Full disclosure, I loved Dragonball Z as a kid.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
Following on from 2013's Battle of the Gods, Resurrection 'F' continues Akira Toriyama's sci-fi saga surrounding Super Saiyans Goku and Vegeta.
The Saiyans have been training with Whis, mentor of Beerus, the villain from Battle of the Gods. Their training has given them a new form called Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan*.
In addition to this, Frieza, one of Dragonball Z's primary villains, has been revived by the Dragon Balls and is ready to return to Earth in order to enact revenge on the Saiyans for killing him.
The whole experience is definitely an enjoyable one. The animation looks better than ever, with beautiful moments of fluid motion and some classic Dragonball Z -style action (you know, screaming, powering up, energy blasts, punching and kicking, etc.). What's more, there's plenty of laughs to go around; a personal favourite line for me was from Vegeta to Goku: "Oh shut your face, you're only thinking less because you're an idiot." As a fan of the show, there's plenty to like here.
That said, there's a problem with the movie from a writing perspective. When it's time for Frieza to have his fight with Goku, there's no tension. It's never a mystery who's going to win, and it's not because this is Dragonball and the good guys always win. It's because from the very start of the action, there are four people stronger than Frieza present, including Goku himself. The protagonists aren't scrappy underdogs fighting an unspeakably powerful villain, they're more powerful than the bad guys and have no real problem dealing with them, so the action is pretty, but ultimately fails to be more than people hitting each other for an hour and some new special forms.
The Verdict: Resurrection 'F' is definitely a worthwhile experience for fans of the show, with beautiful animation, excellent action and some great humour, but the whole thing comes off a little like hollow fanservice. There's no real stakes, so all moments where action might seem epic end up feeling constructed. In addition, it's unlikely that people who aren't fans of the show are gonna get much enjoyment here.
Rating: 6.5/10
*Thankfully Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan was changed to Super Saiyan Blue in the new Dragonball Super series.
Published July 14th, 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment