Review of Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015) by Nicholas_Linden — 05 Apr 2016

Ever since last year’s U.S release of “Battle of Gods” many fans of Dragon ball Z were anxious to see what the next installment has in store. After a few teasers excitement grew when fans heard that the latest entry would feature the return of fan-favorite and iconic villain of the series Freiza. It is only appropriate that Freiza should be the one that gets revived in this movie since he has the most history with Goku and Vegeta and is even the representation of the nightmares of series creator Akira Toriyama. Unlike “Battle of Gods” when audiences had to wait a whole year for the dub by Funimation, “Resurrection F” only had a four month gap between the Japanese release and the American release. Considering the long wait, I am pleased to see that the film will satisfy fans of the series but if they are expecting an emotional moment that matches Broly’s backstory, Goku’s first transformation into a super sayian, or Gohans rage against Cell, they won’t find it here.

The film greatly exceeds in the vocal performances. Chris Ayers gives a chilling performance (Pun definitely intended) as the titular Frieza. He is the actor who is clearly having a ball as he makes sarcastic remarks and shows of Frieza’s charm with his timing and delivery of his lines. He truly captures what makes Frieza so terrifying and so charming, his politeness and banter with the heroes. His proper mannerisms contrasts his monstrous fighting techniques brings a scary vibe to the character that only a few villains in the series could only dream to match. The returning voice actors such as Christopher Sabat and Sean Schemeal give their best performances yet in their time playing as these iconic characters. Schemeal’s talent really captures bothe the warrior likes of Goku and also his childishness and naivety. Sabat also nails his calm and strategic voice for Piccolo and his aggressive and prideful tone as Vegeta. However, Freiza is not the only charismatic opponent to Goku and friends, the other was the God of Destruction himself Lord Beeru. Beerus was the main antagonist of the previous film who was made to not only be a legitimate threat but also as a fun character. Beerus may be a god but he is just as childish as Goku. The voice for Beerus may be deep but the actor also clearly shows of the child-like whining that Beerus could have (the last film had a long fight that started over a pudding cup remember). He mostly stays on the side lines instead of joining the fray but he is still a character that you can’t keep your eyes off His banter with Whis is still part of the comical highlights of the film as it was with “Battle of Gods”. Even new-comer JAco the patrol man has his humorous moments and has a surprise history with Bulma that could hopefully be explained in future installments.

The animation really shines throughout this action-fest thriller. The characters move with such fluidity and the colors are bright and really well utilized depending on the scene, It has a unique attention to detail that each movement has their own weight to them. When someone is getting punched, you really feel like they are getting punched. Where the animation starts to falter though is where the segments when they use CGI to animate the large army of soilders and a giant creature from hell. The CGI looks so primitive that I swear that the CGI artist from the “Langoliers” got hired to work on it. Thankfully the film only uses CGI in a few short instatnces but it does stick out like a sore thumb.

One unfortunate implication that was present in the film was after a humorous scene with Goku’s best friend Krillin stopping a robbery as a cop. The scene involves fan-favorite character Android 18 who is Krillin’s wife. She offered to fight alongside the others but Krillin told her to stay and take care of their daughter even though Android 18 is marginally stronger and more powerful than Krillin. It even ends with Android 18 saying that Krillin is “hot” as he leaves her behind, giving the implied message that even if you’re a strong woman you should let the men handle the action and stay to serve and take care of the family. I am still a believer in “depth of the author” so I don’t think Toriyama intended to give this message and to show Krillin having his family’s best interests but with the implication though, it is up to interpretation. One of the biggest flaws of the film though was that it relied on a “dues-ex machine” kind of ending. After Freeza has done something so drastic that it would raise the stakes for our heroes, Whis had demonstrated his special power to undo what Freeza has done which has diminished the impact of the event. Freeza’s action could have added more drama and would push Goku into realizing his mistakes as a fighter but Whis’ powers diminish that impact.

Despite it’s flaws “Ressurection F” is a fun film that not only has a lot of action but it also has a ton of fan service. As a fan myself, it was great to see Master Roshi and Tien be on yop of things again much like the original Dragon Ball. With Toriyama’s signature comedy and imagination, “Resurrection F”is a fun ride that will satisfy long-time Dragon ball fans and it will be a nice expansion of one of the most profitable aneme’s of all time.