Dragon Ball Z Battle of Gods - Oppo Movie Review

"WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe" (wesbarton89) 02/16/2015 at 12:14 • Filed to: None

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So, after waiting forever to see this movie, I finally purchased the Blu-Ray over the weekend, and watched the extended edition in English. Here are my thoughts.

First, I'm super glad to be able to see legitimate NEW DBZ, not just a recut, or re-dub, or whatever. And I'm glad the movie did well enough for another one to be made.

Now, keep in mind, this will contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, but plan to do so, read at your own risk.

First, a quick synopsis of the plot.

The extended version of the film starts with a brief recap of the series, starting from Son Goku meeting Bulma, and going all the way through to the final battle with Majin Buu. Following that, we learn that Beerus, the God of Destruction, has awakened from a 39-year slumber. He's chosen this time to wake up, for one to determine if Freeza eradicated the Saiyan race, and Planet Vegeta. Beerus' attendant, Whis, informs him that yes, the race was eradicated, save for a few lingering survivors who were off the planet at the time, but that Freeza had been defeated by one of these Saiyans, Goku. There's a brief clip of Super Saiyan Goku mopping the floor with Freeza. Beerus is shocked about this, and then recalls of a prophecy that he was told of, concerning what is known as a Super Saiyan God. Beerus learns of Earth, where the surviving Saiyans live, and that Goku, for some strange reason, is on North Kaio's (King Kai) planet, and heads there.

King Kai is flipping out over this, while the childlike Goku is gleeful at the prospects of fighting such a strong opponent. Shortly thereafter, Beerus and Whis arrive at the planet, explain their reason for being there, and Goku requests a sparring match, and he gets his wish. He starts by giving Beerus a demonstration of the different levels of Super Saiyan, all the way up to level 3. He then goes after Beerus with everything he has.

Beerus flicks Goku on the forehead, sending him flying backwards. Goku is able to recover, and goes after Beerus again, who dodges Goku's strikes, and chops him on the back of the neck. Goku is immediately knocked out, now in base form. Two strikes and Beerus has defeated the strongest canon non-fusion form of Goku, effortlessly. Beerus then goes to Earth, to seek information from Vegeta about SSG, as neither Goku, nor Kai could tell him anything. Beerus also has plans to destroy Earth, if things do not go his way. King Kai gives Vegeta a heads-up, and Vegeta is visibly shocked that Goku was taken down so quickly. Once he realizes who Beerus is, he is on a single-minded, hilarious mission to keep him even-tempered. In the meanwhile, Emperor Pilaf and his gang are sneaking around Bulma's birthday party, as they hear that the Dragon Balls are present. They're going to summon Shenron, to make them their proper age, as a botched wish from Shenron previously turned them into children.

Now, Vegeta is entertaining Beerus and Whis, as they sample the food at the birthday party. However, Vegeta doesn't pay attention for one moment, and Beerus finds that the pudding that he wanted, had all been taken by Majin Buu. Beerus asks for pudding, and Buu does not oblige, angering Beerus. Now, a fight breaks out, and all the fighters are effortlessly defeated. Even Piccolo is knocked out by a pair of chopsticks!

Vegeta can't even put up a good fight. He gets his rear handed to him quite quickly. Bulma, drunk, and now very ticked off, slaps Beerus. Beerus slaps her back. BAD MOVE CAT MAN. Vegeta get angry, yells "THAT'S MY BULMA!" and transforms, and proceeds to smack Beerus around a good bit, to the shock of many. He puts up a better fight than anyone else had, up to this point, but is again quickly dispatched. Beerus is angry, and ready to destroy Earth now, especially considering he has not learned of the SSG information. Then, Goku arrives. He convinces Beerus to let them summon Shenron to learn of the legend. After a situation earlier, where Pilaf's gang had taken a ball, it was returned, and now the dragon is summoned. Shenron is quite flustered at the presence of Beerus, but gives the information.

According to legend, there were a few good-hearted Saiyans, back when the race was still around, that fought the evil ones, and were losing terribly. They all gave their powers to the strongest of the good ones, creating the Super Saiyan God, who was more than strong enough to fight off the evil ones, but the power was only very temporary, and the Super Saiyan God vanished as quickly as it appeared. They try the ritual, but it fails, only granting Goku a very short burst of power from the others lending it to him, but not an actual transformation. They had misunderstood the requirements, as there had to be a grand total of six good-hearted Saiyans present. We have Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, and Trunks. Where's the sixth? Well, after Dende healed Videl's gunshot wound, that Gohan idiotically caused to happen earlier, we learn that Videl is pregnant with Pan, Gohan's child, who will be one-quarter Saiyan. Videl is included into the ritual, and the transformation works.

The transformation is unlike any of the others seen in the series for a Saiyan. Goku's hair and eyes change color to a reddish-pink hue, and when he powers up, his aura seems to be pure flame. He's also much leaner now, far less bulky than even his base form.

Goku and Beerus begin to fight again, and Goku is faring much better this time around, able to keep up, but neither one seems to have the upper hand. Their battle goes through mountains, forests, and caves, at which point, Goku has lost the powerup, but is still holding his own very well. The battle then goes into space, somehow, (Rule of cool I suppose), and Goku goes into regular SS mode, and fires off a Kamehameha wave, which Beerus easily takes. Beerus then prepares a huge blast of his own, and keeping it from hitting Earth is all Goku can do. Beerus makes Goku aware that he's lost his transformation, but it seems that he kept some of the strength upgrade, because since his body experienced the massive amount of strength, he was able to keep a good bit of it. Goku keeps struggling with the energy blast, but somehow transforms back into SSG for a split second, long enough to fight off the blast, and retreats to his base form, at which point, upon request from Beerus, surrenders the fight. During this time, Goku learns that Beerus was not fighting at full strength, and that Goku is also only the second strongest opponent he faced. The first? His attendant, and teacher, Whis. Goku also learns that they're only the strongest of their respective universe. In fact, there are 12 universes, and they're part of #7. They all return to Earth, and Beerus readies a blast to destroy Earth, after Whis finishes eating, of course. And destroy Earth he does, at least part of it. He destroys part of a rock, saying that he must've used up all of his energy, so he couldn't destroy the whole planet. Beerus and Whis return to their home, with Beerus planning to wake up in three years' time. The movie ends shortly after.

All in all this was a good movie, more lighthearted than the typical DBZ fare. Some of the CG effects were a little offputting, and not all of the animation was amazing. Overall though, it was a pretty enjoyable experience, and it definitely was nice to see something new. Now, just to wait for the next one to come out, Revival of F! Here's the Japanese trailer to check out.

Beerus and Whis return in this movie as well. This oughta be pretty epic.

Back to your regular scheduled Oppo. Just wanted to post this for those interested.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 02/16/2015 at 12:35

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didn't read but thanks for reminding me about this movie and that I haven't seen it. Without me reading the review you posted (spoiler sake) what's your rank and how true to the original series is it? I grew up watching Z in middle school and remember Z on toonami. The freeza saga was maddening because they replayed the season like 6 times before Goku went SSJ. "this is it, we'll finally see it... *Next episode* why is Goku on nimbus and Gohan in his school uni- awe fuck they restarted it again!"

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul 02/16/2015 at 12:40

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I would give it an 8/10. First off, the dub is extremely faithful to the original Japanese version, very accurate. It's a mix of DB's humorous moments with Toriyama's trademark toilet humor, and DBZ's more action packed moments. It basically changes from light to heavy around the 45 minute mark, and the movie is near an hour and a half. You would enjoy it a lot.

The Gray Adder > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 02/16/2015 at 12:49

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Aw man, I want a Goku keychain. I want it! I want it! I want it!

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > The Gray Adder 02/16/2015 at 12:52

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This is my keychain. I also have a SS Goku keychain attached to it as well.

The Gray Adder > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul 02/16/2015 at 12:52

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I would say better than anything in GT, but that's not saying much. It's a decent movie, good enough to burn through an hour and a half of your next snow day.

The Gray Adder > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 02/17/2015 at 07:16

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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00…

What I really want is a four-star bowling ball. Such a thing probably doesn't exist, though.

Rico > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 02/17/2015 at 12:28

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I also didn't read the review but thanks for letting me know this existed, I'll try to watch it at my friends house this weekend.