I've looked at a lot of films from the Dragonball/DBZ franchise. They've mostly been pretty decent. And this year we're looking at another one. The third film with the Dragonball Z branding, Chikyuu Marugoto Choukessen from 1990.
Story:
We open with Gohan going camping with Bulma, Kuririn and Oolong. Everything seems to be going well until night falls and a Saiyajin pod crashes causing a forest fire. Fortunately, Kuririn and Gohan are able to use their Ki to combat the blaze and protect the animals. Unfortunately, the forest is destroyed. They gather the dragonballs to restore everything. Our heroes don't see anything as amiss until North Kaio contacts Goku telling him that a Shinseiju is draining the Earth's energy and will soon turn it into a deserted wasteland. Thus they begin their quest to stop the Shinseiju tree and save the world.
There are a couple issues with this film. First off, in DBZ they establish that the Saiyajins, Freeza and that entire group don't know how to hide their power levels but in this film Tullece, who is a Saiyajin, and his group aren't detected by Goku or anyone else until they show up to destroy the tree. I understand that the continuity with the films is always a bit off but this seems a bit egregious. The second issue is that the ending is a bit of an ass-pull with how Goku is finally able to beat Tullece and the tree stops being a threat. It feels like the writers put themselves in a corner and couldn't figure out how to get out of it.
On a positive note, I do enjoy the whole bond that Gohan forms with Haiya dragon and how it plays into the story. The idea of a parasitic tree draining the life energy from the planet itself is also a good one.
Characters:
The new characters in this are the antagonists who, unfortunately, aren't that interesting. They're basically a bunch of thugs who want to gain power. Tullece does also pull a Raditz and try to get Goku and Gohan to join him which is the most interesting he gets.
Art:
The artwork is basically what you expect from DBZ. The big issue is with Tullece's design. They basically just make him evil Goku and excuse it as "they're both lower class Saiyajins so they look alike." But other than that it looks good. The action sequences flow pretty well and the sequences that showcase the impact the Shinseiju is having on the Earth are well executed.
Sound:
The acting is well done. It's basically the same as all these films have been. The regular cast: Furukawa Toshio, Nozawa Masako, Tsuru Hiromi, Tanaka Mayumi and the rest all do well. The antagonists of the week don't really have anything to work with. The music is solid.
Ho-yay:
There's none to be found.
Areas of Improvement:
- The antagonists should have been better developed.
- They needed a more clever way to beat the antagonists. Maybe some of the secondary characters could have dug into the Earth and destroyed the Shinseiju's core while Goku kept Tullece occupied and that could have released enough energy for a Genki Dama that could beat Tullece. It might not be a brilliant solution but it would have been a lot less of an ass pull.
- The major characters should have sensed the power levels of Tullece and his men.
Final Thoughts:
This isn't a good film. It's decent enough if you're a fan of DBZ and you want a short adventure with the characters. I'm going to give it a 6/10.
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