So, I, uh, buckled and watched it. Still heading out to see it twice in theatres, though! Japanese DVD? Eh, not so sure this time around. As awesome as that second trailer was, I don't think it's worth paying $50 to import the thing- even if it does come with a poster. Madman should have me covered on that front this time (they usually give out movie posters with their screenings).
Er, anyway. I'll save my more in-depth thoughts for when I've actually seen the film in full, but here's some quick observations:
- The movie is quite nice looking. A couple of those hits were really well animated (you know the ones!), as was the start of Earth's destruction. The cloudy skies also made for an interesting atmosphere. There were a couple of slightly awkward moments (there was one part where Goku's fingers looked really stiff), but it wasn't nearly as bad as people thought it was going to be when the first trailer came out. The CGI blended in a lot better than it did in BOG, although it still stuck out a bit though.
- While the more realistic choreography was neat, the combat did feel a little slow for my liking. There were very few jaw-dropping,
"holy crap, this is awesome" moments, in the same way that BOG had the
Hero scene and even the underground fight in the lead-up to it. While I obviously haven't seen the whole thing yet, this movie does seem to be lacking that one special, memorable moment. I guess Vegeta's scene was kind of meant to be that, and it was awesome to see his character in such a commanding role, but...it was just a one-sided beat-down on a character that was already beaten. Vegeta was still pretty cool, though. I get the feeling that his true moment in the spotlight is coming very soon. Right now, it almost feels like Toriyama is turning this into a running gag, as he builds toward the ultimate pay-off. Vegeta can't be denied forever.
Super might just be the one to deliver on this.
- I was kind of annoyed with the way
F carried on through the ice cream scene with Beerus and Whis. Felt like they were wasting the song, especially since that little conversation carried on for a while.
- Was it just me, or did everything happen incredibly quickly? Freeza's death felt like a bit of an anti-climax. He was gone in no time at all, but I guess that was kind of the point. It is sort of reminiscent of his first defeat to Goku. Sorbet shooting Goku was also a lot shorter than I expected it to be, though. It didn't have the impact that I expected, either. I don't know if it was intentional, but the homages to Vegeta's first death and the
23rd Tenkaichi Budokai were neat. Also noticed a few references to the original Goku vs. Freeza fight. This movie almost seems like an excuse to put a rematch of the most iconic fight in the show on the big screen (and in IMAX 3D!). Surprised they didn't push that more in the marketing.
- Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Freeza's transformation. I think it might've been the music and his dialogue afterwards.
So from what I've seen (way more than I should have

), I very much agree with Julian's initial review. I do have a lot more to say, but that's obviously reserved for when I've seen the whole movie in one go (although I never got around to writing a full BOG review), from start to finish. It looks fun and there's a lot of things I like. At the same time, it feels like another missed opportunity. I do feel kind of guilty about spoiling myself like this, but with the new series coming, I probably don't feel as bad as I should...
I really hate to say this, but my thoughts have already moved on to next movie (if there is one). Will be very interesting to see if it's branded under the
Dragon Ball Super name. Maybe it'll even tie into the main story somehow? Oooohhh...now that'll be a forum thread and a half.
Super really killed off most of the hype surrounding this one, unfortunately. I think the premiere in L.A also contributed to that, somewhat. With BOG, we only had a hand-full of short reviews until it finally hit DVD in the latter half of 2013.
Sorry if this post reads a bit poorly. First substantial one in a little bit and my brain has been sucked dry by university essays.
