The Dragon Ball Z Movie Retrospective keeps on rolling with the entries released during the Android saga. You should know the drill if you checked out part one, so let's dive right in.
SYNOPSIS: As an eerily familiar foe threatens the peaceful people of Namek, Goku and the Z-Fighters are summoned to save a world that is not their own.
MY THOUGHTS: As the dub's title suggests, "Return of Cooler" marks the first DBZ movie to act as a direct sequel to a previous entry. While the "copy of Frieza" criticisms aren't helped by Cooler attacking the Namekians and reappearing with mechanical enhancements, it's all about execution. Rather than being targeted for the Dragon Balls, New Namek is just an unlucky victim of the mechanical Big Gete Star, absorbing its resources and people to power itself (which makes it similar to the Tree of Might if you think about it). And despite not seeing Mecha-Frieza's capabilities before Future Trunks easily defeated him, Meta-Cooler realizes the concept and once again outdoes his brother with a chrome metal body capable of regeneration. And not only does Cooler continue to impress with him revealing to also know the Instant Transmission technique and nearly blowing Vegeta's head off with his hand over his mouth, but the start of his battle with Goku to me felt like the closest thing we would get to a Goku vs. Frieza rematch before Super came around.
Once again, the animation is the true highlight of the film. It may be due to a film's higher budget, but there's this crisp look to New Namek (as well as other backgrounds) compared to old Namek in the series. There's also much fluidity in the movement not only for the fight scenes but for moments like the Big Gete Star attaching to New Namek at the beginning and the wires within Cooler as he rebuilds his body. I found it somewhat akin to the film "Akira".
Other pros I have to give the film are how Meta-Cooler's body reflects the sunlight and Vegeta and Goku somewhat working together against an enemy for the first time in the franchise.
The problems I have with the film aren't necessarily with the plot, but there are some odd choices made. * First off, Dende's presence as Earth's new Guardian means the film (as well as movies seven and eight) takes place just before the Cell Games, but Gohan's power is still at the same level from before he entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber when he should be Super Saiyan at this point.
* Second, considering the urgency of the situation, why didn't they just teleport to New Namek with Goku's Instant Transmission rather than take a ship, especially since the trip took days the last time Goku used a ship to get to Namek.
* Lastly, why are Oolong and Yajirobe even here? It's not like this was a vacation gone wrong, they knew there was danger ahead. Comic relief seems the likely answer, but Krillin and Roshi could have filled it easily. While Roshi does get captured by Cooler's robot army after his one punch failed, his combat experience would have been enough rationale for him to try and help. Despite not doing much in the main Z series, his fights in "World's Strongest" and later contributions in Super show Roshi isn't to be underestimated.
These points are what keep me from considering this film canon like its predecessor, which I feel is still the better film. With "Return of Cooler", it's best just to shut your brain off and enjoy the animation.
SYNOPSIS: A mysterious fiend is creating Androids that are faster, stronger, and far deadlier than anything ever devised by the deceased Doctor Gero. Goku and the rest of the Z-Fighters must find the identity of the murderous mastermind if they are to halt the onslaught of his lethal inventions.
MY THOUGHTS: Like "Lord Slug", "Super Android 13" has its moments but honestly feels off in the grand scheme of Dragon Ball. However, I have to give "Lord Slug" credit with the twist that Slug was a Namekian and King Kai expositing lore of evil Super Namekians banished from the planet. I should point out that I've been taking the synopsis of each movie from the packaging of the DVD movie packs; that being said, the plot for "Super Android 13" is not that as deep as described above. It's just an action heavy movie with the main draw being three Super Saiyans (including Future Trunks' movie debut) against three more Androids. At this point in the series, Cell had been established as the main villain of the current saga, and I feel both fans and even the characters were getting tired of how many Androids kept revealing themselves. If there's anything people will remember most about the film, it's the part where Super 13 appears to punch Goku below the belt and the dub's decision to give 13 a redneck personality.
I will give props where it's due though:
* The arctic setting helps the film stand out.
* Vegeta's entrance was pretty rad.
* Watching the film this time around, I realized elements of 14 and 15 were mixed into 13 for his Super form. He became more muscle bound like 14 and the purple skin of 15 was transferred to make Super 13's red hair and blue skin. It's something you had to think about, but creative once it hits you.
* Super 13's defeat is one of the coolest from the movies with Goku charging a Spirit Bomb, going Super Saiyan to absorb the energy he collected, and using it to deliver the final blow.
At the very least, the people behind GT seemed to like the movie enough to use the Super Android concept again.
SYNOPSIS: Broly - a powerful Saiyan warrior with an unspeakable evil streak - has the Z-Fighters squarely in his sights. Now, a race to save the universe turns into a test of survival skills for Earth's mightiest warriors.
MY THOUGHTS: In what may come as a surprise, this is my favorite of the original Dragon Ball Z movies. It's really the epitome of what Dragon Ball movies were in the past. You had this ultra powerful villain our heroes face off in an intense battle that pushes them to their limit only to pull out a victory in the end (and its connections to the main series help it as well). You have Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo trying valiantly to put down Broly while the monster seems to be toying with them. It makes for a long and entertaining battle, especially since you have five Super Saiyans in the battle (one of them being the first evil one) shining over a dark backdrop of an alien city's ruins and the planet beginning to crumble as a comet approaches.
Broly is without a doubt the most popular movie villain, being featured in two more movies, many video games, and the character being reimagined into the main canon with the 2018 Super film of his namesake. He's also proven controversial, being viewed as nothing but a meathead who's only motivation to kill Goku being because he cried next to him as a baby in the maternity ward. While the 2018 version has been better received, I do think the original Broly has some merit, at least in his first movie. Seeing Goku may have triggered Broly's memory, but let's not forget that as a baby on the same day, Broly was also stabbed by King Vegeta, left for dead along with his father, and yet still had the power to save them both as Planet Vegeta was being destroyed by Frieza. The point is, he went through much more traumatic events than just a crying baby Goku. He was also shown to have some character with his sadistic side, wanting to destroy to show his dominance and being able to speak full sentences. He wouldn't become a brute repeatedly shouting "KAKAROT!" until his next movie. Honestly, Broly faced a similar problem as some comic book villains in the 90's like Venom, Doomsday, and Bane; their popularity led to them being used in ways they weren't intended to.
Despite where things would go later for this version, Broly's first outing was truly legendary.
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SYNOPSIS: Warriors from every corner of the galaxy are gathering to compete in the most incredible martial arts tournament ever conceived. Many will test their strength and skill, but few will live to see the end. Before a victor can be crowned, Bojack - a powerful evil intergalactic villain - turns the tournament into a fight for survival.
MY THOUGHTS: The final movie for this part of the retrospective is the last of my runner-up favorites. While Bojack and his minions don't really offer much as villains and its questionable whether the alien fighters invited for the tournament were genuine, I found quite a bit to like about film. The tournament aspect gives us a variety of locations for fights and the presence of all current Z-Fighters is a real plus. In both regards, Trunks is a real MVP for his fight with Tien and being the only other Z-Fighter to kill one of the villains (which makes it somewhat better than "Tree of Might" for the latter).
Of course, what I love most about the film is Gohan being featured as the main protagonist. Gohan was my favorite character since I started watching DBZ with his transformation into Super Saiyan 2 and defeat of Cell being some of the best moments of the franchise. Being set after the Cell Games, "Bojack Unbound" serves as an epilogue to the Android saga, with the film's conclusion just as exciting because of Gohan. And considering Gohan had been intended to be the new protagonist of the series after Goku's death, there's something special about seeing Gohan in all his forms wearing his father's gi to solidify the idea. As this would turn out to be Gohan's last big victory until 2022's "Super Hero" movie, "Bojack Unbound" would hold a special place in the hearts of Gohan fans because of that. Even then, it's still great to see after the fact. You can also look at it as a book end with "Dead Zone" when you consider the Android saga was another intended stopping point for the series (and I kind of wish it happened that way), so you would have had movies featuring Gohan at different points in his potential beating the bad guy before and after the main Z series.
When the third and final part comes out, we jump forward seven years in the timeline to the movies released during the Buu saga. How will those films hold up? Find out next time with the conclusion of the Dragon Ball Z Movie Retrospective!
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