Beyond Legendary – Dragon Ball Super: Broly Review (Minor Spoilers)

Dragon Ball Super: Broly is the 20th film in the Dragon Ball series and the first from the Dragon Ball Super movies. Today marks the first official day of the U.S. release and the film will be the first anime film to be featured on IMAX. If someone hasn’t told you already, this is a movie you want to watch in IMAX.

FanboyNation had the honor of attending the U.S. premiere back in December and was given an amazing opportunity to interview the voice actors prior. Vic Mignogna reprises his role as Broly and stated with great enthusiasm how much he enjoyed voicing for this film. Minor spoiler, Broly says more than just “Kakarot.” Vic discussed how much he enjoyed Broly’s backstory and how his own relationship with his father inspired his acting for the new film. Oddly enough, Vic reported that he was actually not guaranteed the role when the movie was announced. Fortunately, he continues to be the one and only true voice of Broly.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly continues immediately after the universe tournament from the anime. The film marks the official introduction of three formerly non-canon characters into the main storyline: Broly, Gogeta, and Bardock. Like many others, I wish the trailers did not reveal Gogeta plot twist, but Dragon Ball has a history of doing this with their trailers. For example, Super Saiyan God with Battle of the Gods and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue transformation with Resurrection F. When I watched the previous films, I still thoroughly enjoyed the film despite knowing the plot twist. If anything, because I knew the plot twist for Broly, I was even more excited to watch the fight as the film progressed.

If there’s one thing the film brings, it’s a huge dose of nostalgia. Visually, the film resembles the old school animation from the 90s with a modern twist. I personally enjoyed how the film recreated so many scenes from previous films. Truth be told, watching the movie was like getting three films in one: Bardock, Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan, and Fusion Reborn. Of course, Dragon Ball continues to live up to its name as the king of shounen with the epic battles, explosions, and transformations. Even with the introduction of gods, ultra instinct, and Jiren, Broly will show viewers he is beyond all that. Shoot, the fight between Broly and Gogeta is so epic that it shatters reality.

Personally, Broly was my favorite Dragon Ball Z character going up because Hulk is my favorite Marvel character and Broly was essentially a super saiyan Hulk.  Broly’s rage was unlike any other characters, his fighting style was notably different than the rest of the Z fighters, and the scene where he dodges attacks from Piccolo and Goku while standing is still one of my favorite scenes. The one thing I enjoyed the most about this film is what the film did for the character. Everything from the back story, the father-son relationships, the reason for his rage, and even Broly’s clothes are explored and given meaning. I am super excited for the potential that Broly has for upcoming arcs and hope the film is adapted into an anime arc like Ressurection F.

I do wish the film made some mention of Kale from the universe tournament. While her transformation is nowhere near the power level of Broly, her transformation was very similar to Broly’s and both have been named to be the possible legendary super saiyan of their respective universe. There were also a couple of notable moments where the animation was sub-par. Truthfully, I feel like this was done on purpose to remind people that the old animation wasn’t perfect and to enjoy the animation for what it is. Even with the occasional imperfections, I will put my foot down and argue that this film has the best Dragon Ball fight visuals and sequences to date.