A not-so-simply titled movie 'Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods' landed in 2013 among rabid fans in raptures when, after a nearly two-decade absence ignoring a forgotten sequel and Hollywood disaster, a beloved flying alien named Goku , who shot lightning from his fists, would finally return home.
By 2013, Akira Toriyama's 'Dragon Ball', more than any other anime or manga on earth, long transcended to become global pop culture. Never mind that the movie itself wasn't released outside of Japan in most places until 2015, everyone's childhood hero had returned and with the success of 'Battle of God' he would keep coming back. While we were certainly already in the thick of things, we marveled at Goku's new fight against a god of destruction with eyes too blind to see that remake and rehash culture would go on to dominate entertainment forever.
Director: Tetsuro Kodama
Writer: Akira Toriyama
Stars: Zach Aguilar, Kara Edwards, Toshio Furukawa
2022 brings us 'Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero', another 'Dragon Ball' movie with a wordy title that marks the fifth entry in modern 'Dragon Ball'. It will come three and a half years after 'Dragon Ball Super: Broly' - an experience that, despite being entirely conceived in the Japanese equivalents of the boardrooms from which those live-action Disney remakes sprung, that no one particularly liked it, it's thanks to the real creatives involved who searched with Saiyan-like determination to deliver the most amazing. -Kinetic fighting animation that audiences could dream of.
The resulting 'Broly' deserves a watch for this alone, hoisted right next to 'Redline' and 'Akira' in the visual spectacle department. When Toei Animation first unveiled 'Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero', the production team's most intriguing comments about the project were, "Once again, we want to do something that has never been done in animation before." They were successful, a little bit.
If you were aware of a 'Super Hero' trailer, you already know that the effort is computer generated. Select scenes in 'Broly' were too, but this is the first time outside of video games that the franchise has gone full circle to 3DCG. For about 70 percent of the movie's runtime, you'll be saying to yourself, "Wow, after 20 years of this, they finally figured out CG anime." It turns out that 'Dragon Ball Z Money' and time are all you need to get it right. Hmm, no, that's redundant and downplays the animating team who probably developed carpal tunnel syndrome by modifying the animation texture and motion of the movie alone. for reviews to adopt lines like "looks good 70 percent of the time."
In our defense, 'good' in this case doesn't just mean 'smooth' or 'effectively mimics traditional animation', but 'passably Dragon Ball'; "Spectacular, heart-pounding Saiyan action that demands you see it in a theater."
Unfortunately, when the movie slips away from its incredibly fast, crisp, and seared fights to perfection, you're reminded that you're watching computer software on a big screen. In fact, the first two minutes of the film, a mere stroll down 'Dragon Ball' memory lane, leave the biggest impression by going the extra mile to emulate the background art from Akira Toriyama's manga. Joy-inducing, until it became clear that the rest wouldn't look like it came straight from the pages of the manga. Other non-animation related flaws began to rear their heads as this Shonen Jump foray continued.
Consciously not centering the movie around Goku and Vegeta for once and really sticking to their guns over their self-imposed limitations is a welcome change; We don't know any 'Dragon Ball' fans who wouldn't like the concept of a Piccolo movie. On the other hand, the other obligatory cameos and ties to lore culminate in a conceptually underwhelming ending that screams "producers forced!"
On the other hand, conceptually disappointing does not equate to a disappointing experience once you get through it. That final fight erupts beyond the stratosphere. Punches, beatings, deafening screams, suffocating new physical manifestations of fan-favorite characters, a burst of energy that expands to a quarter the size of planet earth, as much as Toei ticks the boxes on paper, especially when depicted so splendidly in most anime. CG sculpted to date, it works!
Watch Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero 2022 Trailer
Comments
Post a Comment