For the first time in 20 years, I have finally had the privilege to go into a movie theater to see Dragonball Z! I had a high expectations list, as I didn't really care too much for the previous Dragonball movie.
I will say overall, the film was great! My buddy and I had a great time watching this, and it was good to see that Akira Still has some creativity under his belt even though he is 60 years old now!
For the plot, expect to learn some new things about the Dragonball universe. Some characters will teach new techniques that you will find very intriguing! It definitely opens up a lot of doors for the Dragonball universe. The story-line was not too complicated, and was easy enough to swallow without any analyzing. I did see a few inaccuracies to the plot, which didn't coincide with the plot of the original anime, such as where Frieza went after he died in the anime; it is completely different in the movie. I won't give too much information as to where, but let's just say it's a special place for special people :) They mentioned some of the old characters, but unfortunately, they didn't get any screen-time. I was hoping this film was going to be a full reunion of the whole Z- Crew, however, I was disappointed. :( The balance of action, and speaking was masterfully balanced in the writing! There was enough speaking for the plot to be established, without making it seem like a Michael Bay movie, and the action was complete fun from start to finish. They definitely improved from the last film on that aspect!
As always, you will have the urge to scream along with the voice actors! It's amazing how the voice-actors character voices have barely aged at all, even with the hours upon hours of loud screaming. Sean Schemmel does a wonderful job as always screaming his lungs out, and going right back into character flawlessly. However, they did change the actor for Frieza. For one of two reasons, either the old one wasn't paid enough for it, or he just didn't want to be in it period, so expect to be surprised by the different voice of Frieza.
The animation was good, and bad at the same time. Unfortunately, Toei animations kept the film at the standard 28 fps (if you aren't tech savvy, that's really bad for an animated film) which would occasionally seem laggy, and choppy. The art though was phenomenal! Akira did a really good job of integrating both 3d and 2d drawings into one. Most animes you see out there won't do that. So that's definitely a plus!
I had a lot of fun seeing the old crew back together again, and it was definitely reassuring to see that the voice actors are still around and love their characters just as much as we do. I urge every DBZ fan to go out and see the film, and enjoy it. You won't be disappointed, and you will have a good time!
