Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, I’m back again with another review and today I get to share my thoughts on Dragon Ball Super: Broly via my podcast, Film Focus.
Recently I shared my written review, however, I felt like I had more to say about this film and to properly illustrate how much this film means to me, I knew an episode on the podcast would be in order. Plus I also go into a little more detail about some of the stuff relating to the plot, characters and visual presentation. Now I have been following this film since the first teaser trailer and each bit of marketing has made my hype increase. And after waiting over a month after the initial Japanese release I’ve finally seen it and I am ready to pass judgement. So join me for this spoiler-free review to see how this latest Dragon Ball adventure turned out!
Check out my review below:
So have you seen Dragon Ball Super: Broly and if so what did you think of it? I really want to hear your thoughts on this film so drop your thoughts in the comments below and if you have some spare time subscribe to my podcast, Film Focus on Soundcloud and iTunes. Until next time, laters! 😀
Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, its review time once again, first one of 2019 as well and today I am bringing you a very important review of a film I’ve been hyped to see for MONTHS! I am of course talking about Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Now I saw the film yesterday afternoon and I’ll just say it up front that I had one hell of a time with it and knew that I just had to write about it on my blog, so let’s not dilly dally and get on with this review. 🙂
Now, for those who aren’t aware, I LOVE Dragon Ball. I first came across Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network’s Toonami slot in 1999 and it changed my world forever as it opened my eyes up to the world of crazy shounen anime. And while my love the franchise started to wane in the late 2000s because of my new love for other anime especially One Piece, after the release of Battle of Gods, Resurrection F and the better episodes of the Super anime, I have found myself in love with this franchise as much as I was when I was 9-11 years old. So with the new Broly film coming out, I went from thinking “Oh they’re bringing Broly back again? Boo. I don’t want him,” But after learning about Toriyama’s involvement and the animation staff involved via AnimeAjay and my hype levels started to increase, and with the trailers, I went out of my mind waiting for this new film.
So the plot can be simply summed up as the following: “Goku and Vegeta encounter Broly, a Saiyan warrior, unlike any fighter they’ve faced before.” That’s the simplest way to put it. I could say more but then I would be getting into specific story details. This story is a simple yet effective one about revenge, sins of the past, control and free will. One of the things I loved about this story was the dramatic/emotional side of things, its something we rarely get to see in Dragon Ball and it was handled so well. The film was also incredibly funny and it had great moments of humour at just the right times. On top of that the film had so much great fan service for long-term fans of the series, and while there were some retcons and changes made to the mythology, it was handled in such a great way. The only nitpicks I had was that I wanted more time spent in the past and during the latter half of the film, the pacing is so quick that it’s a little hard to keep up. But these aren’t issues that deterred my positive experience.
As for the characters I really enjoyed how everyone was utilised. Because of the nature of the story, the cast is limited to Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and a handful of regular cast members and the new character exclusive to this film. With Goku and Vegeta they’re as great as ever with Goku being very carefree and funny but also a little wiser, while Vegeta is just as serious and badass as usual. Frieza was beyond hilarious but also just as sinister and corrupt too, Bulma was really good and hilarious, the use of Beerus and Whis was cool and though Piccolo’s use in this film was minor, it was delightful. As for the new characters, Lemo and Cheelai were great, Lemo was this wise old dude who was chilled out and cautious, while Cheelai (the new waifu for a lot of DB fans) was a spunky and cool lady who took a liking to Broly. And finally there’s Paragus and Broly, Paragus was a tough man who has held a grudge for many years and isn’t the nicest man or father, and Broly, unlike his previous film appearances, actually has a good backstory as a victim of circumstance so when he fights you feel for him. Oh, and the voice cast for the English dub was really good especially with Sean Schemmel, Christopher Sabat and Monica Rial.
From a presentation standpoint, it was beyond epic. Visually this was one of the most visceral, intense, spectacular and mind-bending films my eyes have ever experienced. This film features absolutely fluid animation with various camera angles, tracking shots, rotations, layering of effects and a beautiful art style for characters which looks drawn/illustrated and a great sense of scale, a wonderfully varied colour scheme for space, planets, environments, beam attacks and so on. Several times I found myself in awe at the quality of the animation with character movement from subtle things like hair movement and background details. Also, the film score by Norihito Sumitomo was fantastic, Sumitomo’s work on the recent films and Super has been fantastic and here he creates some of his most emotionally driven, beautiful and intense material so far, and besides this weird song with lyrics implemented during one fight sequence, everything was perfect in the audio department.
So to conclude, Dragon Ball Super: Broly is just fabulous and it truly is a film made for fans. Now I know that my opinion on this film is incredibly biased and a number of people probably won’t love or like it due to their lack of attachment to the Dragon Ball franchise, however, I do believe this is the best film in this franchise thanks to it’s really fun and interesting story, great characters, brilliant presentation and wonderful fan service. This is a film experience I am that I got to have in the cinema and if you’re a fan of this franchise you owe it to yourself to check it out.
So have you seen Dragon Ball Super: Broly and if so what did you think of it? Did it meet, exceed or come below your expectations? Also, what did you think of the new version of Broly and the retcons to the mythology? Whatever your thoughts are, drop them in the comments below. Until next time, peace out! 😀
Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, it’s Christmas Eve and my present to you lot is another film-related topic that is ripe for discussion and today I’m sharing my thoughts on the 15 Dragon Ball Z films via my podcast, Film Focus.
Okay so here is a subject I’ve wanted to cover for a while, and after a few delays, I finally got around got around to discussing the Dragon Ball Z films. With Dragon Ball Super: Broly recently released in Japan and the western release in cinemas dropping in January, I thought it would be interesting to revisit all 15 of the Dragon Ball Z films and see how they held up. Now I love the Dragon Ball franchise, I grew up with DBZ and the films have are an interesting collection of material that ranges from pretty awesome to very bad, and I thought it would be fun to examine each of the films briefly and discuss:
1) The pros and cons. 2) The story, characters and presentation. 3) Whether the films have gotten better or worse after my recent viewings from a subjective point of view.
So join me on an epic journey through these series of films to see which of them hold up and which ones do not. 😀
P.S. I tried my best to be as thorough and objective as possible, but this episode does feature some minor mistakes, some biased opinions and some films that don’t get as much time as others due to certain films having more interesting elements than others. So if any of this stuff bothers you, apologies in advance.
Check out my review below:
So have you seen any of the Dragon Ball Z films and if so what did you think of it? Also, which one is your favourite and are you excited for the Broly film? I really want to hear your thoughts on this film so drop your thoughts in the comments below and if you have some spare time subscribe to my podcast, Film Focus on Soundcloud and iTunes. Until next time, laters! 😀
Good day to you ladies and gents, so San Diego Comic-Con has once again come and gone, and even though I’ve been interested in this convention each year it’s come around, this year, in particular, I actually found myself way more hyped than before even though I wasn’t entirely sure of what was going to appear. And this year had a lot of really cool, fun and interesting reveals. A good chunk of which we have gotten to see, and some that we haven’t unfortunately. But anyway, I just wanted to make a quick post about my favourite trailers releases from this year’s Comic-Con. 😀
Godzilla: King of the Monsters Trailer
Now if you’ve followed this blog for a while then you know I was a big fan of Gareth Edwards’s Godzilla from 2014, I know the film has it’s fair share of issues, but I still believe it had a great sense of atmosphere, tension, distinctive visuals, a great film score and brought Godzilla back into the public consciousness in a good way. And while I thought last year’s Kong: Skull Island was fine, a lot of people really liked it and the film teased the larger universe where all these characters exist, and it feeds into this trailer. Good gravy I loved it. The sense of dread and chaos going on throughout this trailer is excellent. I like the choice of that classic piece of music (though I can’t remember what it’s called), I also love the visuals, there’s a love of striking colours from the skies to the creatures, and speaking of the creatures, we’ve got good old Godzilla back but we also see brief shots of Mothra, Rodan and frigging King Ghidorah! I’m also curious to see how this new family fit into the film, Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown are great talents and clearly, their family has gone throw some stuff due to Farmiga’s pursuit of the monsters, and it looks like their drama will only get worse. I just hope this human element will be stronger than the last film.
Shazam! Trailer
So we finally, FINALLY got a trailer for Shazam! and it looks good. Now I’ve never been a massive fan of Shazam, but I have really liked him in the animated stuff like Young Justice and Justice League Action, and from what I know of him, the film feels pretty accurate to the source material. This trailer really gives off a fun kind of vibe, the tone and overall presentation are brighter than most of DC’s previous films except for Wonder Woman and there’s a relatable factor that comes with Billy Batson becoming a superhero. Oh and the costume definitely looks better in motion than the recent images suggested. However, some of that humour was a bit hit and miss, and that stupid floss dance made it into a frigging superhero film and that just irks me. Otherwise, bring on April 2019!
Aquaman Trailer
And then there’s Aquaman, I liked this. What really impressed me was the visual style of this film, it feels like a combination of the Zack Snyder style with what was done with Wonder Woman when it comes to the scenes in darkness and scenes in the daytime with muted and vivid colours. I’m liking the sense of scale, the underwater world of Atlantis looks cool and some of the sea creatures look great. And while I know a lot of this material has to be in CGI, it looks a little inconsistent, but I know there will be time to fix it up before release. Right now I’m a little less excited for the film than before because I was hoping for something with a little more of James Wan’s style, but whatever I’m still gonna see it.
Young Justice: Outsiders Trailer
Hooray for Young Justice‘s return! I don’t know if I mentioned it on the blog before, but I LOVE Young Justice, it was one of my favourite TV experiences while I was at uni around 6 years ago, and for the longest time, I thought there was no hope of a third season, but for it to exist and for there to be a trailer, I couldn’t be happier. While I would have liked a fully new trailer without the mini recap of season 2, at the same time it was great to see the crazy and emotional highlights from the last season, and then transition into this new material with all the new and familiar faces, new locations, Darkseid and a whole load of other stuff. I’m just happy to know that it exists and I can’t wait to see it next year!
Disenchantment Trailer
Once I heard about this new project from Matt Groening I was intrigued, but seeing it in action only enhances my excitement for this new show. As much as I’ve loved the classic episodes of The Simpsons and certain elements of Futurama, it is refreshing to see Groening on another project that is different, but feels like it has his style all of it. And that’s the best thing about it to me; the fact that it is different yet familiar, and the fantasy setting mixed in with the humour feels like a nice and strange mix.
Glass Trailer
I quite liked this trailer, so much so that I recently rewatched Unbreakable and Split, and it got me super excited to see what Shyamalan comes up with in this new film. It looks cool, unique and strange. I like how Mr Glass, the Beast and David Dunn have somehow ended up in a mental institution and are being interviewed by Sarah Paulson’s character. When she says that she’s looking at people who believe they are superheroes it does make me wonder how many people she’s come across and if there will be more seen in this film. Either way, it is great to see Samuel L. Jackson back after so many years along with Bruce Willis, I’m very curious to see how their lives have changed and what brings them back together, There’s a lot of possibilities with Glass and that’s the most exciting part for me.
Christopher Sabat and Sean Schemmel Yelp Reviews
This is something I had to include, it was just too good not to. Now while this brief IGN interview was in relation to the upcoming Dragon Ball Super film and the dubbing process of the film and Super tv series. But the main thing that I took away from the interview was Chris Sabat and Sean Schemmel reading angry Yelp reviews as Vegeta and Goku. These are such silly, silly reviews, and hearing Chris and Sean bring their energy to these Yelp reviews really helps sell you on Vegeta and Goku in these scenarios and makes you wish these moments would be animated. 😀
And so that’s my highlights from this year’s SDCC, what was your favourite trailer or announcement from this year’s Comic-Con? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀
Good day to you ladies and gents, from out of the shadows I have emerged again to talk about something very, very important to me; the first trailer for Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
Now I really liked Battle of Gods and thought Resurrection F was decent, and while Super was one of the most up and down experiences I’ve had with any TV show, however when it was good, it was hella good. So Dragon Ball in recent years has gone from being fairly invisible and nostalgic to being right back in the conversation of current anime and media in general, so when Toei Animation announced a new film and the teaser dropped with the new art and animation style, I was surprised but so intrigued. Since last year I’ve been following this guy online called Ajay who is really knowledgeable about animation and people who work on Dragon Ball and did a great job to detail the pros and cons of Super.
Now it was recently revealed prior to this trailer that this new film would feature Broly, the legendary Super Saiyan from Movie 8 and the two subsequent sequels, and this caused a mixed opinion from the DB fans I saw online, some people were hyped for this character to come back, some weren’t so happy and some just didn’t care. But with word that Akira Toriyama would be involved in the story and would be finding a way to integrate Broly into the official canon of DB, that’s what got a lot of us fans hyped that the character would return with more depth and purpose than before.
And last night the first trailer and it is glorious! Check it out either the Japanese or English dub below:
Simply put, this film looks insanely good. It looks like a lot of stuff will be going down and all of the key players from Super will be back to play a part in this film.
From the teaser trailer, I knew this film would be special and interesting because of its art style, colour palette and animation, and this trailer just dialled it up to one hundred. The movement of the characters is so smooth, elastic, expressive and is so fluid when compared to anything Dragon Ball has done in the past. The art direction is notably different from the recent/current DB animated material, with art that looks more illustrative or from the pages of a manga with detailed line art and a colour scheme that feels in line with the old DB manga. I also appreciate the camera angles and scaling as it makes this film feel more cinematic than the TV show.
Here are some personal highlights:
The facial close-ups look great: There are some nice shots of character faces up close and especially with Goku at 14 seconds, Broly at 27 seconds, and wonderfully detailed shots of Vegeta and Goku at 29 and 30 seconds. It all looks so beautiful.
Broly looks intense: While there hasn’t been any of his classic “Kakarot!!” shouting just yet, I do appreciate how he comes across in the trailer. He’s mostly quiet, stern-looking, emits powerful energy and when he is fighting he packs a punch. There’s a shot of Goku in Super Saiyan Blue looking shocked at Broly’s power, so that has to tell you something about this dude’s strength.
Vegeta looks cool: Vegeta is one of my favourite characters and he looks like he’s getting his time to shine here. I love how when Broly first punches him and he smiles, such a classic Vegeta thing to do, I love it!
Frieza’s back: Now in a different reality, seeing Frieza again would be a major turn off, but because he was handled so well in Super I love the fact that he’s getting be part of this film and witness Broly first-hand.
So yeah if you couldn’t tell already I’m really excited by this trailer, it was everything I wanted and then some. I reminded me of some of the best moments of Super but magnified on a whole new level with crazy slick animation and artwork. I really hope to see this at the cinema when January comes around.
So what did you think of the trailer for Dragon Ball Super: Broly? Did it increase or decrease your hype for the film? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments section below and I’ll see ya on the next video, laters! 😀
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