong and loyal fan base which just shows how legendary the series really is, and the movie remains true to the series with its uniquely Dragon Ball feel.
I think a lot of you would agree that you would want to wipe the taste of Dragon Ball Evolution off of your palettes and this movie just might be the right cure. Its sense of humor, unique characterizations and in-your-face fight sequences take you back to why you love Dragon Ball in the first place – the movie is a pure and simple shounen action romp.
You also don’t need to be a fan of the series to enjoy this as the colorful characters, action-packed fight scenes and the beautiful CG imagery will draw any person in whether you have watched the original series or not.
If you want a deep story line with plot twists and plenty of unexpected turns, this movie ain’t for you because the story is just what you would expect from a Shounen anime: Bad guy awakens, threatens the Earth, shows how strong he is by beating up the good guy easily, Goes to Earth and stirs up trouble, good guys fight him, the end. But (and this is one huge but) what makes this movie enjoyable is the way the characters are presented. Sure, the story is simple, but those relationships between the characters that have developed through the years in Akira Toriyama’s beloved manga series definitely make this movie shine.
Another thing that makes this movie a must watch is the villain, Bills the Destroyer. Now, before you laugh at the guy’s name, just know that this guy is a god and that he destroys planets often on just a whim. Heck, the reason he wanted to destroy Earth in the first place is because of PUDDING. But then again, he did this to poor Buu and Gohan:
Yes, he looks like a Sphinx cat, that hairless cat from Egypt, but he definitely is powerful enough to take down Goku in Super Saiyan 3 mode… in just 2 moves. One thing about his character is that he is very lovable.
I mean, his introduction scene isn’t like how other DBZ movie villains were introduced. Your first impression of him is that he is a funny character and not as intimidating as Cooler or Broly, in fact, he makes you laugh with his antics throughout the movie… and then he beats Super Saiyan 3 Goku in 2 moves. Let’s just put it this way, he’s a lovable villain that’s funny yet one that you should not mess with at the same time. The movie truly did a very good job in showing Bills’ overwhelming strength as well as his lighter side.
Like any respectable DBZ villain, all he wants is a guy who can match up to him. When he learns of Freiza’s defeat, he immediately seeks out the guy who defeated Freiza- Son Goku who he believes to be the Super Saiyan God. After beating Goku, he turns his attention to the other Saiyans on Earth who could be the Super Saiyan God because Goku did not meet his expectations. Upon his arrival, Vegeta recognizes him and then starts panicking and doing all sorts of goofy stuff to try and appease the god. Bills in turn starts enjoying himself with the food and entertainment until he sees Buu eating some pudding… I’ll leave what happens next to your imagination.
Another notable mention from the movie would be Vegeta’s antics because Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods truly made his character shine. In fact, aside from Bills, Vegeta stole the show. His antics from trying to appease Bill so he won’t destroy the Earth to going all TSUNDERE with Bulma made the movie worth watching.
In the movie, you would definitely roll out laughing with the stuff Vegeta does in the movie. But if I were to mention his crowning moment in the movie, it would be when Bulma got hurt. The guy just went berserk and stood toe to toe with the god who easily beat Goku previously… and then when Bulma thanked her beloved husband, he goes all complete tsundere, complete with the luminescent blush, awwwwwwwwwwwwww.
The movie also reintroduces us to the Dragon Ball villain named Pilaf and his two lackeys Mai and Shu who will be remembered as the ones who turn Goku back into a child in Dragon Ball GT. As usual, they try to steal the Dragon Balls only to be seen by Trunks. Trunks in turn unknowingly stops them from stealing all of the Dragon Balls but falls in-love with Mai… comedy ensues.
The movie is quite short, with a runtime of only 85 minutes long but Toei animation did one hell of a job by making the movie enjoyable and keeping the audience on the edge of their toes for majority of the movie. The animation was superb and the CG imagery was simply beautiful. The music is quite nostalgic and fits perfectly with all those Dragon Ball mythos. When Flow‘s ”Hero ~Song of Hope~” started playing as Goku and Bills were fighting the “last battle” sequence of the movie, I honestly had goosebumps.
If you watch the movie as a fan of the franchise, it would definitely give you a a huge dose of nostalgia as the movie pays absolute homage to Akira Toriyama’s manga. As I mentioned earlier, it remains true to its roots and it will definitely wipe the bad taste of Dragon ball Evolution off of your mouth. Finally, as the end credits roll, several pages from the manga are shown while Flow‘s version of ‘Cha-la-Head-Cha-la‘ is playing on the back ground giving you that sense of wanting more. Oh what the heck, here’s Cha-la-Head-Cha-la.
The movie is currently being shown in the Philippines and is exclusively distributed by SM Cinemas. It was released in Japan last March and topped the Japanese box office with US$7,317,313 worth of ticket sales in only two days. In a recent report by Toei Animation, the movie earned more than 2.9 Billion yen in the box office. It is still being speculated that it may hit American theaters in 2014. It’s BluRay and DVD sets will be released on September 13.
Read more of our reviews here on SGCafe. Also, Feel free to join the community discussions going on in the forums!
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods [movie review]
No comments:
Post a Comment