DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO:
SECOND “SUPER” FILM PALES IN COMPARISON TO ITS PREDECESSORS, BUT IT’S STILL A GOOD TIME FOR FANS OF THE FRANCHISE!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** out of 4
CRUNCHYROLL
Goten, Trunks, Android 18, Krillin, Bulma, Magenta, Carmine, Gamma #1, Gamma #2, Piccolo, Pan, Gohan, Goku, Vegeta, and Dr. Hedo in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
The Dragon Ball franchise is back on the big screen again in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the latest film installment of the long-running manga and anime series and second to be based on the Dragon Ball Super anime after 2019’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly. This also marks the first theatrical Dragon Ball film without any involvement from 20th Century Fox/20th Century Studios with Crunchyroll as the new distributor.
I will admit while I really enjoy the Dragon Ball franchise (Particularly Dragon Ball Z), I wouldn’t call myself a purist on the source material. I’ve seen a lot of episodes of Dragon Ball Z, owned episodes on VHS, and played some of the video games growing up, but it wasn’t something I was super obsessed with back then.
However, after sitting through the 2009 live-action disaster, Dragonball: Evolution I had a whole new level of appreciation for the original manga and series. The poor critical reviews and box-office performance of Evolution resulted in the far superior theatrical releases of 2014’s Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F in 2015, and Dragon Ball Super: Broly in 2019 with Battle of Gods being my favorite of the recent Dragon Ball films.
All three of those films were a lot of fun to see on the big screen and helped resurrect my appreciation of the franchise in a similar way the franchise itself was resurrected after the horrible live-action film’s release. After seeing Dragon Ball Super: Broly in theaters (Which I recall describing as like the anime equivalent of Mad Max: Fury Road), I was eagerly anticipating the next film, which would eventually become Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero as the first CG-animated Dragon Ball film.
Aside from random airings of Dragon Ball Super on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and Toonami blocks, I never really caught up with the Super-era of the franchise compared to DBZ or the original Dragon Ball. But I was able to follow the Broly movie just fine and the same can be said for this one.
Enough buildup, what did I think of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero? I…thought it was good! I didn’t love this one like I did with its predecessors and there are some aspects of the film I was a little disappointed by, but I was thoroughly entertained by this film and I’m sure longtime fans of the source material will have a great time as well.
The film follows the newly resurrected Red Ribbon Army (An evil organization that was once destroyed by Son Goku and responsible for creating the Androids!) creating the ultimate androids in the form of Gamma #1 (voiced by Aleks Le) and Gamma #2 (voiced by Zeno Robinson (My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, The Owl House) under direction by Commander Magenta (voiced by Charles Martinet-Mario franchise) and Dr. Hedo (voiced by Zach Aguilar-Demon Slayer, Genshin Impact, Pokémon Masters) to seek revenge against Piccolo (voiced by Christopher Sabat-Yu Yu Hakusho, Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece) and Gohan (voiced by Kyle Hebert-Bleach, One Piece, Naruto: Shippuden). Gohan, Piccolo, and their Super Saiyan friends will need to prepare for the fight of their lives as they battle the Red Ribbon League’s new androids and save the planet before the League unleashes their deadliest weapon, Cell Max.
The film also features the voices of Sean Schemmel (Shaman King, Pokémon, One Piece) as Goku, Sabat as Vegeta, Korin, and Shenron, Robert McCollum (Psycho-Pass, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia) as Goten, Eric Vale (Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, Soul Eater) as Trunks, Meredith McCoy (Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yu Yu Hakusho) as Android 18, Johnny Young Bosch (Akira, Power Rangers franchise, Bleach) replacing Vic Mignogna as Broly, Sonny Strait (Elfquest, One Piece, My Hero Academia) as Krillin, Mike McFarland (Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, My Hero Academia) as Yajirobe, Jeannie Tirado (Fairy Tail Zero, Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, Fire Emblem: Three Houses) as Pan, Kara Edwards (Fairy Tail, Fruits Basket, Yu Yu Hakusho) as Videl, Monica Rial (Fullmetal Alchemist, Neon Genesis Evangelion, My Hero Academia) as Bulma, Justin Cook (Yu Yu Hakusho, Attack on Titan, Black Clover) as Dende, Jason Douglas (Sin City, Borderlands 2 and 3, Breaking Bad) as Lord Beerus, Ian Sinclair (Hetalia: Axis Powers, One Piece, Attack on Titan) as Whis, Erica Lindbeck (Sword Art Online, Hunter x Hunter, Demon Slayer) as Cheelai, and Dameon Clarke (24, Castle, Prison Break) as Cell Max.
Overall, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero may not be among my favorite films in the Dragon Ball franchise, but I still had a good time with it. The CG animation is very ambitious and despite occasionally choppy moments, the two-dimensional art style of the characters blend into the 3D environments very effectively, almost like you’re watching a cutscene from a lost Dragon Ball video game. Granted, nothing can beat the hand-drawn animation and art style of the original anime, the CGI does give the film a unique style and is further exemplified during the high-octane action sequences.
The action is flashy, in-your-face, and exciting with a ton of fan-service, surprises, and even a little bit of silly humor (Particularly those involving Goten and Trunks’ fusion, I won’t say more!). It’s about as over-the-top and as in Broly, and despite the intense battles, they never overshadow the story and core characters.
I was very invested in Gohan and Piccolo’s stories with Gohan as an overworking dad and Piccolo being a mentor and almost parental figure for Gohan’s daughter. Both of them do a great job flipping back and forth from being badass, funny, and surprisingly wholesome, Goku and Vegeta will always be my favorite Dragon Ball duo, but these two are easily a close second.
However, what keeps this movie from being great to me is a similar issue I had with Broly where a lot of the characters get pushed off to the side and aren’t given much to do in the main plot. Goku and Vegeta are barely in this movie and while their side plot on Beerus’ home planet leads to a funny after-credits scene, I wished they would have had more to do that impacted the story because this is basically what Doctor Strange in Thor: Ragnarok was, a glorified cameo…which is strange because Goku and Vegeta are the main characters of the whole franchise, the film could have still been mostly revolved around Gohan and Piccolo but maybe have Goku and Vegeta helping in a different part of the story.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero gives what it advertises, and fans of the anime and manga will probably have a good time with it. I certainly did, and I’m curious to see where the Super Saiyans’ adventures will take them next.
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