Dragon Ball Z : Rivaux dangereux

I loved the first Broly film. It had everything I love from Dragon Ball - a funny premise, ki-blasts aplenty and a great villain. I love the way the creators of this show have so much fun. I mean, the idea that a Super Saiyan of astronomic proportions is so angry is because Goku kept crying as a baby? Proper tongue in cheek there!

The second movie picks up 7 years where the first left off. Despite his apparent destruction, Broly is indeed alive although he is 'inactive'. It is only when Goten's loud cry (bearing resemblance to Goku's crying as a baby) rings through the ice do we see Broly wake up. Boy oh boy was he angry! Without the controlling headband, Broly is unleashed from the start and unlike many Dragon Ball movies, the action starts very early on into the movie. I felt this was somewhat rushed. Perhaps we could have had a bigger build-up. A further glimpse into the back story of Broly would have been great too. I just felt something was missing here that the creators failed to capitalise on.

The action sequences that ensued Broly's reactivation were very different from the first movie. Unlike the serious nature of battle captured in the first movie, the involvement of Goten and kid Trunks adds an element of humour here that I felt was great fun. Others may feel that Broly is one the villains in the Dragon Ball series who had so much potential, but was given a storyline that failed to meet it. To me, I loved the fact that the creators matched one of the strongest fighters in the universe with such a comedic storyline. It was a tale of polar opposites! The only thing I wanted to see was more of a fight from the younglings before teen Gohan came into the picture.

When the story came to an end it felt a bit anticlimactic. The story was just so basic that I thought there would have been more to come after the battle scenes. Perhaps the creators could have involved a further sub-plot of Saiyans who tracked Broly's reactivation and they could have also come to fight. Anything would have been welcomed here, but I suppose when you only have 50 minutes to play with there is only so much you can do.

If you liked the first Broly movie, you will enjoy this. It is very different from the first, but it is still enjoyable. However, don't expect a deep story because this is as basic as fisticuffs in Fight Club.