Dragonball Super - Broly (2018) ***

Source: Imdb

This newest feature-length DBS flick was surprisingly good. Having just finished the current run of Dragonball Super, it was just the right time to view this. I doubt I would have been able to make much sense of the finer points of the plot otherwise, as it is a continuation of the series.

The plot was not really a huge surprise, with yet another powerful opponent to fight for Goku, but it's the first time he teams up with Vegeta in such a balanced trade-off. It was satisfying to see Vegeta shine in battle almost more then Goku does. Overall, the script was still well done, particularly taking into account that they spent more than half of the film on building characters and back story. I especially enjoyed that they spent some time on having slightly more detailed interactions between characters, especially Goku and Vegeta, whose relationship is in many respects the pivotal friendship of the Dragon Ball story. Their character development was stalled a bit in this film, but it was still heart-warming to see them grow ever closer. Also, there were a few glimpses at the Briefs’ family life, and last but not least, some more development on Friezer, who seems to have recovered from his ordeal at the Tournament of Power and is slowly returning to his old ways despite the impression left on him by Goku and his crew. Another interesting element was the look at Saiyan life, and particularly Goku’s parents. Particularly his father, Bardok, I always pictured as uncaring and cruel, but he is the exact opposite. Perhaps this is done to offset Broly’s father and the relationship he has with his own son. Broly as a character is not particularly interesting. He is a bit like Tarzan. Lastly, they also introduced new side characters, which were not particularly deep, but had a lot of screen time and some important roles to play.

Ok, enough ranting about the story. Now on to the technical aspects. Visually, this film was astonishingly well-made, particularly following on the heels of the simplicity of the DBS series. The animations were clearly of a much higher quality with a lot of it appearing hand-drawn, which made it all quite enjoyable to watch. The movements and detail, the variety of battle moves and angles was much more diverse than in the series (also, somehow, they made Vegeta and Goku look at least 15 years younger, which was odd). There was only one sequence in the second half where they dug to deeply into their CGI and created an incongruous, almost photo-realistic explosion sequence completely at odds with the rest of the film.

All in all, for a fan like me, a very enjoyable experience. I really wish I had seen this in the cinema. They clearly did aim for something big, at least visually. 3/5. Would watch again.

Broly on Imdb