Resurrection F Review

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't seen the movie yet (which will be here for today and tomorrow in select theaters) or wish to watch it in the future when it's released to DVDs or just watch it on the computer like others, don't read this!!!





Last Saturday, I saw the recent DBZ Movie, Resurrection "F", with my brother and one of my friends. I had a lot of fun re-revisiting my childhood of the sequel to Battle of Gods and the other film that's gonna be featured in DB Super (with padding). All I gotta say is despite my fun with Frieza's (or Freeza if you prefer the original name format) return, it's not as good as Battle of Gods. Like many others, I found the movie to be good but not BOG good. And if you didn't like BOG, good for you but between that and the sequel, the first movie was awesome for me being it's mixture between comedy and action, fan-service with the appearances of other DB characters, and the story itself. Here, it has some of that but with DB Super around, it's more of a bridge to the newer saga(s) of the DB adventure while having that DBZ action, some funny moments, the appearance of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (who appeared in the DB spinoff of the same name and is a funny character with an enjoyable fighting style), some fan-service and CG-I (like in BOG) that looks more like you're watching a cutscene from a Dragon Ball Z PS3 game.

The story pretty much is about some of Frieza's followers reviving him with the Dragon Balls and with the help of Shenron, some of Goku's adversaries, and a rejuvenation chamber (it's explained in the movie), he comes back for vengence against Goku for what he's done. However, he decides to train for his revenge which took about 4 months but results paid off until his fated encounter. While Goku (and Vegeta) trained much like in BOG, Gohan and a few other Z Fighters squared off against Freeza's henchmen. BTW Gohan sported a new look which makes him look like a BIG NERD (seriously, the haircut is okay IMO but because he couldn't find his Gi, his dad's or his training gi, he has to sport a green tracksuit and reading glasses! If you liked the look, cool, but everytime I see him in that getup, well you probably saw TFS' Dragon Ball Z Abridged, right?) On top of that, Goten and Trunks aren't in this fight (or movie) sadly, since Gohan doesn't tell them b/c they may do something rash. It's understandable considering their behavior and Gotenks altogether but seeing how things went out and the power of the DBs, the more the merrier IMO and they ARE two of the strongest beings in this planet. But hey, Piccolo and Krillin kicked some ass in their place along with Tien (who didn't bring Yamcha and Chiaozu with them since they're a little too weak for this. Lame but true.) and even Master Roshi, who powers up to fight off the henchmen. It's pretty crazy how Roshi is weaker than the fighters who were absent but HE comes along to help the team and manages to take out some fighters like this was friggin' Budokai Tenkaichi! It's pretty awesome (and it reminds me how in BT3, I defeated Broly with Roshi himself but I digress) if you asked me. As for Jaco, he's a funny and cool character with his brand of pride for his duties, cowardly situations and his dislake of being called short. His manga series is short but it's sorta like a prequel to Dragon Ball since it's old fashioned like that and it features a younger Bulma and her older sister, Tights. Also Bulma along with Beerus and Whis are in this film. While the gods are mostly comic relief with them spectating Goku and Vegeta's fights while eating some more Earthling food because they not only love our food but they'll only help Goku and the gang (and for Beerus, not destroy them) if they get some food from them and Whis does help out our heroes. As for Bulma, she once again becomes a hilarious loudmouth that doesn't really know when to shut up but at the very least, she finally gets to see Frieza after all these years and gets the gods to come along with Jaco to help our heroes. A neat cast, overall.

The action is pretty cool and sorta intense since Frieza's henchmen actually gave some trouble for the other Z Fighters. While Goku and Vegeta were unaware at the time, Gohan and the others had to fend off against an army of decently strong fighters than IMO Gohan could've powered up to SSJ, SSJ2, or Mystic Form to save the day even though it ruins the moment but whatever. Gohan's probably rusty again and as said in the series, he's not really a fighter like his dad. Frieza also becomes a threat now due to his training (if you saw Fusion Reborn, you'd know that even in his Final Form, Gohan managed to beat the guy with one punch but Frieza decided to return the favor even though FB wasn't canon) and easily becomes unbeatable until Goku arrives. Frieza decides to skip the warmup and goes Final right away but Goku easily beats him. The two also are aware that the other was holding back so they decide to power up one more time with Goku reaching the SSJ form of Super Saiyan God (which is pretty much SSJ with blue hair and aura. Not too cool but better than SSJG IMO). Frieza also powers up to Golden Frieza where he becomes Gold but the colors make him look like a Golden version of Cooler in his 3rd form. The real battle begins and despite Frieza's new power he still is no match for Goku due to his inexperience with his Golden Form. However, Goku's weakness of being too relaxed and letting his opponents walk away to fight another day (Whis pointed that out along with Vegeta needing to relax some more or something like that) gets to him now as his actions causes him to get shot by a laser from Frieza's head follower named General Sorbet BTW and like a weak villain, Frieza starts beating him down. Frieza also encounters Vegeta and offers him to return to his side but he refuses and decides to beat him. So he powers up to a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (which is pretty much a Saiyan gaining the powers of a SSJG and turning SSJ) and easily knocks Frieza down.

Now this is another problem some folks had with the film and for me as well. It wasn't bad but the ending was... anticlimatic. The movie could've ended on a big note but the writers played safe. There were 3 possible endings and they went for the weaker one IMO. I won't say it but either way, Vegeta didn't do much b/c Goku had to hog all the action to himself and Frieza wanted to fight him more than Vegeta since last time, he broke his spirit and made him cry like a bitch (which made Vegeta's round a lot more satisfying especially when everyone in the theater I was in cheered for that moment along with Krillin saving Goku with a senzu bean.) In the end, this movie was more of a B film. Not bad but not as great as the first one. Still, it's pretty good and while it lasts, GO SEE IT!