Dragon Ball as a franchise has always been a pretty important part of my interests – it’s what ordinally piqued my interest in Japanese animation, it got me into martial arts in media, and it consumed me when I was around 11 or 12. The newest series, Dragon Ball Super, besides some highlights, didn’t really grab me as a fan, and I started to wonder if I had been the one to grow out of it. Dragon Ball Super: Broly convinced me that it wasn’t me – this is the best Dragon Ball has been in a very, very long time. The first thing I tookaway from this film was just how nice it was too look at – it made me think about the much earlier art-style from the start of Dragon Ball Z, which I feel is a massive upgrade from the somewhat static and often plasticy-esque looks of the characters in the low points of Dragon Ball Super. The set-pieces of the film look nothing short of amazing – the destruction of Planet Vegeta is awe-inspiring, and the main bout had me practically bouncing in my seat – the environmental destruction on display and the movement between sky, ice, and fire kept the look of the fight from becoming too stale in one place too long. Music-wise, whilst there are highlights, some of the music during power-ups felt slightly out-of-place, but it was nothing that took me out of the film. But voice-wise, it’s phenomenal – so much of my love for Dragon Ball Z is tied to it’s amazing dub cast. Just about every single voice actor is on point, especially with Chris Sabat’s role as Vegeta, and Vic Mignolgna’s tortured screams as Broly.
Since the movie’s promotion heavily focussed on the main fight of the film, my biggest worry going into the film was if they were going to stretch out the main bout of the film out far too long, but I couldn’t be happier about the way this film is set out. The film sets the stage, presenting a thirty-minute prequel to the series, showcasing the fates of the Saiyan race, the survivors of the planet’s destruction, and Broly’s origin. This section went on slightly longer then I thought it would, but I was glued to the screen the entire time – Broly’s broken origin was such an incredible upgrade over his original depiction. I additionally loved the inclusion of a few other beloved Dragon Ball characters, such as getting a little glimpse at old favourites Raditz and Nappa, and a brief show of heroism from Goku’s father, Bardock. The entire Planet Vegeta prequel has a constant feeling of calamity just around the corner, and I couldn’t say better things about its tone.
In all honestly, the actual present-day events, plot-wise, aren’t that amazing – but I wasn’t going expecting a ton. All the value comes from the character interactions and the fight itself, and in that sense, I loved near everything about it. One of the parts that took me out of the film a bit was that the set-up for the big encounter in the ice felt a little forced and a bit too silly, but in a very Dragon Ball kind of way that I couldn’t really have that great an issue with. Lastly, I also felt it was nice to see so many beloved elements from the franchise’s non-canon instalments (Like Broly, elements of Bardock, and a few other surprises) and bringing them into the universe canon-wise. It’s just fun to know, going further, that Broly is a part of what goes on in future Dragon Ball instalments.
I honestly can’t think of a time Dragon Ball’s animation has ever looked this good – the major brawls between our heroes and Broly look incredible, a very loose, fluid art style that just flows from attack to attack. Even when it steps away from traditional animation, instead using CGI to depict the fight, it never looks bad and is only a minor step below the previous animation. There’s a few moments of the film where the CGI looks a little ‘plastically’, but this is mostly for some backgrounds and is gone in a few seconds. For all intents and purposes, the entire fight between Goku, Frieza and Vegeta against Broly is incredible, and will go down as one of the franchises’s best. Few fights in the series are as brutal, desperate and exciting as this one, and rather than falling into old traps of ultra-fast fighting and overuse of energy attacks, features a lot of actual martial arts technique (albeit, to an exaggerated degree). The slow build-up of the fighter’s power scale was fantastic, with none of the combatant’s utterly destroying the other.
Well, except for the final section of the bout, which I feel is, sadly, one of the weaknesses of the film. To start with, the situation that leads to Goku’s power boost breaks up the momentum of the Broly fight a little too much. Whilst the circumstances of the final section are among the film’s most exciting, the battle against Broly ends a little too rapidly for my taste, as one side becomes far, far too powerful for the other to deal with. But, at the same time, without this upgrade, this fighter wouldn’t have stood a chance against the other. It’s just a consequence of the exciting, yet age old power-up based combat of the Dragon Ball franchise. It doesn’t break the film, but it’s entirely possible these criticisms come from me just wanting to get just a little bit more of this film’s amazing bout. It also, in some ways, takes the battle too far, with some flat-out crazy things going in the final exchanges that don’t honestly make sense with some honestly baffling backgrounds.
But no fight is worth its salt without having the characters to back it up. We don’t really get a lot of new knowledge regarding our returning characters, sans Freiza’s new heights of how to be a jerk. Just about every character who appears in this film gets their little fun moment, if it’s Weiss’ comments on the cold of space or Beerus being saddled with babysitter duty. No, this stage is all for Broly, who I adore as a character. Rather than the rage-fuelled, baby-hating roid monster he was in the non-canon films, this Broly is a nuanced victim of circumstance, abuse, and not having his own place in the universe. He’s not Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan because he was born to be that – he is what he is, because people made him that way. His father is unlikeable, crass, and brutal to his son – but I think the reason I feel he’s a good character is because he felt real, to an exaggerated degree – people treat their children in a related manner, and it gave a level of tragic realism to the entire film. The look that falls on Broly’s face when we see the shock collar for the first time made me feel honestly uncomfortable and uneasy in a way that Dragon Ball has never had before, which I was really impressed with that kind of characterisation.
I was simply floored by how much I enjoyed this film – it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the original Broly trilogy from all those years ago and reignited a love for a franchise I’d been starting to burn out on. It’s not perfect, but I legitimately feel that it’s the closest Dragon Ball has gotten in a very, very long time. With one of the series best characters, a beautifully animated brawl for the ages, and the (hopeful!) future of Dragon Ball ahead us, I’ve haven’t been this excited for this franchise in a very, very long time.