“Super Android 13” doesn’t appear to be one of the more popular Dragonball Z films, though it’s one of my personal favorites in a “guilty pleasure” sort of way. I find it rather underrated and enjoy it mostly for the reasons people seem to hate it. “Super Android 13” is cheesier than other Dragonball Z films (if you can comprehend that), but at the same time it’s pretty self-aware that it’s so goofy. It’s not one of the best installments in the series, but I always have a fun time watching it.
The mad Dr. Gero of the Red Ribbon Army may be dead, but his evil lives on within a super computer of his own design. The computer crafts three new killer robots, Androids 13, 14 and 15, respectively. Their primary function: Kill Goku. The androids waste little time tracking Goku down and quickly engage him in a fierce battle. Goku’s comrades, Gohan, Krillen, Vegeta, Piccolo and the Super Saiyan from the future, Trunks, all pop in to lend a hand.
When Funimation first began dubbing Dragonball Z I was very displeased. Gradually, the voice actors grew on me with their own individual character quirks and I came to accept them. Still, I wasn’t suitably impressed with their efforts…until I saw this movie. This is one of the cheesier Dragonball Z films and the people at Funimation knew it, so as a result, the voice acting reflects it. And it’s a total riot. They had me snickering when the diminutive Android 15 showed up speaking gangsta jive, but I nearly erupted with laughter once the title villain appeared, spewing a heavy redneck dialect (“the Red Ribbon Redneck”, as Trunks calls him). They have a lot of fun with the voice acting in this film which really adds to the entertainment value. I probably wouldn’t like this movie as much as I do if it weren’t for the voice gags.
I’m also not typically a fan of the new music recorded for the English dub, but I rather like this one. They play this funky track for Androids 14 and 15 when they first enter the city and it just adds to the humorous tone. They also dub in a few “extra” lines that make me snicker, like that last bit between Vegeta and Piccolo at the very end. “Is it over?” “Not until the fish jumps.” *fish jumps* “Okay, it’s over.” *roll credits*
The fight scenes in “Super Android 13” aren’t really the best in the franchise, though they do manage one effect in this film which outdoes all the others: the ricochets. Characters are getting tossed around and sent bouncing off the surrounding environments like ping pong balls. The animation is good, though not really theatrical quality. I noticed a few errors here and there, but nothing too distracting.
As for the villains, aside from the humorous dubbing, I suppose they really aren’t that special. Android 15 is pretty funny with his gangsta voice and alcoholism, though his outfit is pretty stupid. Android 14 comes out the weakest of the lot, with no notable character quirks of any kind. Android 13, the lead villain, steals the show with his trucker appearance and heavy Southern drawl. The bit where he goes “Super Android” for the final battle is one of the lamer transformations in the series, with him just turning blue and sprouting orange spikey hair. He didn’t really have any impressive special attacks, either.
While the dubbing won me over, I can’t ignore some of the lamer parts of the movie. I’m getting pretty sick and tired of the Spirit Bomb Solution. They manage to use it in a slightly more creative fashion in this film, with Goku absorbing the energy into his body rather than just lobbing it at the enemy in the form of an energy ball. Still, it’s getting boring. I was also damn annoyed by the amount of comedy relief humor involving Krillen. It’s embarrassing to watch one of my favorite characters get turned into such a panty waist.
In all honesty, this is a pretty bad Dragonball Z flick but dressed up with a lot of self-parody and cheesy dubbing to mask the poor story and less-than-stellar animation. To its credit, they mask the set-backs rather well. I give “Super Android 13” a C as far as Dragonball Z movies go.
Grade: C
Mazinger Z vs. Devilman
I suppose I should start off by noting that practically everything I know about Mazinger Z I learned from Tranzor Z, the show’s American version which ran on television in the 80’s. I’m an infinitely bigger Devilman fan, admittedly. Hell, I even bought a DVD of that wretched live action movie they made a few years back. Mazinger Z vs. Devilman is a film I’d wanted to see for some time, but now that I’ve finally gotten my hands on it, I must say, I was fairly under whelmed.
Dr. Hell (Dr. Demon in the US) is up to his usual tricks, trying time and again to defeat the giant robot, Mazinger Z (Tranzor Z), and take over the world. Dr. Hell sends a troop of evil robots to attack Mazinger and Koji (Tommy), Mazinger’s pilot, rises to the occasion and thoroughly trounces the opposition. However, during the battle, Mazinger unintentionally frees the giant demon, Siren: an old enemy of the demon-hunter superhero, Devilman. Siren frees a legion of her demon colleagues, but before they can lay waste to human civilization, Dr. Hell intervenes and takes control of them. Devilman catches wind of this unholy alliance, and in his human form as Akira Fudo, sends a warning to Koji and Mazinger Z. Dr. Hell has his sights set on Mazinger’s new power-up, the Jet Scrambler, and with the powers of, well…HELL on his side, things are looking to go in his favor. If the Earth is to be saved, Mazinger Z and Devilman must work together.
This movie probably should have been titled “MAZINGER Z!! …with special cameo appearance by Devilman”. Devilman is played mostly as a chump throughout the film, getting taken prisoner twice and having to be rescued by Mazinger on both occasions. To add insult to injury, he’s taken prisoner by Devileen, the one henchman from Tranzor Z I absolutely loathed. What this flick needed was 100% more Count Decapito (now *he* was a badass henchman). So, of course, as a Devilman fan, seeing my favorite character getting his ass beat repeatedly and being rescued over and over didn’t exactly sit well with me. The demons are also some pretty weak sauce, being defeated by the likes of humans with laser guns. This is a Mazinger Z film at its core and Devilman is treated more as a guest star, much to my chagrin.
Another issue I take with the film is that Mazinger Z and Devilman never actually fight. I came into the film expecting two of Go Nagai’s classic characters to throw-down and all I got was a lame team-up. The only instance in which the two title characters have a competing moment is when Akira challenges Koji to a motorcycle race (which he *loses*, god dammit!). If that’s their idea of “versus” then I’m exceptionally disappointed.
The animation is dated but serviceable. Toei does an *okay* job, but the animation still isn’t up to theatrical-quality, even if this film was made in the 70’s. There are plenty of noticeable uses of recycled animation and the characters, outside of action sequences, aren’t particularly lively, standing around in static poses most of the time.
But, I suppose the film wasn’t all bad. I’m a sucker for crossovers, and just seeing Devilman interact with Tranzor Z was enough to get a sense of satisfaction out of me. There is also a sweet moment where they play the Devilman theme song as he rushes into battle which invoked an “Alright!” out of me, since I love that theme song. Additionally, I thought it was pretty cool to see Siren, one of Devilman’s trademark villains, again. She actually faired rather well in battle and got a good chunk of screentime, unlike most of the other demons, which were defeated with relative ease.
Mazinger Z vs. Devilman is short, about 45 minutes long, and I’m not sure whether that’s a *good* thing or not. Perhaps if it had been longer Devilman might not have been slapped around quite so much. But I guess we’ll never know. As it is, Mazinger Z vs. Devilman doesn’t live up to its own title. And, as a Devilman fan, I’m a little bit pissed. I suppose it’s fun if you’re a huge Mazinger Z buff, but I just couldn’t get into the film.
Grade: C-
Full Metal Alchemist the Movie: the Conqueror of Shambala
I first saw this movie in a theater in Kyoto’s Purple Dragon shopping center in August of 2005. My Japanese is pretty good, so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I’d never seen a single episode of the television series prior to paying $18 bucks to see this movie (tickets are crazy-expensive in Japan), so I had no clue just what the Hell was going on. And, even in English, unless you have watched *all* of the TV series, up through the last episode, you’re going to be just as lost as I was.
Now, what if you *have* watched all of the TV series? Holy crap, this movie is magnificent! When it was finally released on DVD in the US I had the benefit of seeing the entire TV series on my side for my second viewing, and I can’t believe just how great this movie is under the proper context.
Following the climax of the television series, Edward Elric is trapped in another dimension. Our dimension, shortly before the beginning of World War II. Members of the Nazi party have caught on to Alchemy, the Humonculi and Edward’s home dimension (which they refer to as the mystical land of “Shambala”). The Nazi’s intend to open the gateway to Shambala so that they can bring Alchemy back with them to our world, using the “magic” to strengthen Hitler’s forces. Edward is caught in the middle, as he is needed in order to open the gateway. Edward knows that this could be his one chance to return to his world, but at the same time, it could mean certain destruction for our world.
This is a brilliantly written film that works in the tension of post WWI Germany to the plot exceedingly well. The people who wrote this film know their history and their folk lore, using aspects of the Nazi society (including Hitler’s supposed obsession with the occult) to pen an enthralling experience. I went and looked up a number of the references made in the film to find out most of them were real. The setting also leads to lots of character conflict. For instance, Hughs (the Maeyz of our world) is a soldier in Post WWI Germany suckered into joining the Nazi party out of desperation. He genuinely thinks the Nazis are doing the right thing (remember, none of these characters have the luxury of knowing where all this will lead) which puts him at odds with Ed. It’s very moving.
The characters from the TV series are all there. Ed takes center stage, with the majority of the film taking place in our world. Al and his alternate version feature prominently, though. Al’s bit in the underground city with Wrath and Gluttony is amazing. Some of the other characters, like Winry and Hawkeye, are somewhat cheated of screentime, but practically every character from the show gets to make an appearance, even if it’s just their alternate version (there’s one cameo at the very end of the movie that’s absolutely hilarious).
The animation in this movie is non-stop eye candy. The fight scenes and action sequences are all fluid and choreographed to perfection, but that’s only the half of it. The backgrounds and environments are lush and detailed and are just dripping with beauty, even when the setting is the dank bowels of a castle. I’m so thankful I got to see this film on the big screen.
It’s hard to rank Conqueror of Shambala. If you’ve seen the TV series you will adore this film. If you haven’t seen the show, you’ll like all the pretty animation, but the story will go completely over your head. Still, if viewed in the proper context, this film is worthy of a B+. And if you haven’t seen the TV series, do yourself a favor and go check it out. You’ll be glad you did. Full Metal Alchemist is one of the best things to come out of Japan in a long time.
Grade: B+
Dragonball movie 2: “Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle”
Maybe it doesn’t have the best title, but “Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle” is my favorite of the three original Dragonball films. While the first installment, “Curse of the Blood Rubies”, retold the origin of Goku and how he met all his friends, this installment retells how he met his best friend, Krillen, and how they earned the privilege of training with Master Roshi. So, if you’ve already seen that arc of the television series you’ll be pretty familiar with the story here. However, unlike “Curse of the Blood Rubies”, “Sleeping Princess” adapts the storyline to a more original plot so it feels much more fresh and isn’t quite a blatant rehash.
Goku returns to Master Roshi’s island and asks to be trained by the Turtle Hermit. However, at the same time, another young martial arts master named Krillen shows up desiring the same thing. Master Roshi sends them both out to a dark region called the Devil’s Hand to retrieve a sleeping Princess for him; the one who brings her back earning the right to become his student. So Goku and Krillen race to rescue the Princess while their other friends, Bulma, Yamcha, Puar and Oolong, head after them. Once they arrive they discover the Devil’s Hand is ruled over by the sinister Count Lucifer who intends to use the power of the Princess to destroy the sun. Further complicating matters is the sudden arrival of ultra-violent treasure hunter, Launch, who wants the Princess for her own greedy reasons. So who’ll end up with the Princess?
I actually prefer this telling of Goku and Krillen’s first encounter and their test to become Roshi’s students over the original version presented in the manga and the TV series. “Sleeping Princess” has a little more substance to it while the original version just had Roshi send them out to essentially kidnap a hot chick for him. This one also involves the whole colorful cast of Dragonball, a cast I prefer over the one from later Dragonball Z. I just find the likes of Yamcha, Puar, Oolong and Roshi more interesting and entertaining than the bland Saiyans like Trunks, Goten and yes, even Vegeta.
The animation provided by Toei Studios is a bit underwhelming, only providing a few moments of outstanding fight choreography. Other fight scenes have the characters sort of just “floating” about and looks very awkward. Still, the some-what stiff animation is helped along with charming character designs, background art and a very eccentric cast of heroes. However, Count Lucifer isn’t the best villain, honestly, and I found his big pink General to be far more exciting a bad guy. Still, Dragonball is a much more jovial series than its successor, Dragonball Z, and it gets its kicks with lots of humor, most of which hits the mark. So you can’t expect the most epic story-telling, here.
The English dub for the film was done by the Funimation cast rather than the Ocean Group and I really can’t find myself complaining about any of the voices. I really like their version of Master Roshi; he’s just such an over-the-top, goofy perv. Evil Launch’s voice is also quite nice, though her Good version can’t quite decide if she wants to sound like a feather-brain of a Southern Belle. This movie, as well as “Mystic Adventure”, also features Funimation’s alternate Dragonball-voice for Goku. For the television series they simply chose the voice actor for Gohan to do Goku, a choice I was never really fond of. I greatly prefer this actor for Goku as the voice is much less coarse and grating.
Not too much else to say about the movie. The only version available on DVD is the uncut version which maintains a few of the more perverse jokes and a couple seconds of male (child) nudity, but it’s totally harmless so don’t get the wrong impression. While the perverted gags with Roshi are maintained, they’re honestly rather tame and will fly over the heads of most kids. I’d say the film is suitable for most children.
“Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle” gets a B-. It’s a good flick but not something I watch on a regular basis, and again, if you’ve seen the TV series the story won’t totally excite you.
Grade: B-
Dragonball Z movie 13: “Wrath of the Dragon”
After cantering along, relying on lukewarm rehashes of television episodes or boring returning villains that just wouldn’t go away, the Dragonball Z movie franchise finally manages to get its act together for the 13th and final installment. And damn, does the franchise go out with a bang!
Gohan and Videl are hoodwinked by a creepy old man named Hoi into helping him release a great hero, Tappion, from his prison within an enchanted music box (these are the strongest people in the Universe, not the smartest). Using the power of the Dragonballs, the heroes release Tappion, but as it turns out, he wasn’t incarcerated in the music box all by himself. By setting Tappion free they also unleash Hirudegarn, a monstrous dragon which devours people and lays waste to entire planets.
“Wrath of the Dragon” seems to be pretty self-aware that it’s going to be the grand finale of the franchise, so it places a pretty big emphasis on “grand”. Unlike previous Dragonball Z movies, “Wrath of the Dragon” has consistently gorgeous animation from start to finish. While other sequels save the budget for the fight scenes, leaving the rest of the movie to look bland and ugly, Toei Studios maintain a level of highest quality in every scene. This really looks like it belongs in a movie theater.
“Wrath of the Dragon” also has something going for it that previous Dragonball Z movies sorely lacked: a story. The back-story of Tappion, Hirudegarn and Hoi is very epic, giving the characters a memorable quality. In previous films, the villains tend to be very generic copycats of villains from the TV series, but Hirudegarn, a giant dragon-creature made of mist, is quite unique. The story is more up to the quality of the first three Dragonball Z movies, where they dared to be different. Tappion’s back story is rather tragic and he’s one of the better characters to come along in the era of Dragonball Z where anything and everything revolved around Saiyans. While it’s a shame we never got to see more of him, he does leave a lasting effect on Trunks.
Speaking of Trunks, he gets quite the spotlight in this movie. I’ve never been a fan of Trunks, to be honest. His entrance into the TV series marked the decline of my interest, as all the characters I came to love from Dragonball and early DBZ were pushed aside to make room for one new Super Saiyan after another. Yet, through-out this movie I don’t find myself annoyed by Trunks hardly at all. The overall tone of the film thankfully avoids goofy and silly humor (something “Fusion Reborn” had an overabundance of) and leans heavily toward a dark angle, with cities being destroyed and innocent bystanders being eaten alive. Perhaps it’s because they avoided the silly slapstick humor that I managed to tolerate Trunks and Goten.
It’s also good to see Goku alive again. He’d been dead for so many movies I almost forgot he was ever alive. I also smirked with approval when Vegeta made his big entrance for the final battle with Hirundegarn. I was nearly worried he wasn’t going to show up. Original non-Saiyan characters, the characters I like the most, don’t get much of a spotlight in this film, regrettably. Bulma manages to get in a bit of screen time, but Krillen (one of my favorite characters) is used for a brief moment of typical comic relief and doesn’t even get to fight. Even more depressing is that Piccolo is noticeably absent from the final movie. Master Roshi makes a quick cameo with his usual drunken lecherous antics, but it seemed rather pointless.
I suppose my only real complaint aside from the lack of my favorite characters is the final solution to Hirundegarn. It looked great thanks to more of Toei’s magnificent animation, but it seemed rather convenient and out of the blue; sort’ve watering down the villain’s threat into “Oh, well I guess he wasn’t that big a problem, after all”. There are also a few lines about racial bigotry that are delivered rather poorly, giving a “Now you know…”-vibe to them.
“Wrath of the Dragon” is easily one of the best films in the Dragonball Z franchise, like they knew they were saving the best for last. It looks gorgeous, has some brilliant fight scenes and features plenty of Super Saiyan action (if that’s your sorta thing). I have to give it a B+. Up there with “World’s Strongest” and “Tree of Might”.
Grade: B+