A Broly-ous Experience

So about a week or so ago I got to finally go and see Dragon Ball Super: Broly on the big screen and to say that I was excited for this movie is a severe understatement as this was my most anticipated movie of 2019, yes I was more excited for this movie than I am for Avengers: Endgame and I am very very excited for that movie although I’m also equally nervous about it but that’s another matter.

Getting back on point I began to think about Broly as a movie more and more in my head and I had such a great time watching it on the big screen, my mouth was agape, I was grinning from ear to ear and I felt that sense of exhilaration and adrenaline that I rarely feel when watching a movie nowadays the last time I felt that emotional jolt to the sense was Bohemian Rhapsody late last year though I will say that it was nice to feel it watching a movie that felt even in its tone and where everyone involved showed up to work and give it their all.

But there are 2 main reasons that I feel this new Broly movie is worth celebrating.

- First the film is a great celebration of the long legacy of the Dragon Ball franchise and this year 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of Dragon Ball Z’s airing in Japan and Dragon Ball Super: Broly celebrates this legacy by first giving its fans a proper look at the backstory of the Saiyans (The majority of it was written by the TV Anime staff with Akira Toriyama only writing the Dragon Ball Minus manga back in 2013.) and surprisingly it is very consistent with what fans have come to know of it in the various episodes and specials and manga.

And also the long history of the characters is properly acknowledged be it Goku and Vegeta’s rivalry, their collective hatred of Freeza, the new relationship with Whis and Beerus and their long standing familial relationships with Bulma and Piccolo and everyone of these characters gets a great moment to shine in this movie be it a plot point or a fight scene or a comedic one liner designed to bring some humour into the story.

But also the fights in this movie are truly amazing and this series has had some spectacular battles in the past both individual characters and using the full roster of the Z Fighters here Goku, Vegeta and Freeza get to take part and it is terrific, both beautifully animated and very well edited even if at times they can be a little too fast to follow.

- And secondly the film very nicely charts a promising new direction for the franchise going forward now I don’t want to say too much because of plot spoilers but Broly himself is now finally a proper character and not the one dimensional punching bag yelling “KAKAROT, KAKAROT” that he was back in the 90s when the character first appeared in a movie special and the film positions him well enough that he will be sticking around for the foreseeable future.

Secondly Freeza, Whis and Beerus are now cemented as long term characters going forward as well, Whis and Beerus first appeared in 2013’s Battle of Gods movie which introduced fans to the realm of the Gods and opened up an entirely new direction for the franchise after being dormant since 1996 in Japan and it’s a great credit to Toriyama and the team behind that film that it was pulled off very well and fans embraced both characters warmly and got back on board with the series.

Freeza himself once the emperor of the universe is far better integrated into the series in this movie than he was in Resurrection F where his return properly was meant to be a celebration of the character and his long popularity with the fans but failed to give him a worthy story whereas here in Broly he has a far better story arc that makes him feel useful while also letting his fans relish in the characters strengths.

And also it is certainly nice to see more female characters joining in on the fun as it is fair to say that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z didn’t really do an awful lot with the ones they had, Chi Chi got relegated to the traditional concerned wife role that Adrian played in the Rocky movies, Bulma was the tech guru who also got relegated somewhat to a mother hen role after the Freeza arc while Launch was criminally tossed aside and all because Toriyama forgot about her.

Oh dear oh dear.

Happily that was then and this is now and not only do you have Chi-Li who is a very likeable character and will most likely be sticking around for the foreseeable future but you also had female Saiyans from Universe 6 and a roster of female warriors in the Tournament of Power arc that ended the Dragon Ball Super TV Series in March last year and all of those fighters were great and had some very memorable fight scenes and techniques and for a franchise that can be very male centric it is nice to see some women in there joining in on the fun.

But lastly all of this and here is where I will wrap this column up helps to build a great sense of confidence in the Dragon Ball brand and reviving a classic brand like Alien, Star Wars, Terminator and Lord of the Rings to name a few examples hasn’t been easy with almost all of those brands offering up new movies based on them not quite living up to the great success they enjoyed in the past.

And confidence in a brand is essential to maintain its health and growth going forward and its fair to say that brands like those mentioned above or studios like MGM/UA in the early 90s suffer when brands either aren’t there to lift a studios books like back then when they desperately needed James Bond or are able to successfully carry on the legacy of that brand with new entries that rival the success of the original entries that gave birth to it.

Well that is not the case with Dragon Ball as the huge success of this movie and the recent Dragon Ball Super TV series help ensure that as long as the quality is maintained and those involved give it their all then the brand will stick around positively for years to come.

Well that’s that my further thoughts on Dragon Ball Super: Broly a film that was so so much fun to watch on the big screen (and how I wish I could do it all again) but also a celebration of the franchise, its legacy and popularity while also charting a very promising new course for the future.