(Welcome, one and all, to the Dragon Ball Z: ROCK THE DRAGON Movie Marathon, here at the Anime Corner. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting reviews for all 15 Dragon Ball Z movies, from Dead Zone to Resurrection F. A couple of notes to remember about these movies: For the most part, these are not series cannon (those that are, I will point out when I get to them). They don’t fit into the series at all. There isn’t even a need for backstory. Everyone’s favorite fighting warriors club is thrown into a life or death situation with a villain of the flick. That’s all the basics there. You may see some familiar faces that may confuse where they fit into any timeline. But just treat them all as what they are, stand alone, mini universe tales. Everyone good? Ok, let’s summon the Eternal Dragon and get these thoughts shared.)
Part 4
Movie 7-Super
Android 13 (Extreme Battle! Three Great Super Saiyans)
A peaceful shopping trip is interrupted by the appearance
of three new Androids. As the Z-Fighters
try to keep the city intact, Goku leads the Androids to a less populated area
and summons Trunks and Vegeta to his aid.
When the power of three Super Saiyans proves too much for the mechanical
monsters, Android 13 absorbs his allies and becomes Super Android 13. Pushed to their limits, will the Super Saiyan
trio and their allies be able to last against this mecha foe?
The premise of this one is solid fan fiction. Three Super Saiyans against three
Androids. At the very least, we get to
see Trunks and Vegeta hold their own and defeat their opponents before the main
foe no one can defeat. And I’ll always
smile when I see Trunks get to use his sword successfully. But the awe of seeing three SSJ’s all
together wears off when Super Android 13 comes in to mess everybody up. I mean come on, this is the most giant waste
of Piccolo yet after giving him plenty to do the last few movies. Oh and also, id highly recommend watching
this one in Japanese. 13’s country
accent is a liiiiitle too annoying for my taste (I know it’s there for camp
factor, much like Vegeta and Piccolo’s little moment at the end of the movie). Overall, this ones not the worst of the
films, but it’s not the best. The
actions good, the cast fighting together is always a joy. But the villains are throwaways. And I know some fans will be confused seeing
17 and 18 killing Gero in the films opening, which sets the new Androids plot
in motion. I’ll admit though. The way that death scene is animated compared
to the series, it makes 17 and 18 look more menacing than they ever did.
6/10
Movie 8-Brolly:
The Legendary Super Saiyan (Burn Up!! A Close Fight - A Violent Fight - A
Super Fierce Fight)
A surviving Saiyan Warlord, Paragus, comes to Earth
seeking Vegeta’s aid. His request: help
him track down and destroy the Legendary Super Saiyan. But not all is as it seems. Paragus is unable to track down the Saiyan
threat and Vegeta is getting impatient.
Luckily, Goku has been filled in by King Kai and comes to help with
Z-Fighters back up. Turns out, Goku has
a secret history with Paragus’s son, Brolly, and the mere sight of the hero
causes Brolly to fly into a rage. The
Legendary Super Saiyan is revealed and not even the combined power of Goku,
Vegeta, Trunks and Gohan, all at Super Saiyan level, might not be able to stop
his rampage.
Brolly. Brolly,
Brolly, Brolly. You’ve heard the
stories. You know his name. So is he the villain to save the Dragon Ball
Z movie universe? Oh hell yes he is. Brolly is one scary dude. His smile, his laugh, his gigantic form. He actually feels like a legit threat to Goku
and the others. And, scary enough, he’s
got a very sad backstory…if you ignore he got pissed as a baby cause Goku
wouldn’t stop crying in the crib next to him…that’s…that’s just dumb. It shows the not so noble side of King
Vegeta’s rule and has something from the past come back to bite the Z-Fighters
hard. THIS is the kind of threat we have
always needed in a Dragon Ball Z movie and in that regard, this one is a
success. In other regards…well believe
it or not, it’s too long. Most DBZ
movies (the early ones anyway) clock in between 45-50mins. Movie 8 is a little over an hour and it feels
it several times. Things could have been
cut down or tightened for sure. Plus
there’s the whole, no one else can stop this guy other than Goku. So why does anyone else join in at all? It was fun to see Vegeta scared out of his
mind by Brolly’s power and for Piccolo to be the one to berate him about his
cowardice. This isn’t my favorite of the
movies (it’s coming, trust me I do have one).
But this is how to make a Dragon Ball Z villain a threat and how to make
the stakes feel higher than they ever did in the series.
8/10
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