Welcome to Fireballs 'R Us
Publisher: Madman
Wed, 17 January 2007
by: Australian Ninja
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Dragonball Z. Maybe you've heard of it. They've made ten thousand or so TV episodes and a bunch of movie specials over the years. Speaking for myself I got into the show when it was shown weekday mornings on Channel Ten a few years back [the first run in Australia.]
Later on I bought series 3-5 on DVD just to watch them, as I was no longer able to watch the show in the morning due to work commitments.
It was possibly one of the biggest wastes of money in my life [total $ spent = scary] but I greatly enjoyed watching the DVDs and still love the show so really I can't complain.
Now, if you're familiar with DBZ already then this is your cue to skip ahead two paragraphs to the main review section.
Otherwise - if you're still scratching your head about this 'kids' show then read on.
'Dragonball' as it is known is Japan was a long running serialised Manga comic book by Akira Toriyama. It ran for many years and was very popular.
Later it was adapted into Anime cartoons, toy lines, video-games etc.
The Anime starts with 'Dragonball' starring Goku as a small child, focusing on light hearted adventures. Later we have Dragon Ball Z with Goku as an adult focusing on non-stop super hero style battles with lots of energy beam attacks and fireballs such as the Kame-hame-ha-wave.
Later came the 'Dragonball GT' series along with movie specials set during each of the three different TV shows [Ball, Z and GT] timelines.
Each of the three different shows focuses on Goku and friends and the mystical Dragonballs which when gathered together summon the eternal dragon Shenron, who can supposedly grant any wish someone asks for. Each series is a great deal of fun when you take the time to get into it, assuming you like epic martial art battles with lashings of comedy that is.
Before I get to my review of movie #13, one more note.
The shows 'Dragonball' and 'Dragonball Z' are based directly on Akira Toriyama's Manga comics. The same guy who did character designs for the excellent videogames 'Chrono Trigger' [by Squaresoft] and Dragon Quest [by Enix.]
The later show Dragonball GT and the DBZ movie specials are NOT based on any manga comics. As a result, the quality is so much lower than the other shows as to be laughable. Characterisation is thrown out the window, plot is something that becomes irrelevant and what we are left with is a soul-less creature that looks and sounds just like its predecessors.
But hold the phone, I still like all of the various Dragonball toons, just some are better than others. Dragonball is best, followed by Z, GT is just lame and the various movie specials are awful [in comparison to the TV shows] but I still like ALL of the toons anyway. On with the review!
Wrath of the Dragon [aka DBZ movie special #13] takes place during the Saiyaman Saga. At this time Gohan and Videl are together, young Trunks and Goten are around, and Goku is at Super Saiyan level 3.
If this means nothing to you, fear not - any DBZ movie can be watched as a stand alone feature or as an extension of the series.
 | | The box, the box - whats in the box - today? |
Anyhow, thousands of years ago an ancient evil is sealed away, inside a little music box thingo. Fast forward to present day, the 'Z' warriors are tricked into opening it and out comes Tapion. An interesting new character that is equal parts 'Angel' and 'Link.'
He's brooding, strong and silent, plays an ocarina and has elven ears. The character is surprisingly well designed and he's immediately likeable. The ocarina really stands out as an unusual musical instrument to see in a cartoon, and I thought it was cool.
To save his planet, Tapion [Tape-e-on] sealed himself inside the small music box, containing half of the ancient evil being within himself first. The other half was imprisoned inside Tapion's brother and scattered to the far end of the universe.
This is similar to how Majin-Buu was imprisoned long ago inside an object, as he was thought to be un-killable.
So on present day earth, the evil Godzilla-like behemoth runs amok in the city, and the Z warriors get their combined asses kicked. Then Tapion again absorbs the evil being into himself and asks Trunks to kill him with a magical sword.
Young kid-Trunks [who befriended Tapion earlier in the film] is faced with a difficult choice. Kill Tapion [thus destroying the evil being] preventing the deaths of all his friends and family, not to mention the world. On the other hand, he doesn't want to kill his new friend, plus Trunks is just a kid, the adult version of Trunk would have killed Tapion in a heartbeat. It's a heart breaking scene because whether the emotionally distraught Trunks kills Tapion or not - either way he is guaranteed to suffer with the consequences.
Unfortunately for us, the plot takes a ridiculous U-turn around this point.
What was turning into a great scene rapidly de-escalates into mindless DBZ brawling ending in Goku just punching a hole through the chest of the big bad thus killing it, not unlike what he did to King Piccolo as a kid in Dragonball.
Remember, this thing is an ancient evil. Supposedly more powerful than anything they have faced including Vegeta, Freeza, Cell etc, and should at least rival if not surpass Majin-Buu.
 | | In the end it all came down to Rock Paper Scissors |
Sadly, their enemy never realises full potential. Sure it looks cool and kind of scary, but I just didn't buy it as a universe-ending bad guy.
The who film gears up towards sealing away the big bad inside Tapion again
[thus sacrificing himself for the second time, proving his determination and resolve to save peoples lives, and giving us a genuine hero who seeks no glory] but abruptly the story is sacrificed so Goku can kill the invincible un-killable monster in one punch.
At the end of the day, if you love DBZ mindlessly [like me] then you will enjoy the film despite its many, many flaws. However the price is a little too steep, considering the running time of 55 minutes, especially compared to buying a volume of say Dragonball which runs for 300 minutes.
I'm not bitching for no reason here, yeah this movie was a freebie - but I bought Movies #1-6 with my own money in recent years and I honestly would not do that again. The movies sell for the usual price, but if you are smart you will purchase the Collections for a much better price than the individual releases
Madman give us tons of wonderful Anime toons, so it is only natural that some
are lesser quality than others.
For the record, the one awesome must see movie special is called "Dragonball - The Path to Power" and it kicks the ass of all the other movie specials. Check it out here
by: Australian Ninja
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