Dragon Ball Z: Estalla el Duelo

The "Dragonball Z" movies are certainly good, but they ran into this huge problem. They were just too short! These things were as short as 40 minutes sometimes! They are probably the shortest films I have seen in modern times that have been considered feature length, but not this one! Okay, 72 minutes still isn't that long, but this really feels like a movie based on "Dragonball Z". We get introduced to Broly and it's great that we actually get movies that have a recurring villain. We even get a great backstory when we realize he placed literally next to Goku on the day he was born!

I love the allusions to Bardock too. The other main villain is named Paragus. It didn't take too long to figure out that his name was a pun on "Asparagus". I admit that it does seem a stretch to have the villain named "Broly" as a reference to broccoli. They even themselves point this out, so it was fun. The pacing was great and the artwork is as good as anything featured on the show or other movies. I love how they try to make this story personal. Master Roshi shows off his muscles, but still doesn't get to fight. This is why the more recent movies are even better. ***1/2