Dragonball Z: Battle of Gods review

"Cha-la, head cha-la..."

Everyone who grew up loving Dragonball (and the subsequent "Z" and "GT" series) has their favorite moments. Whether is be the Goku vs Piccalo fight in the original series or the Cell games from DBZ, everyone has a moment they can instantly recall. Personally, I have so many that instantly come to mind. When I heard that the 2013 Japanese release of Dragonball Z: Battle of Gods was dubbed with the English voices and was set to hit theaters, I felt like I was 12 years old again.

Nostalgia aside, Battle of Gods, is a lot of fun with a few points that drag it down from true greatness. On a technical standpoint, the movie is a thing of beauty. Seeing Goku and all the Z-fighters in HD clarity is something to behold. The action which used to be full of shaky lines and repeated animations is gone thanks to new animation technology and CGI. On top of that, most - not all - of the English voice cast returned for the movie. From beginning to end, your eyes and ears will be treated to the best looking Dragonball Z film to date.

Lord Beerus

Story wise, it is a solid "good". From the beginning we are warned that a certain god of destruction, Lord Beerus, has awoken. He is a legendary warrior who destroys whole galaxies because they annoyed him. Once we are actually introduced to the character, the first thing you will notice is his feline qualities. Appearance aside, his motions and actions resemble that of a cat; down to licking his "paws" to clean himself after waking up. Normally this would take me out of the movie, but this is Dragonball Z. An anime that is filled with talking pigs, little green guardians of Earth and men who get so angry they go blonde. A cat man is nothing to bat a lash at. The reason for Lord Beerus to visit Earth on the other hand is a little silly.

The long and short of it is that Lord Beerus had a dream (or premonition) that he would battle a Super Saiyan God; a legendary form whose power exceeds even that of Super Saiyan 3 (SSJ3). He is surprised at this because it was by his direction that Planet Vegeta (home of the Saiyans) be destroyed by Freeza. Learning that there were Saiyan survivors, Beerus heads out to find said Super Saiyan God. After a quick stop to visit King Kai (which leads to Goku getting his backside handed to him), Beerus makes his way to Earth. This is where the movie falters.

Bingo for Dragonballs!

After being warned by King Kai, Vegeta is tasked with keeping Beerus calm and ushering him off Earth since Goku was quickly defeated. He must do this while trying to entertain all the Z-fighters for Bulma's birthday. The entire middle section of the movie felt like a filler episode. You know, the ones where Goku spent the episode screaming to power up and the other characters were tasked with finding the Dragonballs. That is how the middle 30 odd minutes went. Yes, there was plenty of humorous moments (including one hilarious dancing segment), but most of the events felt like something to stretch the run time.

Even when Lord Beerus arrived, instead of jumping into battle, he dives into the food and makes himself at home. Even his decision to destroy Earth is fueled by greed and pudding. Yes, pudding. I won't go into spoilers, but this whole middle section of the movie could have gone in so many more action packed ways. The filler mentality didn't subside until Goku recovered and arrived to save the plant. Once there, however, the tone of the movie went full force.

While we got to see the Z-fighters each do their thing, I would have liked to see more of their signature moves. There is something special about hearing Piccalo yell "Special Beam Cannon!" Alas, all the flashy moves were saved for Goku. On a side note, my showing of the movie was completely sold out. Every seat was filled. Every person came together to say "Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" with Goku. That moment gave me chills. Any who, back to the topic at hand.

Super Saiyan God Goku

The ending fight was an adrenaline fueled extravaganza filled with power moves and lots of signature Dragonball Z yelling. What I didn't expect was the lackluster ending. The last 15 minutes or so set up for another movie that may or may not get made.

When all was said and done, I found the movie to be worth the price of admission. The nostalgia alone is worth the $10. What could have been a great movie was bogged down with too much filler. However, if you love the Dragonball universe, you will find plenty to enjoy here.

Rating: 7.5 / 10