Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is the first Dragon Ball movie after 17 years after The Path to Power. Taking place several years after Kid Buu's defeat and after the 2008 Special, our heroes are celebrating Bulma's birthday but the God of Destruction named Bills and his associate, Whis have other plans. Bills is looking for the Super Saiyan God and he thinks that Goku and friends know about it.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is the Dragon Ball Z movie that doesn't feel like the Dragon Ball Z movies back in the 80's and the 90's. To give you guys an idea, here's how those movies worked back then, it's like most of it is dedicated with the flashy fights and less with the plot and it's quite rare that I enjoy some of those movies. In the case of this movie, it feels more like a lost chapter coming from the manga or a lost episode of the anime. The movie returned to the franchise's action-comedy roots with the major reason for the end of the world has something to do with food.
To show my point, I'll first talk about the beginning of the movie, the mere fact that Bills, the God of Destruction is basically a cat who wakes up with bomb alarm clocks is something that felt like it came straight from a gag manga. Next is his dream of having an idol beside him but it didn't happen, this gives us viewers an impression that Bills is well, not that of a threat. I mean, if you look at the history of the anime/manga, one of the show's major villains, the Demon King Piccolo is sealed inside an electric rice cooker. With that in mind, it gave me an impression that Bills, is a dangerous enemy if you anger him.
Then we finally saw him fight Goku when he is in Super Saiyan 3, aside from the amazing animation and the good use of CGI models, the fight scene is really intense and shows us the difference between Bills and Goku's power. It's quite obvious who is the strongest since this scene happened at the early part of the movie, but the fact that Bills didn't have the intention to fight Goku, and looks like he is not using at least half of his power shows us that he is one tough foe to beat in full power. This shows us the difference between the powers of the two characters and gives us an impression that Goku is no match for this guy in a really authentic manner. Heck, I didn't have any expectations that Goku will beat Bills by the time the movie is over after this scene!
Anyway, the reason why Bills is awake after years in slumber is that he is looking for the Super Saiyan God and Goku doesn't know about it, so he ends up on Earth asking about it. What I like about this scene is that Bills and his associate, Whis are just chill guys. They eat, they socialize and they eat a lot. In short, they are those guys who will react based on how you will treat them. This gave me an impression that they are not really bad; they are just doing their job.
So how the heck the movie reached to this climax if Bills and Whis are just chill guys? It's all thanks to some incident that pissed Bills so bad that he decided to destroy our planet. It's also the same reason why Planet Vegeta is destroyed in the first place by Freeza! Bills is basically like Goku with god powers and a bad temper, which why he is quite dangerous. Seeing Bills fight the rest of the Z Warriors, especially Vegeta is really fun to watch. It's like watching a bunch of kids trying to fight someone twice their age.
.jpg)
Now for the Super Saiyan God thing, it feels kinda weird. I mean, if you just read the name without any idea what it is, it means that there's a god amongst Super Saiyans. But nope, it's just one power-up form used back then and was later forgotten. Without spoiling too much about it, the way they introduced this new form is great, but the one who is introducing it is something that I didn't expect to see in the movie at the first place considering what's happening in the past few minutes. It doesn't feel right if you account the long history of the franchise.
The way they acquired this form is also what bothered me, it bothered me in a sense that it looks too cheesy. But thinking about it, the Fusion dance looks cheesy and that they have villains named after food so I guess this is something Dragon Ball will do to get some new power up form in just a short span of time. As for the form itself, it looks a bit lazy and the aura it emitted kinda reminded me of the Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT. The red aura is a really nice touch and gives this feeling of royalty that Goku right now is in his god mode and that no one can stop him.
.png)
Now for Goku vs. Bills round 2, it's freakin' awesome. I earlier praised their first fight with its amazing animation and great use of CGI effects, same goes with this fight scene. The animation is brilliant, the soundtrack that complements it made the fight more epic and that the fight still has Dragon Ball Z's trademark over the top style of battle. This is when the movie feels like an episode of Dragon Ball Z and not the episode of Dragon Ball. The gags are gone with more focus on the action scenes and why Bills is one threat Goku must defeat. Starting from this point in the movie, I can't help but have this huge smile in my face while watching it. It's like I am relieving a part of my childhood watching Dragon Ball Z on TV. It's a pure blast of nostalgia that made me crave for more.
The ending of the battle gives you this bittersweet feeling that makes you want to root for the hero a bit more and it's really great way to end this movie. Even though Bills is promoted as the main villain, he doesn't act like one. He is just a bored god doing his job because; well he is the God of Destruction. Ending it in a note that there are other universes out there and this world is just one out of the many universes gives us hope that Goku will have more adventures in those worlds and maybe, just maybe, meet more creatures who are as strong or even, stronger than Goku.
Now that I am done talking about the story, it's time for the technical side of things. The animation is fluid and unlike Dragon Ball Z Kai in which they have frame inconsistencies thanks to the method on how they remastered the original Dragon Ball Z anime, the movie's flashback scenes are new animation scenes and it is a nice modern reinterpretation of some of the iconic scenes from the anime. When it comes to the music, the movie doesn't have the familiar tunes coming from the anime, which is kinda sad since it some of the tracks will add up to the intensity of the fights in the movie.
Overall, the movie is really fantastic and is a very nice tribute to the franchise's long history. The last time I have this feeling is when I watched Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, a retelling of Goku's first adventure with some elements coming from the Red Ribbon Arc mixed in-between. Aside from the nods to the classic Dragon Ball and its evolution to Dragon Ball Z, the cameo appearances on some beloved characters that we might have forgotten are quite welcoming that it reminded me why I love this show at the first place. Also, watch out for some references on some "forgotten" characters. Toriyama really did assure its fans that this movie is still the good ol' Dragon Ball anime that we all love with some modern flavor.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is the Dragon Ball Z movie that doesn't feel like the Dragon Ball Z movies back in the 80's and the 90's. To give you guys an idea, here's how those movies worked back then, it's like most of it is dedicated with the flashy fights and less with the plot and it's quite rare that I enjoy some of those movies. In the case of this movie, it feels more like a lost chapter coming from the manga or a lost episode of the anime. The movie returned to the franchise's action-comedy roots with the major reason for the end of the world has something to do with food.
To show my point, I'll first talk about the beginning of the movie, the mere fact that Bills, the God of Destruction is basically a cat who wakes up with bomb alarm clocks is something that felt like it came straight from a gag manga. Next is his dream of having an idol beside him but it didn't happen, this gives us viewers an impression that Bills is well, not that of a threat. I mean, if you look at the history of the anime/manga, one of the show's major villains, the Demon King Piccolo is sealed inside an electric rice cooker. With that in mind, it gave me an impression that Bills, is a dangerous enemy if you anger him.
Then we finally saw him fight Goku when he is in Super Saiyan 3, aside from the amazing animation and the good use of CGI models, the fight scene is really intense and shows us the difference between Bills and Goku's power. It's quite obvious who is the strongest since this scene happened at the early part of the movie, but the fact that Bills didn't have the intention to fight Goku, and looks like he is not using at least half of his power shows us that he is one tough foe to beat in full power. This shows us the difference between the powers of the two characters and gives us an impression that Goku is no match for this guy in a really authentic manner. Heck, I didn't have any expectations that Goku will beat Bills by the time the movie is over after this scene!
Anyway, the reason why Bills is awake after years in slumber is that he is looking for the Super Saiyan God and Goku doesn't know about it, so he ends up on Earth asking about it. What I like about this scene is that Bills and his associate, Whis are just chill guys. They eat, they socialize and they eat a lot. In short, they are those guys who will react based on how you will treat them. This gave me an impression that they are not really bad; they are just doing their job.
So how the heck the movie reached to this climax if Bills and Whis are just chill guys? It's all thanks to some incident that pissed Bills so bad that he decided to destroy our planet. It's also the same reason why Planet Vegeta is destroyed in the first place by Freeza! Bills is basically like Goku with god powers and a bad temper, which why he is quite dangerous. Seeing Bills fight the rest of the Z Warriors, especially Vegeta is really fun to watch. It's like watching a bunch of kids trying to fight someone twice their age.
.jpg)
Now for the Super Saiyan God thing, it feels kinda weird. I mean, if you just read the name without any idea what it is, it means that there's a god amongst Super Saiyans. But nope, it's just one power-up form used back then and was later forgotten. Without spoiling too much about it, the way they introduced this new form is great, but the one who is introducing it is something that I didn't expect to see in the movie at the first place considering what's happening in the past few minutes. It doesn't feel right if you account the long history of the franchise.
The way they acquired this form is also what bothered me, it bothered me in a sense that it looks too cheesy. But thinking about it, the Fusion dance looks cheesy and that they have villains named after food so I guess this is something Dragon Ball will do to get some new power up form in just a short span of time. As for the form itself, it looks a bit lazy and the aura it emitted kinda reminded me of the Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT. The red aura is a really nice touch and gives this feeling of royalty that Goku right now is in his god mode and that no one can stop him.
.png)
Now for Goku vs. Bills round 2, it's freakin' awesome. I earlier praised their first fight with its amazing animation and great use of CGI effects, same goes with this fight scene. The animation is brilliant, the soundtrack that complements it made the fight more epic and that the fight still has Dragon Ball Z's trademark over the top style of battle. This is when the movie feels like an episode of Dragon Ball Z and not the episode of Dragon Ball. The gags are gone with more focus on the action scenes and why Bills is one threat Goku must defeat. Starting from this point in the movie, I can't help but have this huge smile in my face while watching it. It's like I am relieving a part of my childhood watching Dragon Ball Z on TV. It's a pure blast of nostalgia that made me crave for more.
The ending of the battle gives you this bittersweet feeling that makes you want to root for the hero a bit more and it's really great way to end this movie. Even though Bills is promoted as the main villain, he doesn't act like one. He is just a bored god doing his job because; well he is the God of Destruction. Ending it in a note that there are other universes out there and this world is just one out of the many universes gives us hope that Goku will have more adventures in those worlds and maybe, just maybe, meet more creatures who are as strong or even, stronger than Goku.
I miss these guys.
Now that I am done talking about the story, it's time for the technical side of things. The animation is fluid and unlike Dragon Ball Z Kai in which they have frame inconsistencies thanks to the method on how they remastered the original Dragon Ball Z anime, the movie's flashback scenes are new animation scenes and it is a nice modern reinterpretation of some of the iconic scenes from the anime. When it comes to the music, the movie doesn't have the familiar tunes coming from the anime, which is kinda sad since it some of the tracks will add up to the intensity of the fights in the movie.
Overall, the movie is really fantastic and is a very nice tribute to the franchise's long history. The last time I have this feeling is when I watched Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, a retelling of Goku's first adventure with some elements coming from the Red Ribbon Arc mixed in-between. Aside from the nods to the classic Dragon Ball and its evolution to Dragon Ball Z, the cameo appearances on some beloved characters that we might have forgotten are quite welcoming that it reminded me why I love this show at the first place. Also, watch out for some references on some "forgotten" characters. Toriyama really did assure its fans that this movie is still the good ol' Dragon Ball anime that we all love with some modern flavor.
