Son_Gohan wrote:Personally I don't feel the movie lived up to its potential, and frankly, Toriyama's spacious involvement played a considerable part in that.
Being credited as the creator of a series that ended more than a decade ago does not necessarily mean he’d know what’s best for DragonBall in the year 2013. Even looking back at the success of the original series, how much did Toriyama's personal preferences really contribute to it? Based on documented interviews, some of his original ideas on what direction the story should take--
#19 & #20 being the only enemies that show up in the Artificial Human arc, for example--were rejected by his editors, and as a result the plot received more depth and benefited from the arrival of new characters. Being the self-confessed gag author that he is, it could be inferred that the points in the story where it took on a more serious tone as seen with the Freeza and Cell arcs took him far out of his element; that’s where someone in the role Yū Kondō held at that period would become integral to the narrative developing as it did. This is one reason why turning over the reins in production for
Battle of the Gods may have proven as a bad move since the content now lacks that same balance his editors provided.
It becomes evident not too long into the film that the silliness and overall lightened atmosphere is out of place for a story which takes on this universal scale and tries to convey there being a lot at stake. It’s conflictive; it does not work well, and comes across as a parody of itself, in my opinion. The lack of seriousness wasn’t at all as subtle as it once was. The humor is too exclusive to an audience who’d recognize specific character traits, relying too heavily on emotional extremes and out-of-character moments. Perhaps these choices would have been better suited for something akin to the 2008 Special, but by how this movie was advertised, the final product left much to be desired.
I really like this post. I think you brought up a lot of great points.
What I find even more disappointing about the way that they were almost trying to force gags into the film, is that when they finally got down to the action and drama, they did it really well.
I understand and appreciate what Toriyama was trying to do with writing a care-free, family movie, but the way he actively tried to dance around any sort of drama while still using Yusuke Watanabe's
Super Saiyan God and
God of Destruction plot-points, came off as rather unnatural and the funny thing is, the moment Pilaf and co. randomly vanish from the film is an indication that the movie is making that transition from humour to action. I think it kinda shows that they weren't really needed in the film, but since they were originally going to be just regular robbers, I have to give Toriyama two thumbs up for making that change. It's just that there inclusion showed that the movie was willing to go out of its way just for the sake of a few jokes- which I wasn't a huge fan of.
Getting back to the action thing, that scene with the energy ball. So-so good. I know it's a little generic in terms of Dragon Ball and it's very reminiscent of the
Kaioken x20 scene in the Anime, but the atmosphere in some of those shots...and the silence as Goku falls. Wow. I couldn't have asked for much more in terms of the execution of this scene. I'd read the Kanzenshuu summary of the film before I watched
Battle of Gods, but I have to be honest, the way Goku temporarily regains his God powers in the film completely took me off guard and I could see the grin on my brother's face as it happened- I haven't seen him react like that to Dragon Ball in years. And then in the aftermath, we have those shots in space; also very cool. Why did we have to hide away in Bulma's back yard for most of the movie when we can have these settings that really give the movie a sense of scale? I think it sort of reflected they way Yusuke Watanabe and Akira Toriyama approached this project. Watanabe wanted to create a dark film, whereas Toriyama wanted it to be safe and familiar; much like Caspule Corp. That's what I'm talking about. They spent the whole film trying to avoid stuff like this, but when they actually do it, it's really, really good. And hey, just because you have lots of action doesn't mean you can't have gags- look at that one movie by Michael Bay with the transforming robots.
It's just a matter of finding a balance and blending them well. In
Battle of Gods, they weren't really blended at all, but rather, they dominated their own sections of the film with a clear-cut transition in between to indicate the change in mood. A bit like
Dragon Ball and
Dragon Ball Z. 
Still, I have to wonder what Toriyama originally wrote to give this film an 120 minute-plus run-time before it was cut down. It can't have all been gags, could it?
So, in a nutshell, I enjoy and appreciate Toriyama's style, but I don't think it's suited for the big screen- and I'm sure I've said this before. I think they probably could've done a better job of mixing Toriyama and Watanabe's visions.
The more I talk like this, the more it sounds like I hate the movie.
I don't. I find it very, very entertaining. I watched a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it, but I'm finally over that initial period where I was still coming off the hype I'd built up in my head six months prior to its release and I can now look at the movie without going,
"Bleurgh, first DB Movie in 17 years. This is sooooo cool!! I sure hope I didn't waste $120 on it.".
Oh...and I hear there's a review coming.
Hellspawn28 wrote:At least BOG had a original plot
Was it original though? Guy comes to Earth seeking a strong fighter and the Z Warriors must stop him. Pretty sure DBZ Movies 2, 5, 7, 10, and 11 all did something similar. I'd say the execution of it was original, but the overall plot wasn't.
