Reviews Anime / Dragon Ball Z Resurrection F

Not As Epic As I Had Hoped, But Still Fun To Watch. Spoilers inbound.

I fancy myself to be a diehard DBZ fan. I've been watching the show since the day it first graced Toonami. So naturally, I was excited when I heard about this movie and how it would undo Frieza's Villain Decay. And while the movie is fun to watch, I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. I can sum up my feeling for this movie in one sentence:

It's epic, but not epic enough.

• Pros:
  • The entire fight between the Z Fighters and Frieza's army is wall to wall awesome. It is truly refreshing to see our non-Sayian characters get their day in the sun after years of being outclassed. When you can make Master Roshi a badass again, you know you did good.
  • The promised battle between Frieza and Goku is likewise badass. Though there are some flaws, which I'll explain later.
  • The animation and art style is quite impressive.

• Cons:
  • While the animation is good, the sudden shifts into 3D during the fight with Frieza and Goku is jarring at times and feels like I'm watching a video game.
  • Beerus and Whis come off as a pair of sociopaths. I mean really?! Frieza's back and ready to destroy the earth and all you care about are sweets?! I get that you're gods but at least show some concern.
  • The absence of several characters and the asinine reasons behind them. I can understand Krillin wanting 18 to stay behind and protect their daughter, but the other reasons are borderline wall bangers. See the YMMV and main pages for details.
  • Gohan's Badass Decay. Jesus Christ, what happened to the kid who kicked Cell's ass?

• The Fight Itself: It deserves its own section. The fight itself... just wasn't epic enough. The trailers made it look like it would be an epic rematch between two mortal enemies, but the fight itself felt more like a sparring match between college buddies. It doesn't help that neither Goku nor Vegeta take Frieza seriously and that Goku could easily hold his own against him without going Super Sayian (Made worse by Frieza's poor stamina in his Golden form). He only got the upper hand thanks to Sorbet shooting Goku in the heart. I wasn't expecting Frieza to win, just put up a better fight. The entire thing was woefully anticlimactic.

Overall, it's got its flaws to be sure, but it's still worth a watch.