Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods
ドラゴンボールZ：神と神
Toei Animation
Dir. Masahiro Hosoda (
Wri. Yusuke Watanabe
Music by Norihito Sumitomo
SUMMARY
Birus, the God of Destruction, learns of the defeat of the galactic overlord Frieza at the hands of Goku. Seeking an opponent worthy of his power, Birus, along with his companion Uis, travels to the North Quadrant of the universe to challenge Goku to a battle.
PROS
+ The hand drawn bits are gorgeous, crisp, and colorful. During these scenes, DBZ has never looked so good.
+ Birus is funny and charismatic. Fits right into the universe. A good villain.
+ Some of the comedy was truly funny.
CONS
– Facile and meaningless “storytelling,” if you can call it that. The only plot device used was a simple set-up/pay-off that did little more than project the film toward its anti-climactic conclusion.
– No sense of threat or stakes. No one is in any “danger” until the “villain” is refused the chance to eat some pudding. Then, he threatens to destroy the world. SPOILERS: No one dies or even gets hurt, except for Videl, who is hit by a stray bullet and immediately healed by Dende.
– An estimated 50% of the film is wasted on character fan service. Almost every character gets a moment to “shine,” or at least gets a name drop. Characters act completely out-of-character, even Shenlon the Eternal Dragon. The creators know you know them, so they want to give you something new. “Wouldn’t it be crazy if Vegeta sang and danced?” “What if Piccolo sang karaoke?”
– Awful CGI. Conceptually great action scenes are sabotaged by poorly blended and rendered CGI backgrounds and elements.
– New Super Saiyan God form is underwhelming.
– Most of the film only works if you are familiar with the source material.
– Power levels are uneven and illogical. SS3 Goku can’t lay a hand on Birus, but SS Vegeta can when he’s defending Bulma’s honor.
– Feels too long. Made me wish this was another hour-long DBZ movie of days gone by.
1.5 Dragon Balls out of 5.
[starrater]