Dragonball Super: Broly Movie Review

The Dragonball movies previously had not been coming over to the US as much. Anime has been on the rise and bringing with it more content than we have seen before. Minor Spoiler will follow in the review, talking about the opening scene, and limited.

The biggest change here is that this movie is considered canon for the Series, because of the involvement of Akira Toriyama. With the inclusion of Toriyama

The movie begins on the Planet Vegeta, decades before the events of Dragonball (Super). The Cooler Force has gathered and King Vegeta knows he needs to talk with King Cold. The Force descends on the Planet. Here, we get to see Frieza more as a youth, just as he is getting control of the forces that his father, King Cold,

After the introduction of Frieza, we see Prince Vegeta in his pod and the scientist that are observing him. King Vegeta is proud of the burgeoning power of his infant son. He hopes that his son will be able to topple Frieza some day. He then notices the low class warrior baby, Broly. He cannot stand this baby being here. The Scientists tell King Vegeta that the latent power within the child Broly seems utterly immense and could be a great warrior for the Prince. The King is jealous of the power and orders the baby sent away to the inhospitable planet of Vampa. Broly's father Paragus, rushes to the King when he hears that his son is getting sent away. The King reveals that the capsule has already been sent away. Paragus runs to the airfield, steals and a ship and then gives chase to find his son.

There is one other plot point that is very worth talking about. We get to see life on Vegeta with the Saiyans going about their day to day life. The biggest reveal of all this is Gine and Bardock, the parents of Goku (Kakarot) are shown to be sending him away to Earth. Bardock reasons that something is odd with Frieza summoning all the Saiyans back to Planet Vegeta and he convinces Gine to send Kakarot away to keep him safe. We actually get to see them be caring parents which overall has been rare in the Saiyan characteristics. We get to see the destruction of planet Vegeta once again. From there, we get a montage that takes the audience from that point in time to the present time in Dragonball Super.

With the introduction out of the way, there is a lot yet to talk about. There is the animation, the music, the fight,the question of Broly himself and how this movie is for both long-time fans and newcomers.

The music is good. There were still some occasions of the music getting a bit cheesy as it could back jn the 1990's. There are a few tracks with some good instrumental backing and the lyrics are a simple chant of the lead character's name. Most of the time though it serves very well in the background, adding some tension or augmenting the emotional component to the scene. There were still times where it would

The big fight in the movie has Goku, Vegeta, and ultimately Frieza fighting against the berserker Broly. The fight takes place on the Ice Continent. Like many fights in Dragonball, it takes its time to warm up the characters and give us a chance to set expectations throughout the fight. This does mean we get to see plenty of transformations, which the Dragonball series has been known for. Vegeta does the lead in, with the full aggressive of the Prince of All Saiyans on display. Most of the transformation sequences here opt for the longer approach, letting us revel in the shouting as the power level rises within each

There was one scene with Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo talking where the animation style gets very basic, with splotchy faces. It stands out from the rest of the movie because the quality of animation had been high throughout the rest of the movie. It did work somewhat for the scene, given it was meant to be more a humorous section. Still, the break in quality was long enough to briefly break the immersion into the world.

Time for the big question here of Broly (pun intended). We see some of Broly's growth on the planet Vampa. The relationship he has with his father remains something of the same, with a shock collar instead of the control headband. Paragus remains fixated on his revenge against the royal line of Vegeta. This time though, we get to see Broly actually talk a bit, reflecting on his time on Vampa. the other characters, Lemo and Cheelai, comment on just how little Broly talks.

Lemo and Cheelai worked very well in the movie. They offered us a chance to actually get to see Broly talk and be more of a person than a huge and ever growing threat. It is through their eyes that we get to see the emotional side of Broly. He will tell them a story about his iconic blanket around his waist. This does a lot to lend humanity to the otherwise stoic or rage-filled Saiyan.

Now the question of how this movie works for to newcomers to the series. This will assume at least familiarity with Dragonball Z and its troupe of characters. For the newcomer, there are new characters with Whis, and Beerus, and the new transformation of Golden Frieza (revealed in Resurrection F). To no one's surprise, we get to see the full Super Saiyan Transformation, God (Red), and Super Saiyan Blue Transformations. We also get to see the first transformation of a Super Saiyan with Broly, at least in the proper Dragonball timeline!

There was a lot to enjoy throughout the movie. It was a welcome mix of the serious fighting and humor that one should expect from a Dragon Ball movie. With more characterization of the supporting cast it allows us to appreciate everyone in the movie at least a bit more. The music was on par with expectations for a US dub release of a Dragonball movie. It was a fun watch and something that long time fans can get a lot of enjoyment out of.