There is something to be said in regards to Dragon Ball and the notion of formula. Im sure most people clicking on a review for one of the 15 Dragon Ball Z films probably knows what I mean most people know the Dragon Ball formula. New bad guy shows up the crew fight the bad guy Goku gets incapacitated all the side characters get beat up Goku comes back and wins typically with a genkidama. Now if youve seen Dragon Ball youre probably annoyed by this. This formula doesnt work it only really fits three arcs in the whole series those being Piccolo Daimao the Saiyajin arc and the Namek or Freeza arc or put in other terms 30 of the series. The reason this formula exists though is probably due to the films. Having watched four of these films now five and soon to be six I can say the formula is real and alive here. In fact this film Son Goku the Super Saiyajin is probably the most emblematic of the formula as for the most part it is just a ripoff of the Piccolo Daimao arc right down to the main antagonist being a Namekian who calls himself a Mazoku who summons Shen Long to regain his youth. Its honestly insulting as a watch and probably my least favourite of not just the Z films but also the Dragon Ball films as well. 2200https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/811111525729042453/859919428644110336/mpvshot0030.png But thats not what is interesting Id go so far as to say there is nothing interesting about this film. The actual thing Im writing about here is precisely what I mentioned in my opening paragraph formula. In recent years though lets be honest this has been around quite a long while there has been an aversion to formula and even just homaging or reusing ideas. People reject the familiar in spite of what the familiar can bring in a new time or with a new group of characters. Obviously Im not just saying the formula is great and you should love it but rather Im saying that formula isnt inherently bad in the same way subversion isnt inherently good or even interesting. Going back to old ideas and showing them in a new context CAN be interesting to look at Dragon Ball the Namek arc does recycle a tried formula that being a Dragon Ball hunt. But presented under new context with new characters makes it interesting thats the subversion to the formula. To go to a different arc the Saiyajin arc is probably one of the most formulaic though what makes it interesting is its character beats. Son Gohan learning to become a warrior Piccolo Daimao becoming more humane and growing through Gohans friendship as he knowingly gets closer to his final days Vegeta having his pride torn down by these supposed lowest class warriors Yajarobe overcoming his fear and becoming the lynchpin that saves the day. These are all important and meaningful moments but the arc that surrounds them is just the Piccolo Daimao arc. Big bad guy shows up Goku dies fighting him turns out that bad guy wasnt even the biggest bad guy the rest of the crew trains to defeat him Goku undergoes mystical training to gain new power and at the end Goku takes the rage from the deaths of his friends defeats the bad guys really buff lackey that was about to kill his companion and then beats the big bad guy. 2200https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/811111525729042453/858428900350623754/mpvshot0477.png Change a few words and I pretty well described the structure of the Saiyajin arc. The Saiyajin arc is currently my second favourite arc in the series just behind the Namek arc. So no theres nothing wrong with a good formula if you know what youre doing and whoever wrote this awful movie didnt know what they were doing. This movie is bad plain and simple. To write a review on it I had to pick a more abstract topic from its long list of weaknesses. If you came here for general thoughts on the film Im sorry there really isnt much to say.
50 /100
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