Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Dragon Ball Z: ROCK THE DRAGON Marathon Part 6

(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 6

Movie 11-Bio Brolly (Super Warrior Defeat!! I'll Be the Winner)
What looks to be a fight for easy money turns deadly quick.  A scientist seeking revenge of the Z-Fighters has recreated Brolly, the Legendary Super Saiyan, from DNA cells left over from his previous fight on Earth.  But this isn’t the Brolly from before.  He is now a bio morphic mess, insane, and incapable of stopping his destruction.  On their own with no back up, Trunks, Goten, 18 and Krillin are all that stands in Brolly’s way.  Can they put the Legendary Super Saiyan down for good?

Dear God in heaven…DID ANYONE WHO EVER WATCHED DRAGON BALL Z EVER WISH FOR GOTEN AND TRUNKS TO TAKE OVER THIS FRANCHISE???!!!!!  I swear, between this movie and Brolly: Second Coming, the anger levels this “Next Generation of Z” produces are enough to make me go Super Saiyan.  But possibly the worst of this monstrosity is how far Brolly has fallen himself.  He was once one of the most dangerous and terrifying Dragon Ball Z villains ever.  Now?  He’s just…a joke.  Yep, that’s what he is, that’s what these last couple of movies have been.  They’re a far cry from the Dragon Ball Z I knew.  And if I didn’t know things were going to get better, I’d say Dragon Ball Z was dead to me.  Crappy story, a waste of Android 18 (that’s two films now that squander good female protagonist potential infavor of tweedle dumb and tweedle dumb ass (seriously the fact that Goten probably cant read infuriates me)), and the lowest of the low points for any good villain…yeah this might be worse than Second Coming and I didn’t think I could rate any movie lower than that…but I have.  Dragon Ball Z: The Movie-Bio Brolly is now the proud holder of a place here in Anime Corner history.  The recipient of the very first…

0/10

 

Movie 12-Fusion Reborn (The Rebirth of Fusion!! Goku and Vegeta)
An act of negligence leads to a mass takeover of other world.  The demon Janemba emerges in the chaos and frees many of Earth’s old evils.  While Gohan, Trunks and Goten try to keep things under control on Earth, Goku goes to fight Janemba.  Outmatched, even as a Super Saiyan 3, Goku finds help in an unlikely ally, Vegeta.  The long time rivals realize that if they are going to win this time, they’ll need to fight as one…literally.  When the fusion dance ends, will Gogeta, the fusion of two of the universe’s mightiest warriors, be enough to restore peace to the afterlife?

Talk about a bounce back.  This is my absolute favorite of the Dragon Ball Z movie series.  Even some of the things I despise about this era of Z somehow manage to work.  That could be because I think Hitler is the only enemy Goten and Trunks are capable of fighting and not messing things up.  Maybe it could be because it was cool to see Frieza and Cell back…and dispatched just as quickly.  Maybe it’s because the animation looks better than ever, especially the CG teleportation.  In the end, it’s my big two.  Goku and Vegeta teaming up to stop a foe they can’t beat on their own…though Super Saiyan 3 Goku does get some nice hits in.  Their fusion, Goteta, is the epitome of cool.  Sure Janemba isn’t totally fleshed out.  But like the Inuyasha movies, the villains aren’t meant to be memorable.  They’re there to give the good guys an enemy to fight, that’s it, all basics.  Still, as far as these movies go, this is a step in the direction of how good, how REALLY good, a full length Z film could be.

8/10

 

Movie 13-Wrath of the Dragon (Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Can't Do It, Who Will?)
The saving of an old man may end up meaning the downfall of the Z-Fighters.  At his request, the Dragon Balls are gathered to open a mystical music box.  Within is Tapion, an ancient warrior who takes a shine to Trunks.  But more was unleashed as well: a monster called Harudegan.  With Tapion unable to face his long time foe, it falls to Goku and the others to save the day.  And Goku’s got a brand new technique in store that he’s been saving for just such an occasion.

Wrath of the Dragon addresses some of the most interesting issues with Dragon Ball Z as a whole.  For starters, there’s a lot of untapped potential in the individual storylines.  Also, the group fights that all end the same way.  This is Trunks’ movie.  His bond with Tapion produces some of the best character beats he has gotten since I first saw his annoying younger self.  He grows and it’s great to watch.  Plus we actually get an origin for his famous sword wielded by his Future self (the timeline taking on it’s own version of events I suppose).  Trunks could have easily taken down Harudegan if he had the chance to go Super Saiyan and use his sword.  But here’s where we get to the other problem…to quote Team Four Star, “Goku is a kill stealing M**********r.”  Now the movie is named after Goku’s bad ass Dragon Fist Technique so it had to pop up somehow.  But still, this was a win Trunks needed more than anyone, why did Goku have to come in and take it?  Ugh, it just bugs me.  Ok time to wrap this up.  Wrath of the Dragon looks great.  It would be a fun double feature to watch Dead Zone then this one just to see how far the animation has come for these movies.  Otherwise, if this was to be the last Dragon Ball Z movie ever, I think it should have gone out with a higher note on things.  Leave things for the next generation Goku and quit hogging all the kills or at least share them like you did in Fusion Reborn.

6/10

Luckily for us, this would turn out to NOT be the last Dragon Ball Z film.  And we’ll get to those two next.

No comments:

Post a Comment