My thoughts on FnoF (spoilers)

I find that most DBZ films are pretty much the same: bad guy appears, Z-Fighters battle them, Goku appears and saves the day. BATTLE OF GODS counts as perhaps the most interesting of them because of it introducing Bills and Whis to the DB universe, but otherwise it wasn’t too different from the norm.

Anyway, here are (IMO) the good and bad points of DB FNF (I’ll try to use as little spoilers as possible):


GOOD
- Frieza. He is simply one of anime’s most monstrous and horrific villains, crushing whoever gets in his way and being despicable and cunning enough to mock and humiliate his enemies. He comes to the very edge of victory in this film, being able to defeat Goku and Vegeta not through force but with cunning strategy.

- The Z-Fighters get to kick butt. It’s great to see that these guys don’t lose their touch and manage to get some serious action rather than leave it all to Goku and Vegeta. Even Krillin gets to be a badass, which given his track record is a definite plus.

- Bills and Whis make a great humorous act. Bills especially manages to frighten people into giving him food, while he instead sits on his butt and lets Frieza and Goku battle it out.

- Vegeta gets a great dramatic arc in this film, where he is offered the chance to go back to serving Frieza. It may be predictable, but it’s done very well and is very awesome.


BAD
- Android 18 or Gotenks don’t do any fighting in this film. These are Z-fighters who should have appeared, given that they are much stronger than Frieza. #18 is a traditional DBZ female fighter who settles down with her family and quits action, but still it’s a lost opportunity with her.

- In contrast, the character of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman seems to be utterly irrelevant and doesn’t deserve a place in the film.

- Gohan effectively replaces Yamcha as the butt monkey in this feature. He nearly gets killed and Piccolo has to revive him.

- Frieza blows up the Earth, an act so terrible and heinous it required a reset button to be employed. And such plot devices have a way of spoiling the impact of an event. It wasn’t so bad in this case, but still it comes out a little awkward.


All in all, I would call it an above average DBZ film and worth the watch. I’ll have to check out the English dub later on.



07/08/06... 786... the sentinel of Allah has arrived.