Dragon ball Z movie 15 Fukkatsu no F or Resurrection of Frieza seems to go canon with movie 14 Battle of Gods. Some time has passed since the events of The God of destruction Beerus alongside Whis were introduced as brand new characters from the previous movie that takes place after the Majin Buu Arc within the Dragon ball Z series, Along with the revamped Dragon ball Kai 2014 finishing off as well as an announcement of a new Series dawning upon us right after that, There have certainly been a lot of new content going on in and out of the franchise lately. Story/Plot - 5 So I'lldo my best not to spoil anyone here at this point who have not seen this but as you can tell the title tells you most of the premise in a basic nutshell.
Remnants of frieza's empire are monitoring earth for the dragon balls with some special assistance as they finally succeed in reviving frieza.
Frieza fueling with even greater animosity for the saiyans than before decides to for the very first time in his life train himself to ascend into a more powerful state than ever before without even worrying about how far above others are in terms of power compare to his own so that he can exact his vengeance on Goku and others.
From other previous dragon ball films It sounds like a familiar theme that has existed many times with that sort of premise don't you think?
you would be right, A typical formula with a very familiar structure, but does it make the film entertaining and worth seeing? short answer yes.
Now I can see why some Dragonball fans might not be as enthralled about frieza being the main villain of this movie and expected a different villain or possibly a new story/scenario at this point in time after Battle Of Gods is totally understandable.
But to me if you look at it in this way, A revenge movie for frieza prior to him having a major impact in the series itself does make sense since he has ties to major characters within the story such as Vegeta, Beerus, Gohan, Goku, Piccolo and others along with major events that took place in the dragonball Z itself which after all, were some of the most well done moments in the show.
Once again now, that previous threat from the series has returned in full circle which is cool in terms of the villain's reputation since frieza I feel is the best antagonist in the entire show hands down and one of the most iconic villains in the anime world in general.
Love him or hate him you can't deny from the series how much of a crazy, menacing son of a gun he can be. Plus none of that ''This planet is going to explode in 5 minutes'' nonsense either in this.
A couple of things that did bother me and questioned about were the training segments in the film on how the training segments was presented within the duration of time that the movie had and how frieza could even attain such power to be almost on par on goku's level of power prior to them facing each other from over the course of 10 years ago from now within this film and then within the space of 4 months frieza somehow surpasses some of the strongest characters including android 18, Cell, Majin Buu, Gohan etc, etc?? I'm sorry but to me that felt like pure BS.
I must also point out that other characters were left out from the film which also did threw me off when watching.
While watching how characters in the film are introduced into the story it sometimes did feel a little unnatural when its rushing through scenes into some brief interactions along with some reminders of the series while having this encompassing the film for the first third of it led this into being quite slow in place to start off just to get towards the big moments in the movie which a lot of people just mostly want to see.
Maybe its because I'm watching the Japanese theatrical version of this since I did watched the movie premiere in theatres which makes me also interested as to how the extended version of this movie will flush out more stuff than this version.
I do feel its structure with the characters though to be quite questionable and it might also hinder some viewers who do want a better understanding and possibly something of a better build up to its source material into this from the previous film. basically what I mean is how the film starts out and for the most part the story plays a lot of stuff more safer like the other films in this franchise but as a fan it didn't bother me that much.
Art/Animation - 9.5
There is no doubt for me as a fan, that this animation is some of the most impressive that I've seen out all of the dragon ball movies in general and no I'm not kidding. It steps up way more than even the likes of battle of gods in terms of art and animation as its shown at better angles with more of an enhanced flow in the action department which looks excellent from an animation standpoint. though I will admit the cgi is pretty noticeable and does seem a little stiff in this however this didn't detract from how excellent the animation looks. No doubt Best looking Dragonball film to date.
Also Loved the action segments in this, They were awesome in this film!!
Sound/Voice - 8
The soundtracks are pretty good especially Freeza by Maximum The Hormone it really Kicks Ass!! No surprise if you've heard their other hardcore soundtracks from their albums or even in other animes such as Death Note which to me their theme of friezadoes fits frieza's demeanour In general for this movie.
Momoiro Clover Z ending theme personally didn't suit this movie ending what so ever. If only they could just stick to sailor moon's music and stay far, far away from dragon ball related stuff.
Apart from them, the music and the voice acting was really superb.
The Dub performance is as perfect as it will be. My only nitpick with the dub if I'm being honest was mainly just Frieza mentioning in excitement of how he could reach a power level over 1.3 million which to me did not make a lot of sense But overall Its a fantastic dub as to be expected.
Character - 6.5
Now of course this movie doesn't just showcase Frieza's malicious and usual arrogance as the villain that he is at times but it also displays the progression of Goku and Vegeta actually training for the first time alongside one another which was quite a surprise to me and Its great since there rivalry is so damn popular.
The characters in this have great interactions among the cast with great standout scenes with Bulma, Krillin, Master Roshi, Gohan and Piccolo being shown to what they are have been up to since the last movie and from that also includes newly added character Jaco from akira Toriyama's Manga Jaco The Galactic patrolman in the film never seen before in the show, Its Like a calm before the storm until frieza and his entire army appear to get ready for an all out war with the earth at stake, No surprise yet again.
I kinda wish certain characters who were absent in this movie were in this just like battle of gods which had a full house cast of the characters from the show, To me they would of played a much more deserve role for this to give more creative routes and moments towards this movie.
I would like to elaborate much more on the characters but again It will go into spoiler territory from here on in so again I'll allow you to find that out for yourself since it is that typical shonen formula of Good Vs Evil.
A negative though that I must mention is the ending which felt quite brief in closing with the characters which could of been done better in my opinion especially on Vegeta's behalf.
Enjoyment - 8
It certainly was entertaining and for fans who enjoy the franchise in general no matter how long its been, In my opinion I certainly feel it was a fun movie and I will say its worth a watch to check out that Dbz nostalgia here and there.
Its better also since the action scenes kicked a lot of ass with the Z-fighters. Also seeing the premiere of this made watching this even more memorable. Still I can't believe this franchise has been around for over 30 years now and honestly this made me remember some parts of the series again while watching this movie in a fond positive type of way, which is something quite special.
Overall - 7
I had my doubts about this movie beforehand and I knew I just wanted to see this for the fun of it and I'm so glad I did because it really was.
I enjoyed it very much as a fan. of course your going to get some people bashing this movie from their own critical standpoint but I know all too well its like this on MAL with a lot of popular animes so its no surprise, so with all that being said my overall score for this movie is 7/10.
Recommended
Dragon Ball Z Movie 15: Fukkatsu no F Review (Dub BTW) Story (7/10) Good The story for Fukkastu No F is good not very good just got IT'S DRAGONBALL PEOPLE one of the main reason majority of people watch Dragonball is not really for the story so when you hear what the plot is for Fukkatsu No F you shouldn't be surprised that it's straight forward. Frieza is revived by the Dragonballs, he invades earth they fight him simple. It is what it is and I think at best it's good I didn't have an issue with he because it's not what I watch Dragonball for it'snot bad so that's all that really matters to me if it was you would see something less then what this website considers a 7.
Art and Animation (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.75/10) Good+
The art I thought was very good it's Toei if Toei knows how to do anything it's right it's making something look good. This section is call ART so I wouldn't be talking about animation too much. But as far as CG is concerned it look OK, I noticed it from time to time like when Frieza's troops start to fly at the Z warriors or when Frieza at certain parts during the main fight and it didn't necessarily bother me, now could we have done without them? YES! But is it something to complain about? NO (At least not to me). To the unkeen eye in the Theater (which is where I watched it) I bet 50% of the people didn't even notice it, which is why I say it's nothing to complain about, it's here so deal with it, doesn't ruin my experience.
Sound (9/10) Great
Granted I watched this in the Theater in English Dubbed so this counts for sound to me. Now all of the sound effects sound great, this is a category that's hard to mess up so a 9 sounds reasonable to me. The English voice actors were amazing at their lines they me it sound great. Especially Sean Schemmel which is always good but I when I certain a certain groan noise in pain for Goku in the scene when Frieza is stomping on Goku's wound when he was on the floor that solidified it for me that he's not only still good at doing Goku's voice but he's gotten even better. All the other voice actors are great also the voice they chose for Jako was pretty good also, it took sometime to get used to but once I did it fits him (I hope they don't change it).
Character (8/10)
More Specifically (8.50/10) Very Good+
All my favorite DBZ characters are back (not in their prime sure.. Gohan) but back nonetheless! And seeing all of them is why I enjoy this anime and movie because everyone acted exactly how I remembered nothing has changed and that's perfect for me. Jako the new character introduced in the movie "in my opinion" stole the show he was outstandingly entertaining and unique. I've read all the chapters of his manga a couple months back so I have knowledge of him going into this movie. So to see that his personality moved over to the big screen is great because I think he's a great addition to the group and I hope (we most likely will) we see more of him after the Fukkastu No F Arc in DBS.
Enjoyment (9/10) Great
The best thing as far as enjoyment to this movie in my opinion is the pacing. In comparison to Battle of Gods (which took just a little too long to get to the fight which is what majority of people watch Dragonnball Z for) Fukkatsu No F didn't jump straight into the fight but it kept it a length that didn't have me saying "Ok I get it can we get to the fights now?". Granted I enjoyed all of the dubbed Diolague in Dragon Ball. Filler or not filler, even in the anime, even in Battle of Gods I enjoyed it all because I love the characters of Dragonball so interaction between characters in Dragonball is enjoyment enough for me. And as if there's anything both Battle of Gods and Fukkastu no F did right is the comedy. Dragonball, Dragonball Z and even GT (to an extent) has always had entertaining comedy but these too movies I feel have one upped the stuff before it. It could be just me or it could be I haven't seen anything Dragonball is such a long time that I have forgotten how hilarious it can be (only thing that has kept DBZ comedy alive over the recent year is Team Four Star..). I personally feel it's at it's best when it comes to comedy in comparison to anything that this helped in enjoyment so much and always have for in anything Dragonball which is why even when a fight isn't being thrown I'm entertained and Fukkastu No F did it's job the Theater was laughing so hard sometimes I couldn't hear the seconds of dialogue after the joke the released it is what it is..
Overall (8/10) Very Good
More Specifically (8.25/10) Very Good+
This movie to me is very good. I met damn near all my expectations from an anime movie (and anime movies especially DBZ movies are very good at best now that's something I can say). The pacing, characters and dialogue alone makes it a 8 to me. I have no clue what people were excepting from this anime movie and a DBZ movie at the least, you can't say this movie is just like the other 13 gtfo (not counting Battle of Gods).
Recommended
-A love letter from Akira Toriyama- _Revival of ‘F’_ is the film the _Dragon Ball_ fandom has been waiting for. Taking place after 2013’s _God and God_, this film has all of the action and mayhem that the franchise is known for. In a first for the series, the film has an underlying focus on Goku and Vegeta's character flaws rather than simply becoming stronger and beating the bad guy. Toriyama stated that the film would be “utterly hilarious” and he wasn’t lying. This is the most fun I’ve had watching something in the series for a very long time. Combined with an amazing fight that spansover half the film and actual character development for Goku, this is the film everyone wanted the rather disappointing _God and God_ to be. Whereas that film spent most of its time with slice of life pieces and Vegeta trying to keep Beerus from getting angry only to have a ten minute fight between Goku and Beerus in the end, _Revival of ‘F’_ wastes no time getting to business. It must be noted though that this film borders on being a parody of itself due to the type of humor in it and a scene where Freeza himself is terrified instead of terrifying due to seeing Beerus a few feet away from him. It isn't bad, this film lacks the threatening tone or mood that the series had back when everyone was on Namek, and Freeza himself is more comical than threatening.
While this film has everything a fan has wanted in a new film, there *are* a few drawbacks. In a number of scenes the animation is noticeably less than stellar instead of buttery smooth, and there are two or three CGI scenes that are cringe worthy due to their simplicity. The ending is also a bit abrupt with the epilogue being around only two minutes long. Most importantly, many fans' favorite characters such as Yamcha, Trunks, Goten, Chiaotzu, Mr. Satan and Majin Boo do not make any appearances. Artificial Human #18 has a few small lines in the beginning before focus shifts to Krillin, Master Roshi, Gohan, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Bulma, and Freeza.
Despite its drawbacks this is the film that fans of the franchise want and will leave with their fists in the air while talking about their hero, Goku, and the amazing fight between the most evil villain of their childhood making a stupendous theatrical appearance with the latest standards in animation and a great soundtrack to boot as they watch a fierce battle just like in the old days.
