DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL ActionDragon Ball Super: Broly
ONE SHOT ActionDragon Ball Minus: Hanatareta Unmei no Kodomo
ANIME ActionDragon Ball Super
MOVIE ActionDragon Ball Super: Super Hero

REVIEWS

• 

  Malus

  80/100
  The best addition to the franchise thus far with great character development and great interactions.

  Dragon Ball Super: Broli is an amazing movie and the best the franchise has to offer. For those curious, it does not spoil the ending of the Tournament of Power arc of Dragon Ball Super. The movie goes back to the beginning of everything when King Cold retires and gives Freeza the crown, thus making him the leader of all of the Saiyans and the Freeza Force. The movie explores the past, building backstory and adding insight to the Saiyan race before its destruction at the hands of Freeza. Gine, Goku and Raditz’s mother, is finally seen, and a more kind Bardock is seen as well, especially compared to his appearance in the now retconned OVA Bardock: The Father of Goku. The time Broli spends showing off interactions between the characters and building up the backstory of the new characters pays off later in the movie. Toriyama has re-written the story of Broli and his father Paragus, giving them a tragic backstory that serves as a motive for vengeance later on. This is a wonderful addition to the characters that is rarely seen in the series (especially Jiren in Super) and makes the two characters ones you can care about. For once, I did not want to see Goku take a beating before one-shotting his enemy like in the first thirteen movies, but I hoped for a different resolution instead such as the common trope in this series where a foe turns into an ally like this happened with Yamcha, Vegeta, Krillin, Majin Boo, etc.

  Also per the common traits of this series are the laughs, which are not forgotten. However, they are not as commonplace as they were in 2015’s Resurrection ‘F’. The jokes are quality and garnered plenty of laughs from the audience I was with, even if there were not many in the film. Broli combines all of the best parts of Dragon Ball into one amazing movie: superb animation, characters with depth and reason for their actions, a beautiful art style, a great score, good laughs, and awesome battle scenes. Norihito Sumitomo scored this movie and did his best work since 2013’s God and God. The music for this movie is miles ahead of the previous movie where I found the music to be lackluster, complimentary instead of additive, and generally minimalist. Instead of chanting, humming, or a similar sound that is short and repeating in different ways throughout the movie, Sumitomo uses many different instruments to create different melodies that convey the emotions a scene requires.

  However, there is a chorus that chants throughout the battle scenes that, as small as it may be, I find to be one of the worst and most offending pieces of music ever used in the franchise. During the battle scenes, certain parts have a group chanting the name of whomever currently has the upper hand in the battle. It is obnoxious, repugnant, and out of place. It changes the tone and generally sounds awful. If you take your least favorite/most disliked composer of the franchise whether it’s Shunsuke Kikuchi, Bruce Faulconer, Kenji Yamamoto, Norihito Sumitomo, or anyone else not mentioned and then multiply your disgust one thousand fold, that is how off-putting the chanting in these scenes is. It’s bad enough that I’m spending a paragraph writing about how terrible it is, and unfortunately, these vocals are part of the score itself by Sumitomo so it is unlikely they will be removed for the home video release.

  While it most likely is my opinion and not one most other viewers will share, I found the ending of the movie to be weak. It has closure, but not in the way I expected. I cannot give more of an explanation without spoiling the ending so I will just leave it at this. I will admit that I am somewhat pessimistic, so it may be my gripe alone to bear. However, don’t let either of these two detractors stop you from seeing the movie. The people who worked on this movie whether it be Toriyama, the animators, the artists, the musicians, or anyone else put their passion into this movie. It deserves to be seen if you call yourself a fan of Dragon Ball.

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• 

  Toby2B

  65/100
  It was your typical Dragon Ball movie with all that corny Shonen stuff going and awesome fights.

  First thing's first, I've been a huge Dragon Ball fan ever since I was a toddler. That thing was straight up my childhood, so any time I watch or read a single content of Dragon Ball, the only enjoyment I get from it is based on my reminiscence.

  As I grew up, I, like a lot of other Dragon Ball fans realised the pacing and story writing that went into Dragon Ball in the first place. It was obviously not the best, but that won't stop me from watching another episode or movie, or reading another chapter of Dragon Ball.
  I'll get done with my back story here and get straight to the point.

  IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. SO BE WEARY, PLEASE

  Story/Characters: 6/10

  In all honesty, the only relatively profound element that'd be the closest bet to a story within the entire movie would be the Planet Vegeta incident. Sure, they changed and manipulated the backstory a bit and added some new scenes that we've never caught a glimpse of, like finally introducing Goku and Raditz's mother, Gine and formulating a new version of Broly's exile, and a more conscious & emotional version of Goku's departure. I must say that the backstory was actually one of the only times I've felt much emotion for the characters in Dragon Ball, other than History Of Trunks.
  The rest of the movie was basically another Frieza formula where f(x) is Frieza and Broly was being pushed to be the x in Frieza's formula. Frieza merely has much of any relevance left within the Dragon Ball franchise, his recycling is getting so cliche that it's not even exciting or funny anymore. To add in Frieza to this movie was a weak plot device, and thus somehow makes Broly's relevance in the canon storyline somewhat corny.

  Animation/Art: 8/10

  I must say that the animation in the movie looked fine, but as typical of Toei, there were those cringey, lazy animations as expected of them. However, that's not something I'd like to ramble on about. What I do think was amazing was the CGI they incorporated into movie using the same CGI as Dragon Ball FighterZ. The fights looked pretty astounding and that's where the movie did shine in glory with its animation. Overall, the animation wasn't bad at all, but props to that CGI.

  Soundtrack/Music: 5/10

  Other than the reminiscence of the traditional Dragon Ball themes, there didn't seem to be much of any connection with anything else. The soundtracks just seemed quite dull to me and barely intriguing. There was a drive to it, but not enough to keep it memorable.

  Personal Enjoyment: 9/10

  As a typical Dragon Ball fan, I enjoyed the heck out of this movie, there shall be almost no complaints from my end except for what happened in the end. I was just straight up "WTFing?" out loud at the end. I didn't expect them to milk the character of Broly down to that level, but I guess I'll give them a chance since it's a whole different Broly compared to the one from the previous movies.

  VERDICT: 6/10

  It was your typical Dragon Ball movie with all that corny Shonen stuff going and awesome fights, but if it's your first time watching, then I'm sure you might love it if you love Shonen fights. If you came expecting to see a good story, then I'd suggest you to not look further into this series. As stated before, I'm ready to watch another Dragon Ball movie or episode any day.

  Kudos to the artists who put their efforts into movie !

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• 

  Pockeyramune919

  90/100
  Broly dethrones Battle of Gods as the best DB movie. It's a treat for fans, old and new alike.

  Warning: this review contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super: Broly

  

  Dragon Ball Super: Broly had all the right ingredients to be a success. It was a theatrical release to one of the biggest anime sensations of all time. It featured Broly, an immensely popular character in some circles. It would see oversight from series creator Akira Toriyama, much like Super and the two movies proceeding it. It employed a new art direction said to make movement more fluid.

  It would seem that these attributes of the film were put to good use — Dragon Ball Super: Broly, to date, is the highest-grossing Dragon Ball movie as well as one of the highest-grossing anime movies of all time. That’s not even to mention the critical reception, which has been quite positive.

  That’s all fine and dandy, but what do I make of the film?

  Well, I really loved it. And it’s not because I “turned my brain off since it’s a shonen anime.” As a fan, I felt the creators really knew their audience as well as the larger universe that this movie belongs to. It was breathtaking and surprisingly emotional at times. I don’t have any qualms about saying that this is the definitive Dragon Ball movie.

  One of the things that makes this movie so remarkable is just how important it is. I know this statement might sound vague, so I hope to make myself clear.

  

  I don’t want to get into the canon/non-canon debate, but it’s unquestionable that “canocity” is a big part of the appeal with the recent slew of Dragon Ball movies. A lot of the Dragon Ball Z movies could be dismissed because most of them didn’t fit in nicely with the story. Come Battle of Gods, people were excited because Toriyama was on board, signifying that that movie mattered in the larger universe of Dragon Ball. Its events could have consequences down the line. With the release of Super, this was proven true. With Broly, not only was a fan-favorite character going to be canonized, but Goku’s origin and the genocide of the saiyan race as well.

  You see, the first third or so of Dragon Ball Super: Broly depicts Broly’s origins as well as Vegeta’s and Goku’s. I really appreciate this. Having two distinct time periods run the risk of making a work feel disjointed, but the first portion of the film ties it together. We get to see why Broly ended up the way he is as well as getting more context surrounding the heroes we’ve been following for so long. Gine and Bardock’s farewell to Goku was surprisingly moving. I didn’t expect it from a Dragon Ball movie. Hell, I probably wouldn’t expect it in the show, either. The first-third of the movie makes it feel more personal than many other Dragon Ball sagas.

  

  Well, more persona for viewers and Paragus & Bardock. It’s personal for us because we get a glimpse into the lives of the saiyans and it’s quite emotional. It’s personal for Paragus and Bardock because the things they experienced lead them to carry out the events of the rest of the film. Unfortunately, a criticism I have of the movie is that it’s billed — structured, even — as a story about Goku, Vegeta, and Broly’s origins. While it’s true that it’s certainly about all three, Goku and Vegeta combined have a tangential account, at best, of the first half of the movie. This causes the two to feel less central to the plot when we come back to the present-day. In the grand scheme of things, this is relatively minor. Akira Toriyama apparently wanted the movie to be three hours long. While I doubt me and other diehard fans would have minded, that would have made for an abnormally long movie. After everything's said and done, the cut we got was fine, albeit not perfect. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a possible director’s cut in the future, however.

  I also like the “saiyan” angle because it makes it more acceptable not to see the other Z Fighters in action.

  

  Given that the writers would be discarding the old canon, changes were inevitable. As fans, we’d have to accept these changes either way, but I’m happy to say they were mostly for the better. A big point of worry was Goku’s origin as well as Bardock’s characterization. Bardock’s Father of Goku iteration was immensely popular, and at the release of Dragon Ball Minus, me and other fans were worried that Toriyama was making Bardock too much into Jor-El, Superman’s father. I’m happy to say that, while he cares more about his son than the old version of the character, he still feels like Bardock, being gruff and defiant to the end. I appreciated finally getting to see more of Vegeta’s father and seeing how the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

  

  Broly is, in a word, is amazing. The original Broly movie was the only Dragon Ball movie I owned as a kid, so the lunk has a special place in my heart. They overhauled his character and he’s amazing. He’s a truly tragic character and you really sympathize with him. Unlike Jiren, his backstory doesn’t feel hokey — most likely because it didn’t come out of nowhere and we actually experience parts of it instead of it just being exposited. Like my favorite character, Future Trunks, his upbringing really shapes his unique personality — Future Trunks is so stern and pragmatic due to living in a colorless, post-apocalyptic future; Broly is quiet, somewhat dim, and animalistic due to growing up on a remote planetoid where his only companion was his brutal father who only saw him as a weapon to carry out his vendetta. Come the end of the movie, given everything he’s gone through, you don’t want the protagonists to win. Broly is a good antagonist for the same reason Beerus is — he breaks the mold by being more than a one-note, destruction-craving villain. This version of Broly is probably my second-favorite Dragon Ball character.

  

  I enjoyed that the movie still managed to fit in room for jokes; they really lightened the mood and they didn’t feel out of place. Parts of the movie felt like the original Dragon Ball, which I hope some fans will be able to appreciate. I was afraid that, given the events of Super, they were going to damage Frieza’s character, I was pleasantly surprised at how dastardly he still was. It’s even more notable that he can have a complete gag of a wish (he wants to grow five centimeters taller; any taller and it would seem conspicuous) but still seem threatening.

  The animation and is certainly different this time around. The scenes with Goku on crew on Earth often have a simplistic style, with less detail and somewhat muted backgrounds.. I wasn’t sure about it initially, but having some time to reflect on it, I think I like it. It makes me think of the manga. I appreciate Goku and Vegeta not appearing as lanky as they do in some Super episodes, while also not grotesquely buff a like some Z episodes. They’re realistic enough that they can make me feel bad about myself. Fights are still beautifully animated except for the occasional weird CGI.

  And of course, it wouldn’t be Dragon Ball without the fights, which are breathtaking. The movie was determined to remind me why I loved the original Broly— his immense power. He hits like a truck and the choreography, environmental damage, and the glorious screams of Sean Schemmel as Goku gets absolutely rocked all serve to drive this point home.

  

  You’ll go “holy shit” at least once in the movie. Perhaps it’s just seeing Broly in action after so many years. Maybe it’s the depiction of a young Raditz. Maybe it’s when the characters fight through lava or cause a rift in space-time and act like nothing happened. Maybe it’s finally seeing Gogeta made canon as he gloriously dukes it out with Broly. Maybe it’s the end of the movie where Goku tells Broly to call him Kakarot.

  The music where someone is chanting the characters’ names might seem campy, especially if you listen to it without watching the scene. But trust me, it works. And it’s awesome.

  This entire movie was, excuse my French, fucking amazing.

  It might seem that I only liked this movie as much as I did because I was a longtime fan with meta knowledge of the series, but believe me, if you like Dragon Ball Z or Super in any capacity, even if you’ve only watched Super, do yourself a favor and watch Dragon Ball: Z Broly. The plot, characterization, and action are all amazing.

  If you're one of the people that don't like Broly's original incarnation, give this one a chance, because he's more than a green-haired psychopath now, and he just so happens to star in the best Dragon Ball movie.

  9/10

  A-

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