Broly is no stranger to Dragon Ball fans. The character was initially introduced as a ‘Legendary Super Saiyan’ with an absurdly silly grudge against Goku (Broly and Goku shared a nursery as kids and Goku cried a lot, leaving Broly unable to sleep. Broly grew up hating Goku because of it. Yes, that is the actual origin of Broly). With unfathomable strength that struck fear into the likes of Prince Vegeta, Broly’s power was unmatched, unrivaled, and it took everything out of the Z-Fighters to defeat him.
His second appearance, Broly found himself on Earth challenging Gohan, Goten, and young Trunks. After an exhausting battle, they managed to defeat Broly once and for all. Sort of. Later, Broly appeared in a third film where scientists had gathered Broly’s DNA and cloned him, but ended up with a sloppy mutant that Trunks and Goten, along with the help of Android 18 and Hercule, had to fight once more.
In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, all of that is undone. Broly’s origin is changed drastically, and even Goku’s origin is expanded upon with new and changed details that fit a much better narrative. Frieza is still involved, but the story of Broly’s exile (he was initially sent away from Planet Vegeta for being too strong) is uncovered with unique and altered plot points that make the character and his thirst for revenge far more interesting.
The film takes place just after the conclusion of the Tournament of Power, where Goku and Vegeta are found continuing their training. Goku wants to become stronger after facing Jiren, and Vegeta wants to become stronger to not only surpass his rival but to prepare for Frieza’s return. You’ll remember that Goku had Frieza brought to life in order to help them in the tournament, and Frieza was left alive as a reward. This has Vegeta concerned that Frieza, with his newfound life, will squander it and train to become stronger to get revenge on earth. And that is all we are going to say about plot details.
What I want to mention, is that despite the poorly conceived artistic direction of Dragon Ball super as a series, DBS: Broly is without a doubt, the most impressive animation I have ever seen. Not only has the animation improved over the series, but it is far beyond anything I have ever witnessed before. It is sharp, stunning, impressive, and exhilarating. There is so much show and shine that my eyeballs were in awe from start to finish. The fight sequences were so spectacular and the intensity of the action is something that you will absolutely need to see for yourself in the seat of your local theater.
The visuals and action are not the only things worth noting, as the film boasts an original plot (that is actually really good and well thought out), and superb writing. The character design, art direction, and plot all came from original series creator Akira Toriyama, and adding the modern technology used to enhance animation, you can understand that this is something you have to experience.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly comes to North American theaters on January 16, 2019. You can locate a theater near you and buy advanced tickets from FUNimation here.
