It just didn't have a very captivating story for me. The villains seemed pointless - especially considering that most of the film focused on the tournament gimmick instead of this "threat" they posed - and none of them particularly had any real motives aside from overplayed "conquering the universe" antics unlike Cooler or Broly, who were at least out for revenge or honor or something else specific to their characters. Gohan stole the spotlight from every other protagonist even though Bojack's henchmen almost seem designed to be dealt with by them specifically, and the pacing in general just came across as... awkward, I guess, considering that the tournament part of the story didn't flow well with the Bojack part in my eyes. Also, the Satan segments were funny at first, but felt overused to the point that I actually thought they took too much time from the movie. I won't deny that it was interesting to see Goku's son take the helm of hero as opposed to Goku himself, and I enjoyed the fight scene between Trunks and Tien, but for me, the negatives outweighed the positives. I had some pretty high expectations going in, but I was honestly left feeling underwhelmed and even somewhat bored.SPRSYJN wrote:Care to elaborate why? I'm curious!
In contrast, Movie 12 was carried by fantastic character interactions between Goku and Vegeta, light-hearted tonal themes reminiscent of the Buu saga and even early Dragon Ball, sufficient focus on characters that weren't Goku or Vegeta, a goofy villain with interesting abilities that tied wonderfully into the idea that Hell also has its share of problems, good humor, and a cool fusion gimmick that didn't overstay its welcome. It was exciting, ridiculously fun to watch and contained nearly everything I was looking for in a DBZ film. Someone else in this thread put it best, but for me it felt the most "Toriyama" esque out of the original 13 films.
Granted, I only saw Movie 9 once. I'm entirely willing to watch it again sometime, and I certainly wouldn't mind giving it a second chance. Gohan isn't my favorite character, but I really do like him and I've always wanted to enjoy it even though my first viewing didn't quite agree.