Another limited-release DBZ movie means it’s time for another special review!

What’s It About? The legendary villain Frieza is resurrected by the Dragon Balls, and attacks the Earth to get revenge against Goku and his friends.

STRAIGHT UP: I liked it. Not deep, but very action-packed. 3.5/5

What I Liked

A whole lot more action – Resurrection ‘F’ plays out almost entirely as one big fight scene, which more than makes up for the relative lack of fighting action in the previous movie, Battle of Gods.

Worthy production values – Another improvement Resurrection ‘F’ makes over Battle of Gods is its production values, which are finally up to modern standards. The high-quality animation makes Akira Toriyama’s unique art style really shine.

Everyone gets to fight – DBZ threw a lot of characters by the wayside during its run, but many of those forgotten friends get a chance to shine in a big battle royale against Frieza’s legion of lackeys. Krillin, Tien, and even Master Roshi get to look cool and do some serious damage.

Classic Krillin – They shoulda never let Krillin grow hair.

Chris Sabat as Vegeta – This man is a voice-acting treasure.

What I Disliked

A little too predictable – Goku gets the upper hand pretty early in his fight against Frieza, and from there the outcome is pretty clear. It’s easy to enjoy individual moments of the action, but there’s no overall sense of tension.

Not enough character moments – Battle of Gods was brilliant in the way it reestablished long-standing character relationships and played off of them to create moments with great humor and personality, even if it was a bit self-indulgent. Resurrection ‘F’ completely abandons those sorts of scenes in its transition to an action-centric plot.

Gohan – These recent DBZ films are almost a soft reboot for the franchise, and would make for a perfect opportunity to reclaim the character of Gohan, who went from being Goku’s heir apparent to a comic-relief side character for no good reason. Instead, he continues to appear as an increasingly dorky house-husband who’s made fun of even by his friends.

Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan – That’s the official, creator-approved name for Goku’s new transformation in this movie. Was that really the best anyone could do?

CLOSING THOUGHT: I’ve referenced Battle of Gods throughout this review because it and Resurrection ‘F’ in many respects feel like companion films. Besides the obvious storyline continuity, there’s a strong thematic relationship; the former film took a more character-focused and humorous approach while highlighting the future of the DBZ canon, while the latter focused on fighting action and paid tribute to arguably the greatest chapter of the franchise’s past. Overall, though, I enjoyed Resurrection ‘F’ more – the experience was more in line with what I expected from a DBZ movie, with the presence of Frieza adding an extra level of excitement and the eye-candy visuals putting the whole thing over the top.