Dragon Ball Z Movie 14: Battle of Gods - Reviews

15 years after GT, Toriyama decided that he wasn’t making enough money from all the poorly created videogames, card games, and countless types of merchandise that were constantly being produced based on his badly written franchise. So, he officially labeled GT to be not canon, and that Super is the real sequel, in effect rendering worthless terabytes of fan fiction and fan art. He still hired Toyotaro as his best imitator and the one doing all the drawing, since he couldn’t be bothered to draw as he used to. The result was a lifeless continuation that could no longer excuse itself being bad because Toriyama was not part of it.

It was also not really a continuation, since that would demand a new story with new characters, in order to start fresh and avoid all the inconsistencies that piled up over the years. But who would buy that? We live in the age of sequels and franchises that reboot every few years. Toyotaro ended up tracing over Toriyama’s artwork, and kept rehashing the exact same shit, regardless of not making any sense. It was basically fan service for nostalgiafags and it worked spectacularly since many idiots ate it up immediately and called it amazing despite being a shameless cashgrab.

So, everything began with a pilot movie called Battle of Gods. It was mostly comedy and had another terribly handled power-up. They had 15 years to take out the power creep which ruined the franchise, and not only they didn’t do anything about it, they instead made it even worse.
-It was lazily acquired, since all it took was joining hands
-It foddered everyone who was not a saiyan even further, since only saiyans could be used to unlock it and use it
-It ridiculed the concept of SSJ even further, since at this point even a fetus could count as one
-It foddered even the SSJs, since Goku became even more overpowered and in less need of everyone else to support him in battle
-Visually, it was just a hair color-swap
-Its abilities were never explained properly, as they kept changing every few episodes (untraceable aura, power output, healing, zero ki drain)
-It was pointless, as it had no significance, didn’t defeat someone, and was quickly overshadowed by the next power-up

The new villain, Beerus, was not even a villain, but rather a cosmic bureaucrat doing his job. Really badly I must add, since not only he slept for millions of years, he also wasn’t around to stop super villains when they were threatening the universe, and instead all he did was blow up planets that didn’t have tasty food. He was essentially a comic relief with ridiculously high enough power to destroy the universe with a few punches. And somehow they managed to screw up even this simple character by constantly contradicting what he did in the past.
-He said he killed all the dinosaurs, although they still exist
-He said he ordered Frieza to kill the Saiyans, but he never addresses it afterwards and even planned to kill Frieza for doing what he was ordered
-The old kaioshin said he was trapped in the sword by someone weaker than Buu, although Beerus is stronger

What baffles me is how they rewrote his backdrop story, from the one who made the Saiyans evil, to a generic destroyer of worlds looking for some excitement by fighting the Super Saiyan God. This removed the personal connection he could have with the heroes, since he would be the one who kickstarted their battle frenzy. Without that, he was just another guy who wants to fight for the sake of fighting. He even goes as far as letting the heroes turn Goku into a Saiyan God, proving how little he cares about the whole thing.

And I have to point out the plot hole with the prophecy. The reason he knew there is a Saiyan God out there is because of an oracle fish which foretold it a million years ago. How can there be destiny in a universe with multiple timelines? Future Trunks came from the original timeline where everybody had died and it was impossible for someone to acquire the god form. Thus this whole concept was bullshit. The legend of the SSJ may have been a convenience for Goku to defeat Frieza, but it wasn’t contradicting the in-series logic, unlike the prophecy of the Saiyan God. And that’s why it’s proven once again why destiny and time travel are some of the worst plot devices ever conceived by man.

Anyways, back to what was supposed to be a plot, the battle between Beerus and Goku was the most anti-climactic thing ever. Because of modern limitations, they couldn’t show gore and violence in the same volume as they could in the past, everything felt like a videogame because it wasn’t hand-drawn anymore, and the terrible low budget of the tv version made it laughable in the eyes of everyone who were simply looking for a cool fight. Many voice actors were also so old at this point, and couldn’t do their job properly. Kaio in specific can barely talk, so when he’s supposed to be screaming, nothing comes out. And even Goku’s voice actress shows her age too much at this point, you can easily tell it’s an 80 year old lady. How can you enjoy this?

Not even the conclusion was satisfactory, since Goku lost, and Beerus did not destroy the planet because he liked the food. And he didn’t barely manage to overpower Goku either. Even in his god form, Goku was a billion times weaker than Beerus. Essentially, this battle was a troll, since there was no way for Goku could win despite making it seem he stood a chance. This continues the terrible tradition of characters holding back from using their full power right away, and making it seem like they are equal in power with whoever they are fighting.

This first arc of Super was terrible. GT may have been awful for having no idea of how to use its good ideas, but at least it had good ideas. Not only Super does not have good ideas, it contradicts its own concepts every five minutes and keeps trolling you with fake tension. It doesn’t even deserve a 1/10, it was an abomination that should have never been made.

Dragon Ball Z Movie 14: Kami to Kami

How much can you cannibalize a franchise? Toriyama shows us this and more with his ongoing films and the new DB Super Series. Even if I have to admit that the latest Broly movie was quite a surprise.

However, this is about the film in which the new setting and concept of Dragon Ball are presented. Together with the showpiece "Beerus, God of Destruction" and the angels.

In terms of content, this film only has to offer music and animation, it is easy on the eye. But it was that too.

The whole subject is a blow to the eye. The gods, "Saijayin God", the pure souls, everything is just pulled up by the hair. This should have been marketed as an alternate story, like DB GT. Instead, they were added to the canon without context and there we have the salad.

Among other things, it is fascinating how the characters continue to develop backward from film to film and season to season.

I highly recommend this movie for all DB and DBZ fans. After such a long time, watching this movie made me feel like I was a child again, in a good way. I lost myself in the compelling storyline; and as always, there's more than enough humour to ease the tension. A little heads up: This takes place after the events in Dragonball Z, not GT, as GT is not canon (most people know, but it's better safe than sorry). So for all you GT fans, *MINI-SPOILER* don't expect Pan, or grown up Trunks/Goten. But do expect to have a lot of fun watching this movie.

I really enjoyed this movie,especially after dragon ball being my childhood.The fight scenes were great.So much Nostalgia. :)

Taking placing a few years after the final battle with Buu comes a new threat, Birusu, The God of Destruction. He is feared by even the Kaious and Kaiou-shin himself. After a 39 year slumber (since the destruction of the Planet Vegeta), Birusu awakens and wonders how Freeza is doing and always talked about fighting him. Apparently, his assistant informs him that Freeza was defeated by Gokuu and that he obtained the form of Super Saiya-jin. During his slumber, Birusu had a dream about fighting the Super Saiya-Jin God and wishes to do battle with him. Always loving a good fight for the sake of the fight at times, Gokuu tries to challenge him but sees that he is strong and must find a way to defeat him. 

For a good percentage of this movie, up until the ending, this will follow the basic DBZ formula. I won't give away the ending, but all I can say is it does something very different and will probably be controversial amongst western fans of the franchise. The movie does a good job of justifying the way that it ends and I think this movie deserves credit for doing something different. On one hand, you don't really expect to see it coming, but on the other hand, it does make good sense. What you can take out of this ending is how we all interpret Dragon Ball and the spirit of it. 

Overall, this movie brings back a good portion of the charms of this series. The humor, the action, the intensity, and so on. So hardcore fans may enjoy this but the ending is very disputable at this point. Birusu as a villain is very distinct from other villains in Dragon Ball. I won't get too much into him since they would be spoilers, but I do think he is rather unique. 

The action is pretty much in tune with how Dragon Ball Z always has been. Very destructive, explosive, and hyper paced. I wish in terms of special moves it was more diverse but it is more centric on hand to hand and the flying combat. I won't get into too much of what I think should have been used since they would be spoilers. The CG used in this movie isn't top notch. It is PS3 DBZ game quality, but the imagination I feel is what it counts. It demonstrates the devastation and the intensity very effectively and that is enough for me. 

As for Birusu's style, his posture is a lot like Freeza's where he will wrap his arms around his back but he will use hands while fighting. As for his mannerisms, he does remind me of Thanatos from Saint Seiya The Lost Canvas. He is very powerful and a bit of a show off when it comes to demonstrating his strength against the other DBZ characters. 

As for the general animation and design, its very much in tune with the franchise overall so no other complaints. 

The music from the TV series and old movies is not present and is mostly using new BGM tracks. The tracks are more techno and a bit more orchestrated. It brings a more fresher feel to the series and it works in its own way. The only ending spoiler I can give is that the ending song is a new rendition of Cha-La Head Cha-La which I thought was ok. 

The voice acting is still in tune with the original TV series. Nozawa Masako still captures Gokuu and doesn't sound like she's aged. She also does Goten and Gohan very well, too. She still has a great grasp of the character. Horikawa Ryo still does a great job as Vegeta, but due to the writing in context of the story, it does allow Horikawa to show more of his other voice talents in this portrayal of Vegeta. Horikawa Ryo is a very versatile actor and he did a great job of playing Vegeta. I think this is probably one of his best performances with the character. Last, Yamadera Kouichi plays Birusu. Yes, it is the voice of Spike from Cowboy Bebop. I didn't recognize his voice at all throughout the movie and when I saw the credits, I was surprised it was him. His voice as Spike had this really distinct charm to it while in this one, he is also a playful character but also something of a sadist. I think he captures the character in his own way where he is scary and also has his own distinct charm. Other voice actors are back that are still alive and reprised their roles did a great job with re-capturing their characters. And there will be some surprise cameos from some other characters. 

I say this movie is certainly a give it a shot movie for the fans. I say people not familiar with Dragon Ball Z will be slightly confused and some familiarity with the franchise should be a prerequisite before watching. Like I said, a lot of the things are still the same, and some things will be different this time around. I don't think it is as good as the first Brolly movie or the Cooler movies, but it does bring a refreshing feel to Dragon Ball at some capacity. I think when this movie is made internationally available, it will get people intelligently discussing about the movie and franchise based on the ending. I am still trying to in-take it but I do understand why the movie chooses to go with the ending it has but I do have some issues with it. But feel free to watch it when you can.