Anime You're Super Enough not to have wait for Goku/Piccolo's best movie.
Man I adored this film, as someone who rented the Dragon Ball movies from the video store when I was little and got hooked on the series this felt like such a reward for sticking with this franchise through its highs and lows. When I first heard about and saw the movie being advertsied I was kinda hesitatent, I really don't mind Dragon Ball in 3D, I've played enough 3D Dragon Ball games like Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and Dragon Ball Xenoverse for it not to bother me but Dragon Ball Super: Broly looked so good that I was worried this movie would be a step down or bad overall. Glad I was wrong.
The story of this movie is fantastic, which given Dragon Ball's usual formulaic excuses for punch ups is really saying something. Bringing back the Red Ribbon Army and having them be in the know about Z-Fighters and seeing them and gender-flipped Elon Musk Bulma as business rivals was just great and hilarious, Corporate Ball Z was something I didn't need know I needed. Piccolo and Gohan getting real time to shine was the best and a good subversion of Hold the Line and little Pan was adorbes. Piccolo in particular had the best characterization, him being the Straight Man to everyone as well as a sneaky 4D Chessmaster I really loved. Also that Vegeta beating Goku stinger, my god. Super the series was really lacking this kind of writing.
My biggest criticism (and it's not Cell Max), is that this movie was actually the perfect excuse to bring Great Saiyaman back and have him be included in the story in a way that makes perfect sense given the Gammas. If Dr Hedo had been a massive Saiyaman fanboy and heel turns upon learning Gohan is his idol whom he based his creations would've made for a satisfying pay off for his story, but that didn't happen. As for Cell Max as a Cell stan, I can understand why people are annoyed at his "succesor" just being a grasshopper Shin Godzilla, I didn't mind since it's still no Bio Broly and Kaiju effects were cool enough for me. Still had he recognised Gohan or something and started to talk, that probably would've made for a more interesting Big Bad.
Anime A film which will can't be fully judged without hindsight
Dragon Ball Super Super Hero is an enjoyable film for long-time fans of the Dragonball franchise and a breath of fresh air for people who may be sick of the constant Goku/Vegeta show and the sidelining of all other characters. But it is still too early to judge how impactful it will be and if it actually progresses anything or if it is just filler they happened to release in theaters.
Taken on its own, the film is fun, with the focus on other characters, particularly Piccolo, allowing for a different kind of story than we usually see with Dragonball, with much of the plot devoted to Piccolo's infiltration of the new Red Ribbon Army.
There's no bad character among the cast. Pan, Dr. Hedo, and the Gammas are a delight to watch. While Krillin, 18, Goten and Trunks only show up for the final act, they get to do more than would in a typical Goku/Vegeta story.
I do have a complaint with the 'brief' glimpse of Goky, Vegeta, and Broly and his friends training on Beerus' planet. It went on for far longer than it should have.
I don't have much of an opinion on the switch to CG from hand-drawn animation. Both look good to me, and I didn't really notice the change that much.
The problem with reviewing this movie centers around the character of Gohan. We've seen this song and dance before. Gohan stops training, devotes himself to his studies, and needs to rediscover his fighting power when a new threat arises. Dragonball has rehashed this plot without any sort of advancement 3 times already. If, after this movie, Gohan goes back to studying 24/7 and not training like he's done every time this plot has been done before now, than this movie will have been near-pointless in hindsight. If Gohan still hasn't evolved from the early Buu Saga even after this new movie and his new form, then he likely never will, and Super Hero will turn from a milestone in the franchise to an extended filler episode with a bigger budget.
The long-term fate of Super Hero now rests in the hands of the writers of Dragonball. It is entirely up to them now to capitalize on what this movie does and to make Dragonball about more than Goku and Vegeta, or to repeat the mistakes of the past and render Super Hero a pointless curiosity which can be skipped because it doesn't focus on the only two characters who mattered before or after its release.
Anime The Best Dragon Ball has been since the End of Z
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Dragon Ball ever since I was a fan as a kid. The highs are so high, but the franchise’s unwillingness to move beyond the same storylines and plot beats has always frustrated me to no end.
Super Hero changed that completely. Finally, finally, the story gets to be more than simply continuing the endless power-scaling that has consumed franchise since Raditz dropped in. By featuring Piccolo as the de-facto main character, the plot of Super Hero gets to show off his smarts, and has depth that goes beyond the typical “beat the new strongest villain” that Dragon Ball has endlessly recycled. Gohan similarly brings depth as a central character, being able to bring different motivations than the fight-happy Goku to the conflict in this story. The supporting characters, new and old, also contribute greatly to this story feeling so fresh, with fun personalities and some great voicework. It’s a funny movie too; no marvel movie quips, there are a lot of great jokes based on the situations the characters get into, especially Piccolo.
The fights are also much improved as well. Gone are the endless rapid punches and constant empty blasts that do nothing, there’s real fight choreography here. It calls back a lot to the original Dragon Ball, where how you fight matters. To defeat the villains in this movie, the heroes have to actually use strategy beyond just “get stronger and win”. Super modes and other DBZ staples are here, of course, but they feel more earned and impactful than the bargain sale Super Saiyans that the series has churned out for a while now.
The animation and music are excellent as well. Many fans reacted negatively to the switch to fully 3D, but the spirit and feel of the animation matches the traditional 2D perfectly. It even allows a few new interesting angles on the fights; twice a character does a wrestling throw that the camera is able to follow to an impactful thud. The music is bombastic where it needs to be and quiet when it’s time for drama. There’s a beautiful ethereal piece at the climax that I’ve never heard in a Dragon Ball work before, but fits perfectly.
If you’re a current or former Dragon Ball fan, watching this movie is a necessity. The highs of this franchise simply don’t get higher than this.
Anime The perfect analogy for Gohan.
Ok, being honest here.
I hate Dragon Ball.
I have a love/hate relationship with it. Like a lot of people I started loving it as a kid, the Namek Saga and its tension kept me glued to the screen, then from there it was the usual downhill with Cell, Buu, GT and Super in a neverending powercreeping in which a character needed five transformations and two weeks of screaming to change a lightbulb.
And I loved this movie.
It took weeks of my friends (one who has an even worse relationship with Dragon Ball than I do) to make me see it. But I did and the result is scary. The comedic timing was on point (which is insanely hard to nail) in a way I haven't seen in a LONG time especially in japanese productions, recurring jokes that were varied and never felt old, fun characters, lots, LOTS of genuinely funny background events from bickering between brothers to people finding whathever was happening on screen weird, or just taking pictures. It was even internalized by the characters, with Piccolo handling everything as if it was made of paper, not just the phone but the controls of a ship.
The pacing was good, it never felt like I was just waiting for 45mins of filler between fighting scenes (like the old movies). The choreography was also quite good, the effects... normally I also hate 3D anime because it feels stilted, but here, it was also on point. Even the handling of characters was really good, sans the usual 'Gohan doesn't train anymore' plot which, as another troper reviewed, was done to death already. Lots of cameos (Hey its suppaman!). Nearly everyone felt useful in a sense and had a moment to shine, which for a Dragonball 'Goku solve the problem please' movie is akin to a miracle. By now, what I disliked about the movie is the same thing about what I dislike in general, but transformations, power-creeping and Goku Vs Vegeta is by now something akin to a brain tumor in the franchise. It can't be removed without great skill and care or else you'll kill the patient. The transformations were also hella ugly and unnecessary. Gohan looks like a pineapple top and Piccolo looks like a pastiche of Major Metralliton. Yes I'm old. And the interactions between Broly, Beerus, Cheelai and the others was fun, even if I ended just skipping the G x V the re-re-re-revenge. The deaths that happen in this movie are meaningful, the characters aren't one-note and... its just really good.
Now, here is where things get weird. I finished the movie thinking... 'Holy sh*t, if the series was on this level, heck, it was just a series of movies like this... where does Toriyama hides this level of writing?' It can't be a coincidence. Battle of Gods was genuinely fun (even if the whole 'making Goku learn that there is a roof he won't surpass' idea was shot in the last moments of the movie and the Supers series), Broly's movie was REALLY good, three great movies can't be chalked to 'lightning in a bottle'. No, Resurrection of F doesn't count, we know it doesn't. Why can't he dish this sort of quality more often? Is it executive meddling? He got tired of writing? Inspiration? Lack of spite after DB Evolution spat on his face (fun fact kids, yes, he made Battle of Gods out of spite for Evolution, look it up).
What surprised me most was the level of comedic quality. I read some of Toriyama's 'comedy'. It was awful. For those who don't know, Toriyama relies on the 'oh my god this kid is super strong' gag over and over and over stretching it so much it could make a bridge between Japan and the Moon. It was his main gag in Dr Slump with Arale freaking everyone out, it got even worse afterwards with his one-shots. So out of nowhere he nailing comedic timing of a casual conversations between two freaky people, both inside the conversation and outside with people weirded out, is like having Charles Bronson suddenly making jokes on the level of Mel Brooks (told you I'm old).
So in the end, its a really good movie, but made me wonder... Toriyama could be really genuinely good like Gohan could be the greatest fighter of the universe. But something is wrong. Perhaps its his editor, perhaps he just likes to focus on one gag too much. Like Gohan needs to obey his mother and likes to focus too much on bugs.
Normally the good DB movies leave me satisfied, but frustrated: All good ideas will be wasted in Goku and Vegeta (who are so flanderized they literally switched personalities, Goku used to be the level-headed and protective, Vegeta was the hotheaded asshole) like how Beerus and Broly are sort of pushed to the background, or twisted. This movie left me satisfied, but with lots of questions.
Also, bonus round: I still maintain that Toriyama is a behemoth in Vehicle and Building design, and sadly it was barely used. The designs for the Red Ribbon HQ, their vehicles (the ones not recycled from the old series or Chrono Trigger) was... chef's kiss. I wish he made a more mechanically-leaning series or movie.
So like Gohan, we will have to see what Toriyama and the series overall will do with the potential once again awakened. Probably will be wasted and he will go back to his own stuff, but who knows?