Dragonball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ Review

It only took a year to get the follow up movie to Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods, which seemed to be more of a warmup to this Resurrection ‘F’. This is even apparent in the box office results, where Battle of the Gods was only able to make $2.5 million in it’s box office run, Resurrection ‘F’ had already reached $5.97 million by weekend end, with 3 days left to go and more theaters playing it due to demand. That’s enough money for it to move into the top 10 North American Anime releases, earning the number 9 spot, and the only independent studio to reach the top 10 against the likes of Disney and other major studios. An impressive feat given it’s short time in the box office, but just goes to show the popularity of Dragonball Z here in North America.

Is Resurrection ‘F’ really that much better than Battle of the Gods? I don’t think so, better yes, but not twice as good. The popularity of Battle of the Gods really took theaters by surprise last year, and was in a much more limited fashion. Last year, an independent theater in Phoenix called FilmBar was able to get Battle of the Gods at release, before that of local theater juggernaut Harkins Theatres. They were not about to let that happen this year, and quickly picked up Resurrection ‘F’, showing it at most of their theaters, along with other theaters showing the movie. I can’t remember any time when you had this much access to a anime film in theaters since my childhood when the first Pokemon movies were hitting North America.

Ok, ok, I’ll get on to actually talking about the movie and not how well it’s doing. If Battle of the Gods is 21 Jump Street, Resurrection ‘F’ is The Avengers. Both films feature action and comedy, but they tip the scales in different directions. If you haven’t watched Battle of the Gods, I suggest doing so before watching ‘F’, as it really does build up to this film and allows you in on some of the jokes.

The first few minutes of ‘F’ is setting the stage for the movie, showing how Freiza got resurrected, and how he can get so powerful to challenge Goku after Goku has gained Super Saiyen God level strength. Short answer, Frieza actually trains. Then you get into the build up. Piccolo and Gohan uneasy feelings of knowing that Shenron was summoned are confirmed when Bulma finds out that Frieza has been revived and is headed to earth with 1000 soldiers to exact revenge on Goku. One problem with that is Goku and Vegeta are off on Beerus’s planet training with Whis at this time. It’s up to the rest of them to fight off Frieza’s soldiers until Goku and Vegeta show up. This happens about 30 minutes in and from here on out it’s pretty much non stop wonderfully animated action.

‘F’ is a great addition to the Dragonball Z series, allowing us to see just how strong Goku and crew have gotten since their last epic battle, while providing plenty of excellent action that’s offset nicely with some comedic moments. Let’s see if the new series Dragonball Super can live up to it.