In 2014, Dragon Ball Z - Battle of Gods brought the beloved Dragon Ball franchise to theaters in the worldwide, and now a little over a year later we have a sequel film airing. The new movie, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, revives Frieza, whose vengeful madness droves him back to Earth in order to challenge our hero. For your information, this following sequel is also corresponding to the newest series of Akira Toriyama's masterpiece, Dragon Ball Super which is now are still on going in Japan. Before I starts with this great movie, DBS (Dragon Ball Super) is the continuation of the old series of DBZ (Dragon Ball Z) which ended with the defeat of the mighty Majin Buu and the universe is finally free from the ultimate danger. DBS which is released in the summer 2014 continues the adventure of Son Goku and the others to protect the Earth with the new super-villain known as the God of Destroyer, Beerus and his grandmaster, Whis. But in the movie Battle Of Gods, Beerus is not actually a bad guy. His precognition dream about the existance of Super Saiyan God that brings him to Earth, meanwhile even the Elder Kai and Son Goku are never to be heard of that name.
This film Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ is the nineteenth Japanese animated feature film based on the Dragon Ball series and the fifteenth to carry the Dragon Ball Z branding, released theatrically on April 18, 2015. It is the first Japanese film to be screened in IMAX 3D and receive screenings at 4DX theaters. The movie depicts the return of the villain Frieza, as well as the God of Destruction Beerus and Whis from Battle of Gods.
The starting of the plot revolves around the revival of the ‘F’ character: Frieza. The film opens with a depiction of Earth’s hell, which I dare not spoil. Needless to say it is quite a fitting punishment for someone such as Frieza. We are then introduced to the remnants of his army, led by film original Sorbet, and their quest to acquire the Dragon Balls. Fortunately for them, the Pilaf gang already gathered them. Their comedic antics keep the film going strong throughout the opening scene, providing a performance akin to that found in Battle of Gods. While their screen-time may be short, their presence is filled by the appearance of the newly created Jaco, the Galactic Patrolman. Fans not familiar with the manga adaptation of his story will find him as the main source of comedic relief. His sketch of Frieza and interactions with the Z-Fighters, Beerus, and Whis all provide ample moments of Toriyama’s humor. Yet where the side characters Jaco and the Pilaf gang shine, the Battle of Gods duo Beerus and Whis fall short.
Beerus and Whis were the best parts of Battle of Gods for me, and it is unfortunate that their characters have devolved since the sequel of this film. These two character actually makes the story seems alive. Beerus is known for his blasphemous power and ability to destroy the universe with just a flick of a finger. Meanwhile, Whis is potrayed as his teacher, the one that take good cares of Beerus. But in the Battle Of Gods, Beerus told Goku in the final scene that he is the 2nd most strongest being in the Universe 6. When Goku asked who is the first, he said that was his mentor, Whis.
In Ressurection F, Whis serves as the observant mentor figure for Goku and Vegeta throughout a good portion of the film. Whis’s apparent is fully demonstrated, which destroys some of the mystique for the character. Unfortunately, these two are mostly portrayed as food-oriented caricatures of what they offered in Battle of Gods. In this film, these two character only appear when Bulma summon them with the purpose a delicious ice-cream. In other word, Beerus and Whis will only come to Earth just to have delicious meals that offered in Earth However, Beerus has a few wonderful comedic moments, and his interactions with the rest of the cast bring the laughs.
Once Frieza arrives on Earth, we see the lining up of Z-Fighters as Krillin, Gohan, Master Roshi, Tien, and Jaco gather to fight the alarming number of soldiers. The fight scene that ensues demonstrates the film’s excellent choreography, sense of scale, and urgency. In this scene, we see the manifestation of Toriyama’s intent, as he “intentionally increased the scale of the action scenes.” Arguably, the fight with Frieza’s soldiers holds most of the film’s excellent set pieces. Jaco utilizes his form of posing in all of his moves and tricks to beat the army, Tien blasts a swath of soldiers with energy attacks, “buff” Master Roshi makes an endearing return, and we get to see Krillin demonstrate his tactical prowess which we have never seen before. After Battle of Gods denied everyone but Goku and Vegeta their chance to shine, it is refreshing to see the lesser characters remind us that they’re not devoid of fighting potential.
Once things get dire, Goku and Vegeta join the fray, and Frieza skips straight to his final form. After an energetic, visually stunning fight with Goku, we see the larger conflict of the film, that Goku and Vegeta cannot work together. From there we have the unceremonious transformation into the strangely titled “Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan” form, which is thankfully never referred to by name in the film. In the latest DBS series, this title is shorten to the name Super Saiyan Blue. Frieza then demonstrates his new Golden Frieza form and the main battle truly begins, as it encapsulates the next third of the film’s runtime. The fight begins to drag, and it seems to attempt to build to some larger climax that never happens. In spite of this, both Goku and Vegeta get their shining moments in the film, and it is refreshing to see Vegeta finally have an excellent part in a movie. To be honest, throughout the Dragon Ball Saga, the only part where Vegeta gets the main attraction is where he collide with the power of Majin to become Majin Vegeta. Sad fact about him is, Vegeta never had the chance to feel the power of Super Saiyan 3 like Goku did. In summation, the plot of the movie wraps up quickly, and focused on delivering fights.
Moving on, the movie’s presentation is absolutely stunning at points, and disappointing at others. The CG work found in Battle of Gods makes a return, but there is little improvement in the technology. The CG models still look like they are ripped from a last gen video game, and feel out of place amidst the beautifully animated characters. Pictured below are two fight scenes for comparison.
The CG transitions oddly to 2D animation, but when it is purely 2D it looks spectacular. Each character looks gorgeous and on-model in every scene. As mentioned before the large fight between the Z-Fighters and Frieza’s soldiers demonstrates a fluidity found in recent digital animation, and it is thrilling to see the Dragon Ball characters translated wonderfully into the modern era without losing their sense of style. This is the proof that I am mentioning before, that this film is not avoiding extraterrestrial fight scene like this, which amazes the audience.
In the climax part, Son Goku is fighting toe-to-toe with the Golden Frieza. He even admitted that he is having trouble with the new form of Frieza. When the situation is unlikely decided to be on Goku side, Frieza's begin to cheat when he know he is about to lose again like before. Frieza shoots Goku's heart with a ray gun and Goku fell off the ground. Frieza then offers Vegeta the opportunity to end Goku's life and also offering him back to the Frieza Army which then Vegeta declined and stated that the rivalry between him and Goku is what makes him stronger. This is the part where Vegeta is actually and finally managed to shine where he also possess the ability to transform into Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (SSGSS) or newly known as Super Saiyan Blue. He then beat out of crap the damaged Frieza and slowly Frieza's golden form diminished becoming his normal final form. In the scene after that, a plot-twist occur where the moment Vegeta is nearly to end the ravaged creature, Frieza attempt to blast the Earth's core and managed to destroy the entire Earth with only the Z-Fighters are still sruviving due to Whis protection.
Going back to the beginning part where Whis did mention that he is capable of returning back to time before, Goku asked Whis to turn back time and stopped Frieza from destroying the Earth. This kind of plot-twist is one of the interesting part of this movie that makes the audiences unable to predict such situation. If you guys watch this movie for the first time, you would not certainly realize that Whis actually did mention his "Temporal Do Over" thing which makes him be able to return back in time. Eventually, this scene makes the audiences keep asking whether Whis is actually able to manipulate time or not, is still a question to all DBZ fans.
Making their way back to the time before Frieza destroys the Earth, Goku rushingly goes to the place where Vegeta is about to ends Frieza and blast the creatures with the well-known skills that Goku always used, the Kamehameha blast and managed to send Frieza's back to Hell. This film ends well with everyone finally survived and recovered from the attack of Frieza's Army. What an unexpected events, that Goku, Vegeta and all the characters in the last part were actually travels through time and managed to saved the Earth once again, thanks to the kindness of Whis and Beerus which is something that the Destroyer and his Master must not do.
Ultimately, what the film lacks in writing, it makes up for in presentation. Unlike Battle of Gods, which served as a grand celebration of the Dragon Ball cast, Resurrection ‘F’ capitalizes on the familiarity of fans to deliver an incredible follow-up to the legendary Goku vs Frieza fight of old. The premise alone can alienate the uninitiated, but it is an enjoyable film nonetheless. The characters suffer from poor development and a heavy focus on fighting, but it is the potrayal of beautiful animation, excellent performances, and grand set pieces that make the movie a must-see for Dragon Ball fans.
