(Quick note: Please keep in mind that this is my first anime/movie review I've ever done, so it might be a bit rough. It's actually more of my thoughts on the movie than a full out review, but... well... Here it is!)

 

Yellow Flash Reviews: Dragon Ball Z Battle of Gods

  I’m sure we all know what Dragon Ball is. Battle of Gods was the first Dragon Ball Z movie in over fifteen years. It’s been a while, but the English dub was finally released in theaters, and I was one of the lucky people who got to go see it. So, after hearing all of the hype (and hate) for this past year since its release, how does it match up?

  While I haven’t seen enough Dragon Ball Z movies to really compare this one with, the plot was fairly simple. Beerus, the god of destruction, woke up after a nap lasting a few decades. He’d been given a prophecy that at this time, he would meet an adversary worthy of being his rival. He learns about Goku, and relates it to a dream he’d had involving something called a Super Saiyan God. He quickly dashes off to meet Goku and the other Saiyans to learn if his rival has finally arrived. There’s a lot of comedy early on in the movie, as you would expect from Dragon Ball. Most of the old cast makes a return, including a few old villains from the original Dragon Ball series. Between the jokes, there was a lot of plot-related development, which kept me interested throughout the movie. Of course, while the plot was great, the most important thing for a Dragon Ball Z movie is the fight scene.

  This movie was fairly light in terms of combat, up until the end. The fighting was well animated and exciting, as with most Dragon Ball fights. There were a lot of fight scenes which did really well at making the viewer excited, and catching their attention. The final fight scene was easily the best, as the final battles of a DBZ saga tend to be. I don’t want to spoil the fights for those who have yet to see the movie, so I’ll just say that they were great.

  As for the new characters, I really liked Beerus and Whis, the new villains. They were really different from the average Dragon Ball villain, which I liked. Beerus seemed calm, but clearly had a more crazed side to him. Whis was more mysterious (and often comedic), and I would like to see more of him in the future. Both were really likable characters, and are possibly two of my favorite Dragon Ball villains.

 

As for the visuals, Battle of Gods was what you’d expect from Dragon Ball. The attention to detail is incredible, and Toriyama’s artstyle still remains pleasing to the eye today. Everything is well animated, and the quality is clearly high. The music is very similar. There were quite a few great tracks in the movie, with one in particular easily standing above the rest.

 

Speaking of the sound, the biggest part of this recent release would be the dub. As usual for Funimation, the dubbing is spot on. The familiar cast returns for the old characters, and Beerus and Whis are given great voice actors as well. They really hit the necessary emotions, whether it’s something happy, or something such as anger. I’ve always enjoyed Funimation’s dubbing for Dragon Ball Kai, and this movie just further shows how great the English voice cast is. I have absolutely no complaints here; everything was perfect.

 

So, what’s my final verdict? If you’re a fan of Dragon Ball, definitely watch this movie. Heck, if you’re an anime fan in general, go see it. From the plot, to the fight scenes, to the visuals and sounds, I really don’t have any complaints for this movie. While I would have liked a little more focus on action, what we got was perfectly fine, and easily enjoyable. So, I give Dragon Ball Z Battle of Gods a 9.5/10.

spoilers ahead

 

i personally thought that the movie was underwhelming. i feel that there was little emotion and reason for fighting other than some random deity comming all of the sudden just wanting to destroy the world for the heck of it. i liked the ending and the jokes but it just feels like this movie plot was put together in a rush. i still like the movie tho. the various jokes they made were really funny. and that one BRILIANT ONE about the length of "the average anime episode" that broke the fourth wall was GENIUS!!!! while the fight was epic, i feel as if they were trying to make it epic too much and that made them stray away from the writing and an underwhelming story. (im not saying that the fight was too epic [i dont think thats possible ] im just saying that i think they put some of the effort that they should have put into story into the epicness and that led to an underwhelming story) i liked the fight a lot! i just think the movie as a whole would be a lot better if the story was more well thought out. overall, i think this movie focused to much on being epic and too lettle on writing and emotional story. its still a great movie tho. its just that the story seems meh. 7/10

A word of advice, you should maybe elaborate a bit more as to why you liked/disliked parts of the movie. Really dig deep and try to find what makes it good and what makes it bad.

And most anime fans don't go crazy over dragon ball z and prefer things that are more dedicated to plot and character development rather than transformation of the week shonen that really aren't entertaining to watch. The majority of anime fans don't care about DBZ.

Edited August 9, 201411 yr by Cucco

spoilers ahead

 

i personally thought that the movie was underwhelming. i feel that there was little emotion and reason for fighting other than some random deity comming all of the sudden just wanting to destroy the world for the heck of it. i liked the ending and the jokes but it just feels like this movie plot was put together in a rush. i still like the movie tho. the various jokes they made were really funny. and that one BRILIANT ONE about the length of "the average anime episode" that broke the fourth wall was GENIUS!!!! while the fight was epic, i feel as if they were trying to make it epic too much and that made them stray away from the writing and an underwhelming story. (im not saying that the fight was too epic [i dont think thats possible ] im just saying that i think they put some of the effort that they should have put into story into the epicness and that led to an underwhelming story) i liked the fight a lot! i just think the movie as a whole would be a lot better if the story was more well thought out. overall, i think this movie focused to much on being epic and too lettle on writing and emotional story. its still a great movie tho. its just that the story seems meh. 7/10

Well, DBZ's always been more about the fights, honestly. I can kinda see what you mean, though. I actually thought his reasoning for destroying the Earth was pretty funny. It showed just how easy it was to make him snap.

Well, DBZ's always been more about the fights, honestly. I can kinda see what you mean, though. I actually thought his reasoning for destroying the Earth was pretty funny. It showed just how easy it was to make him snap.

No pudding? no earth.

No pudding? no earth.

Exactly. Fit his character perfectly. They always said that the slightest thing could push him over the edge. I don't get why he couldn't just find a store and get some pudding there, though. ._.

Well, DBZ's always been more about the fights, honestly. I can kinda see what you mean, though. I actually thought his reasoning for destroying the Earth was pretty funny. It showed just how easy it was to make him snap.

The thing is though, that's just kind of a pattern for DBZ movies. None of the villains are really relateable or have big discernible ambitions. I haven't seen it yet, but it just seems like another DBZ movie again. Nothing more. And I don't hate DBZ, I like it for nostalgic reasons(even though that is never a good reason to like something). It's just the whole series is repetitive as hell. It's always goku gets a new transformation defeats the new villain that wants to destroy the earth blah blah blah over and over again. 

Exactly. Fit his character perfectly. They always said that the slightest thing could push him over the edge. I don't get why he couldn't just find a store and get some pudding there, though. ._.

i agree! i really like the charicter and he is probably one of my favorite antagonists (i have a LONG list) but because of his personallity, i (almost) didnt take the charicter seriously. i felt that goku had grounds to have an epic fight, (being that his planet was being destroyed) but he made a bunch of jokes with him and then 2 seconds later acts like he's had a personal vendetta against him for all his life. im down with that conversion but it just happened so fast. im not gonna sit here and tell you that the movie wasent funny tho. it was one of the funniest movies i have ever seen in my entire life! i really did like the movie as a whole tho. just not as much as everyone else seems too.

Edited August 9, 201411 yr by benj0818

The thing is though, that's just kind of a pattern for DBZ movies. None of the villains are really relateable or have big discernible ambitions. I haven't seen it yet, but it just seems like another DBZ movie again. Nothing more. And I don't hate DBZ, I like it for nostalgic reasons(even though that is never a good reason to like something). It's just the whole series is repetitive as hell. It's always goku gets a new transformation defeats the new villain that wants to destroy the earth blah blah blah over and over again. 

I just recently got into DBZ, and the only movie I've seen is Fusion Reborn, so that might be why that never bothered me so much. Also, it's an old shonen series. What do you expect?

 

i agree! i really like the charicter and he is probably one of my favorite antagonists (i have a LONG list) but because of his personallity, i (almost) didnt take the charicter seriously. i felt that goku had grounds to have an epic fight, (being that his planet was being destroyed) but he made a bunch of jokes with him and then 2 seconds later acts like he's had a personal vendetta against him for all his life. im down with that conversion but it just happened so fast. im not gonna sit here and tell you that the movie wasent funny tho. it was one of the funniest movies i have ever seen in my entire life! i really did like the movie as a whole tho. just not as much as everyone else seems too.

I'd love to see a more drawn out Goku vs Beerus in the next movie (A new one was confirmed, but it sounds like an entirely different plot). I agree with the comedy, though. The whole theater went hysterical during the bingo song scene.