Previous Review: The Age of Adaline
After the successful Dragonball Z: Battle of Gods, here comes another sequel of the hugely popular manga/anime series. The films set years after the Battle with Majin Buu and before events happening in GT (if you consider GT is canonical, some fans don't). Original manga creator Akira Toriyama is deeply involved in these films, providing the story and character design concepts of the films, so these new films are considered as the new continuation of the Dragonball storyline. So does it live up to the hype?
In this sequel, a familiar iconic villain of the past is revived once again to wreak havoc and determined to seek revenge against our main hero, Son Goku. There's no need to guess who the villain is, since the film poster shows it quite clearly, dear old Freeza. 'What? Freeza again?' That's my initial thought before watching the film. After the Battle with Kid Buu, I expect that Freeza should be a far simple foe to defeat for the Z warriors. There's no need for Goku or Vegeta to fight him, Trunks, Goten or Gohan should be more than enough to take him down.
Sadly to say, Trunks and Goten are both 'removed' from the film because Gohan afraid that they would do something rash. Seriously?? Even without Gohan telling them about the resurrection of Freeza, they should be able to sense the unusually powerful Qi energy from Freeza and rush to the battlefield to help. Guess what's even more shocking? Despite his Super Saiyan form, Gohan is not capable of defeating Freeza due to his severe lack of training again. What?? So Goku must be the one who arrives in the nick of time to save the world again.
The film features some of the old characters back again, Kuririn, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Bulma, Android 18, Pilaf Trios, Beerus and Whis from the Battle of Gods and many more. It also shows Goku and Vegeta's newly achieved Super Saiyan form, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (Yes, you heard me right! It's essentially a 'new' form of Super Saiyan with Super Saiyan God aura leftover from the Battle of Gods...). The only difference between a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan and the normal Super Saiyan is the hair and aura colour (blue instead of gold). Not to mention, Freeza's new powerful form is no different than his previous final form (except the colour difference again, gold instead of white). The battle scenes definitely improved a lot compared to the old films but story and character designs are lazy and lack of creativity.
Overall, this film is rather disappointing as the plot is too simple and straightforward for my taste. Some of the old Dragonball classic films (Wrath of the Dragon, Fusion Reborn, Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan remains the best) are far better than this new film. While the film should be nostalgic for fans, that's definitely not the case for general audience (even for a hardcore Dragonball fan like me). It's great to see the Z warriors back again, but I would prefer a far better and improved storyline and new character designs instead. Save your money for other films instead.
Rating: 5.5/10
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