Post by Axalon on May 12, 2014 17:43:34 GMT -5
So after hearing on Reddit that this movie now had some subtitles I took a gander at it.
Part 1: TL;DR review
Part 2: Movie summary
Part 3: The Good, Bad and Huh?
Part 4: Final Verdict
========================
TL;DR review:
Regular version:
========================
This...was a mixed bag. It was entertaining, but only when it came to the humor department. They attempted to duplicate the feeling of the last movie, "Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!" by having silly humor take precedence over action. They even go so far as to duplicate the setting, namely, by having all the characters at a party. The humor (mostly) works. Little moments like Piccolo getting frustrated when losing at a bingo game or Majin Buu refusing to hand over any pudding were indeed chuckle-worthy. Anyway I digress.
The villain, though it would be more apt to simply call him an antagonist as opposed to a villain, is absurdly powerful. Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction, has awoken and is in search of the mythical "Super Saiyan God". When he was last awake, Freeza was busy running around and Planet Vegeta hadn't been destroyed yet. After learning about Super Saiyans and the death of Freeza he (along with his companion Whis) decides to pay Goku a visit. This gives us our first fight. Beers asks if Goku knows about the Super Saiyan God, to which Goku answers that he has no idea what he's talking about, but offers to show him the various Super Saiyan forms anyway in the form of a sparring match.
Shortly after flicking, yes, flicking with one finger, Super Saiyan 3 Goku to the other side of King Kai's planet he takes him out with a judo chop to the neck.
It should be noted that Beerus isn't an evil character so much as a force of nature. Goku challenged him and he was simply stomped to the curb. After taking Goku out in two hits, Beerus proceeds to the planet Earth, where all the other Saiyans are. Its revealed that he and Vegeta have met before, and the rest of the party is spent with us seeing a terrified Vegeta doing everything and anything possible to keep Beerus happy, lest he destroy the planet on a whim, even throwing away his pride to do a ludicrous on-stage dance to distract him from getting upset. It must be seen to be believed.
The rest of the party is spent with Beerus generally relaxing and enjoying the food and such. He's irritated that no one knows about the Super Saiyan God, but the good food and Vegeta's antics serve to keep him calm. Following some silliness where Emperor Pilaf fails to steal the Dragonballs, he hears about pudding and attempts to try some, but is flatly refused by Majin Buu, who is eating everything. Vegeta unfortunately doesn't notice this until its too late, prompting Buu and Bills to get into a fight. Everyone else soon joins in.
It goes about as well as you'd expect. Piccolo and Tien get defeated with a pair of chopsticks, Gotenks is literally spanked into submission (someone FINALLY put him in his place) Majin Buu is likewise taken out. Even Ultimate Gohan, who is stronger than Goku, is also taken out quickly.
Eventually Vegeta joins in.
...and as a regular Super Saiyan--not even a Super Saiyan 2 or even an Ascended Saiyan, just a regular Super Saiyan 1--totally takes a punch from Beerus when Super Saiyan 3 Goku gets tossed away with a mere flick of the finger, and indeed puts up more of a fight than both Goku (who as a Super Saiyan 3 should be magnitudes more powerful than Vegeta) and Gohan (who until the arrival of Beerus was the strongest non-fusion character in the series) had previously done. Power levels are indeed bullshit. Nevertheless, brief moment of awesome for Vegeta. All of Goku's friends and family even acknowledge that, by this point, Vegeta has finally surpassed Goku. Judging by how he's able to last longer than 5 seconds, he's surpassed Goku by a very large margin. Especially considering that he's only in the basic Super Saiyan state for this fight.
Just as Beerus decides that maybe he had just dreamed up the whole Super Saiyan God business and is about to destroy the planet, Goku arrives and says he might know a way to find this god for Beerus. They summon Shenron, who is for the first time outright nervous upon seeing the antagonist, and he explains that while there isn't one around, they can simply make one if five pure-hearted Saiyans contribute their strength. After Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan and Goten try and fail they realize that they've miscounted and that they need an extra person. They DO bring up Vegeta's little brother (introduced in the last movie), but he's too far away and they don't know where he is. Just when all seems lost its revealed that Videl is pregnant with Gohan's daughter. She joins their little circle and this is apparently enough to allow Goku to become a Super Saiyan God. Four Saiyans and a Saiyan fetus. This is incredibly dumb.
So anyway he's a god now.
Minor nitpick, but they show Gohan turning into a Super Saiyan when he helps contribute to Goku becoming a SSG, something he physically can't do any more.
Beerus is pleased at this and declares that if Goku can defeat him he will spare the Earth. God Goku (literally transcended into a God and is no longer mortal) and Beerus square off. Unlike their last fight Goku is actually able to fight Bills on equal terms. Beerus is very impressed, and Goku reveals he was actually using about 80% of his power. Bills is shocked, and the fight escalates. This carries on for a while but apparently this god form has a time limit and Goku reverts to normal mortal status.
But that's okay, because while in the form Goku was able to adapt to the form's power and now has the strength of the Super Saiyan God form without actually being a god any longer. Somehow. They continue fighting but Goku gets worn down. Beerus declares Goku to be the second strongest opponent he's ever faced, but since he lost and he always keeps his word, the Earth must still be destroyed. Beerus explains that Whis, his companion, is actually his mentor. Whis explains that he, like Beerus, is also the God of Destruction, but from a different dimension. There are 12 in total, and Goku's dimension is #7. After a tense moment, Beerus vaporizes a tiny rock with his companion saying "You only destroyed a little earth". Whis offers Goku to take the place of Beerus as the God of Destruction when Beerus eventually passes on, but Goku naturally declines. The two then take their leave and say goodbye to everyone.
Back home, its revealed that Beerus had never actually gone past 70% of his power, but remarks that Goku and Vegeta might one day be worthy adversaries. After trying some wasabi and panicking at how spicy it is (destroying a good five or six planets, probably uninhabited, in the process) Whis knocks him unconscious with a single chop to the neck. The End.
========================
The Good, Bad and Huh?
The Good:
-The humor. Mostly.
-Vegeta's power-levels-are-bullshit awesome moment versus Beerus.
-The animation laced with CGI. Some hate it, but the extra frames and higher quality animation leads to a much smoother display in all the fight scenes.
-Vegeta surpassing Goku, even if it was only briefly.
-Dende is slowly gaining respect as the new Kami, as opposed to just being called by his name.
-This movie explains why King Kai's planet is so small.
-King Kai has his planet rebuilt after Goku and Cell blew it up. Poor guy is still dead though.
-Lord Beerus isn't a flat-out evil villain. He's a neutral entity whose job is to destroy planets (this allows the creation of new ones.)
-This movie effectively renders the awful Dragonball GT obsolete and forever buried in its non-canon status. Forever.
-Potentially open-ended. We may see more DBZ content in the future.
-Super Saiyan God doesn't take 20 hours of gathering energy and screaming and talking to obtain. Its quick and dirty.
-Weaker characters like Krillin and Yamcha finally realize that maybe they'll live longer if they just not antagonize the character giving a royal thrashing to Super Saiyan 3 Goku.
The Bad:
-Super Saiyan God is achieved Captain Planet style.
-Apparently even a Saiyan fetus can contribute to said Captain Planeteering.
-All it takes to achieve Super Saiyan God are six pure-hearted Saiyans, five contributing to elevate the final one. This renders all other forms of Super Saiyan obsolete, and can be achieved effortlessly. Vegeta even makes an offhand remark that next time HE'S becoming the god. And at least in Goku's case, the power of that form can then be retained afterwards.
-While the humor was mostly enjoyable, the Emperor Pilaf segment was a bit too much on top of everything else. This section could have been removed entirely and the film would've been no worse for wear. Likewise, the party could've used some trimming.
-Fight scenes are few and far between, and most of them are cut short due to the overwhelming power of Lord Beerus. If you're expecting heavy DBZ action, go back and watch some older offerings. I recommend the Freeza and Cell sagas.
Huh!?
-No Gogeta? Major missed opportunity there. Only fusion we saw was Gotenks, who is a clown. Probably would've been overwhelmed like the rest, but would've been nice to see.
-Lord Beerus is apparently capable of destroying the galaxy if he so felt like it.
-The Kais couldn't just wake up Lord Beerus when Kid Buu was threatening all of creation? What's a few destroyed planets here or there compared to the end of everything?
-No seriously, why didn't they just wake the guy up? Buu wouldn't have had a chance in hell.
-Vegeta's bingo dance. I have no words.
-Super Saiyan God...looks alot like the old Kaio Ken technique. But on steroids.
-Amazingly, there isn't a single beam struggle in the entire movie. They fire energy attacks at each other for sure, but never a beam struggle.
-Beerus never used his full power. He wore down God Goku using only 70%. Whoah.
========================
Final Verdict:
This...was okay at best. Definitely for fans only though, and definitely has flaws. But then again DBZ was always about Rule of Cool and never made much sense anyway. Anyone new to the series will be hopelessly lost. As mentioned above, don't come here for the fights. While nicely animated, they're few and far between. Lack of action may make it a bit more boring than typical DBZ fare.
Part 1: TL;DR review
Part 2: Movie summary
Part 3: The Good, Bad and Huh?
Part 4: Final Verdict
========================
TL;DR review:
Regular version:
========================
This...was a mixed bag. It was entertaining, but only when it came to the humor department. They attempted to duplicate the feeling of the last movie, "Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!" by having silly humor take precedence over action. They even go so far as to duplicate the setting, namely, by having all the characters at a party. The humor (mostly) works. Little moments like Piccolo getting frustrated when losing at a bingo game or Majin Buu refusing to hand over any pudding were indeed chuckle-worthy. Anyway I digress.
The villain, though it would be more apt to simply call him an antagonist as opposed to a villain, is absurdly powerful. Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction, has awoken and is in search of the mythical "Super Saiyan God". When he was last awake, Freeza was busy running around and Planet Vegeta hadn't been destroyed yet. After learning about Super Saiyans and the death of Freeza he (along with his companion Whis) decides to pay Goku a visit. This gives us our first fight. Beers asks if Goku knows about the Super Saiyan God, to which Goku answers that he has no idea what he's talking about, but offers to show him the various Super Saiyan forms anyway in the form of a sparring match.
Shortly after flicking, yes, flicking with one finger, Super Saiyan 3 Goku to the other side of King Kai's planet he takes him out with a judo chop to the neck.
It should be noted that Beerus isn't an evil character so much as a force of nature. Goku challenged him and he was simply stomped to the curb. After taking Goku out in two hits, Beerus proceeds to the planet Earth, where all the other Saiyans are. Its revealed that he and Vegeta have met before, and the rest of the party is spent with us seeing a terrified Vegeta doing everything and anything possible to keep Beerus happy, lest he destroy the planet on a whim, even throwing away his pride to do a ludicrous on-stage dance to distract him from getting upset. It must be seen to be believed.
The rest of the party is spent with Beerus generally relaxing and enjoying the food and such. He's irritated that no one knows about the Super Saiyan God, but the good food and Vegeta's antics serve to keep him calm. Following some silliness where Emperor Pilaf fails to steal the Dragonballs, he hears about pudding and attempts to try some, but is flatly refused by Majin Buu, who is eating everything. Vegeta unfortunately doesn't notice this until its too late, prompting Buu and Bills to get into a fight. Everyone else soon joins in.
It goes about as well as you'd expect. Piccolo and Tien get defeated with a pair of chopsticks, Gotenks is literally spanked into submission (someone FINALLY put him in his place) Majin Buu is likewise taken out. Even Ultimate Gohan, who is stronger than Goku, is also taken out quickly.
Eventually Vegeta joins in.
...and as a regular Super Saiyan--not even a Super Saiyan 2 or even an Ascended Saiyan, just a regular Super Saiyan 1--totally takes a punch from Beerus when Super Saiyan 3 Goku gets tossed away with a mere flick of the finger, and indeed puts up more of a fight than both Goku (who as a Super Saiyan 3 should be magnitudes more powerful than Vegeta) and Gohan (who until the arrival of Beerus was the strongest non-fusion character in the series) had previously done. Power levels are indeed bullshit. Nevertheless, brief moment of awesome for Vegeta. All of Goku's friends and family even acknowledge that, by this point, Vegeta has finally surpassed Goku. Judging by how he's able to last longer than 5 seconds, he's surpassed Goku by a very large margin. Especially considering that he's only in the basic Super Saiyan state for this fight.
Just as Beerus decides that maybe he had just dreamed up the whole Super Saiyan God business and is about to destroy the planet, Goku arrives and says he might know a way to find this god for Beerus. They summon Shenron, who is for the first time outright nervous upon seeing the antagonist, and he explains that while there isn't one around, they can simply make one if five pure-hearted Saiyans contribute their strength. After Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan and Goten try and fail they realize that they've miscounted and that they need an extra person. They DO bring up Vegeta's little brother (introduced in the last movie), but he's too far away and they don't know where he is. Just when all seems lost its revealed that Videl is pregnant with Gohan's daughter. She joins their little circle and this is apparently enough to allow Goku to become a Super Saiyan God. Four Saiyans and a Saiyan fetus. This is incredibly dumb.
So anyway he's a god now.
Minor nitpick, but they show Gohan turning into a Super Saiyan when he helps contribute to Goku becoming a SSG, something he physically can't do any more.
Beerus is pleased at this and declares that if Goku can defeat him he will spare the Earth. God Goku (literally transcended into a God and is no longer mortal) and Beerus square off. Unlike their last fight Goku is actually able to fight Bills on equal terms. Beerus is very impressed, and Goku reveals he was actually using about 80% of his power. Bills is shocked, and the fight escalates. This carries on for a while but apparently this god form has a time limit and Goku reverts to normal mortal status.
But that's okay, because while in the form Goku was able to adapt to the form's power and now has the strength of the Super Saiyan God form without actually being a god any longer. Somehow. They continue fighting but Goku gets worn down. Beerus declares Goku to be the second strongest opponent he's ever faced, but since he lost and he always keeps his word, the Earth must still be destroyed. Beerus explains that Whis, his companion, is actually his mentor. Whis explains that he, like Beerus, is also the God of Destruction, but from a different dimension. There are 12 in total, and Goku's dimension is #7. After a tense moment, Beerus vaporizes a tiny rock with his companion saying "You only destroyed a little earth". Whis offers Goku to take the place of Beerus as the God of Destruction when Beerus eventually passes on, but Goku naturally declines. The two then take their leave and say goodbye to everyone.
Back home, its revealed that Beerus had never actually gone past 70% of his power, but remarks that Goku and Vegeta might one day be worthy adversaries. After trying some wasabi and panicking at how spicy it is (destroying a good five or six planets, probably uninhabited, in the process) Whis knocks him unconscious with a single chop to the neck. The End.
========================
The Good, Bad and Huh?
The Good:
-The humor. Mostly.
-Vegeta's power-levels-are-bullshit awesome moment versus Beerus.
-The animation laced with CGI. Some hate it, but the extra frames and higher quality animation leads to a much smoother display in all the fight scenes.
-Vegeta surpassing Goku, even if it was only briefly.
-Dende is slowly gaining respect as the new Kami, as opposed to just being called by his name.
-This movie explains why King Kai's planet is so small.
-King Kai has his planet rebuilt after Goku and Cell blew it up. Poor guy is still dead though.
-Lord Beerus isn't a flat-out evil villain. He's a neutral entity whose job is to destroy planets (this allows the creation of new ones.)
-This movie effectively renders the awful Dragonball GT obsolete and forever buried in its non-canon status. Forever.
-Potentially open-ended. We may see more DBZ content in the future.
-Super Saiyan God doesn't take 20 hours of gathering energy and screaming and talking to obtain. Its quick and dirty.
-Weaker characters like Krillin and Yamcha finally realize that maybe they'll live longer if they just not antagonize the character giving a royal thrashing to Super Saiyan 3 Goku.
The Bad:
-Super Saiyan God is achieved Captain Planet style.
-Apparently even a Saiyan fetus can contribute to said Captain Planeteering.
-All it takes to achieve Super Saiyan God are six pure-hearted Saiyans, five contributing to elevate the final one. This renders all other forms of Super Saiyan obsolete, and can be achieved effortlessly. Vegeta even makes an offhand remark that next time HE'S becoming the god. And at least in Goku's case, the power of that form can then be retained afterwards.
-While the humor was mostly enjoyable, the Emperor Pilaf segment was a bit too much on top of everything else. This section could have been removed entirely and the film would've been no worse for wear. Likewise, the party could've used some trimming.
-Fight scenes are few and far between, and most of them are cut short due to the overwhelming power of Lord Beerus. If you're expecting heavy DBZ action, go back and watch some older offerings. I recommend the Freeza and Cell sagas.
Huh!?
-No Gogeta? Major missed opportunity there. Only fusion we saw was Gotenks, who is a clown. Probably would've been overwhelmed like the rest, but would've been nice to see.
-Lord Beerus is apparently capable of destroying the galaxy if he so felt like it.
-The Kais couldn't just wake up Lord Beerus when Kid Buu was threatening all of creation? What's a few destroyed planets here or there compared to the end of everything?
-No seriously, why didn't they just wake the guy up? Buu wouldn't have had a chance in hell.
-Vegeta's bingo dance. I have no words.
-Super Saiyan God...looks alot like the old Kaio Ken technique. But on steroids.
-Amazingly, there isn't a single beam struggle in the entire movie. They fire energy attacks at each other for sure, but never a beam struggle.
-Beerus never used his full power. He wore down God Goku using only 70%. Whoah.
========================
Final Verdict:
This...was okay at best. Definitely for fans only though, and definitely has flaws. But then again DBZ was always about Rule of Cool and never made much sense anyway. Anyone new to the series will be hopelessly lost. As mentioned above, don't come here for the fights. While nicely animated, they're few and far between. Lack of action may make it a bit more boring than typical DBZ fare.