Ever since Dragon Ball Super ended, we were given news and glimpses of the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie, first it was only a short teaser showcasing a new visual flair and a mysterious new saiyan. Later on the movie revealed itself as a full blown blast from the past—the return (and canonization) of Broly in the Dragon Ball franchise, with an altered backstory to keep things fresh. The Legendary, maniacal saiyan from the post-Z era is back and he has never looked more powerful.
Honestly, it was a welcome treat in the franchise, but also raised a few legitimate questions regarding the direction it’s now headed and how it gels with everything that we’ve seen from Super thus far. But it does seemed that the movie will be the biggest celebration in the franchise so far, with the fusion (no pun intended) of some of the coolest elements from the Toei-directed post-Z era with the cosmic setting of Super, so what’s not to love?
Then came the confirmation that Gogeta will also be in the film and will be the reason for Broly’s defeat, and if you are a fan of Dragon Ball, you’ve already seen all the spoilers that has revealed most of the story beats that we’re going to see in the film. And this is where things start to look a bit divisive (at least for me), cause although Dragon Ball is looking bigger and better than ever before, there’s also a feeling that the upcoming movie feels more like a glorious rehash of older, successful elements than a true leap for the franchise.
While I’m definitely not suggesting any significant change in the core DB formula that we’ve seen for decades, but this movie isn’t really bringing anything new or refreshing to the table—We’ve seen Broly destroying Goku and Vegeta before, we’ve seen Bardock’s role in the Saiyans’ rebellion against Frieza before, we’ve seen Goku and Vegeta failing and perfecting the Fusion dance before and lastly, we’ve seen Gogeta stomping an opponent who decimated both Goku and Vegeta before.
Dragon Ball Super Broly is a LOT like the fusion of two previous films—Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan and Fusion Reborn. And while it may very well turn out to be the most successful movie in the franchise, it also pales in comparison with the previous two films and what they brought to the table.
Battle of Gods singlehandedly provided the foundation for a new voyage—it introduced the cosmic hierarchy in Dragon Ball which got fully fleshed later in Super, a whole new league of power level in the form of Super Saiyan God and the delightful duo of Beerus and Whis, two of the most instrumental characters for the series.
And while Resurrection F lacked in vision, it more than made things up with the return of the most iconic villain of the franchise, the introduction of the staple, go-to transformation for most of the series so far—Super Saiyan Blue, and lastly, giving Vegeta his long due moment to shine.
But sadly, from what we’ve come to know about the upcoming Broly movie, it seems to offer the least amount of original elements for the franchise, it certainly works as a celebration of the series but aside from that, Dragon Ball Super Broly is painfully lacking in some much needed ingredients that can breathe new life in the series. For the most part—nothing in it seem entirely fresh or something that we haven’t seen before.
And my biggest gripe with the movie is how it neglects and seems to go against everything that Dragon Ball has stood for after Battle of Gods. Till BoG, Dragon Ball has been about Saiyans and their power levels—it was always a super saiyan transformation that triumphed over the enemy and saved the day, from Gohan unleashing SS2 on Cell to Super Vegito embarrassing Buuhan in every way—DBZ made the saiyans and their prowess in battle it’s centerpiece and most recurring theme.
But BoG changed all of that when Beerus fingerflicked SS3 Goku into knockout—it was a bold and truly pivotal moment in the franchise when Dragon Ball moved out from it’s comfort zone and into a cosmic tier that humbled both Goku and Vegeta and pushed them to aspire towards new heights that we as viewers, never thought existed.
And as Super went on, it made perfectly clear that the Saiyans are not the center of it’s Universe anymore and are in fact so outclassed that they can be barely mentioned with the upper echelons of power that are out there. The short conversation scene in Super between Whis and that talking fish conveyed this to the viewers perfectly.
This was, for me, the definitive characteristic of Super that gave it a true identity and purpose—where Z was all about the Saiyans, from their history to their potential, Super literally took things to a whole new level where the saiyans were nothing but mere fodders in a multiverse full of Gods and Angels.
And that’s why seeing both Goku and Vegeta pushing themselves way beyond their limits in each saga and finally reaching God tier in the Tournament of Power feels truly earned and satisfying. After ToP, it’s safe to say that both Goku and Vegeta have become a legitimate challenge to the Gods themselves with Vegeta’s Blue Evolution form can be said around a God of Destruction level (based on the fact that Vegeta managed to overpower God Toppo with this form) and Goku’s Mastered Ultra Instinct going way beyond that—for me it seems like Goku with MUI is Angel level, if not higher.
And in this movie, both Goku and Vegeta will be getting stomped by Broly who has managed to overpower them by such a margin that it’s not even funny. I don’t know about you but the only reason Broly seems to be as powerful as he is in this film is cause he’s Broly, that’s it. Toriyama and Toei should give us some solid explanations as to why no matter what’s his name, a saiyan can somehow get powerful enough to humiliate post-tournament-of-power Goku and Vegeta, both of whom can be said as among the most powerful fighters in the whole multiverse.
Back when Broly was first introduced in the post-Z era, it seemed plausible for him to fodderize Goku and Vegeta—they were only base level Super Saiyans, there was no SSJ2 and beyond, basically it was acceptable that they didn’t get as high in the ‘power-graph’ as they would later.
But now, after receiving training from Gods and Angels and pushing themselves to a level that would make even the Gods stand up in awe, getting stomped by someone who’s only a saiyan seems not only to throw away everything that happened in the ToP, it also disrespects everything Goku and Vegeta had to go through to get where they are now.
And the only thing that’s stopping us from not to lose interest in the whole thing is cause that saiyan is named Broly, a character that sort of possesses the license of being a deus-ex-machina plot device or a mary-sue treatment.
I’m not saying that post-ToP Goku and Vegeta can’t ever get humiliated by someone in terms of power, I’m only suggesting that there should exist some solid reasoning to explain why a mere saiyan can get to that level and not just ‘cause you know, he’s Broly’. This card was perfectly ok during the timeline when Broly first appeared, but now after everything that took place in Super, this only undermines the validity of it all. It’d not be as hard to accept if the events of this movie takes place before the ToP but as we all know, it’s not, and that’s why it’s getting difficult to suspend the disbelief.
As we all know, the very core of Dragonball is meeting new, more powerful opponents and eventually surpassing them, and to make this work, we have seen characters that have been established as exceptionally powerful in the previous saga getting punked by newer characters, to make room for further growth in terms of power for them. But after everything happened in the ToP and all the insane boost that Goku and Vegeta earned from that, only to be stomped by Broly in the newest continuity of Dragon Ball, doesn’t really seem to work.
And as we’ve come to know, Dragon Ball Super Broly does not feature Vegeta’s Blue Evolution form nor does it showcase Goku’s MUI, heck, even Goku going Kaioken 10x or 20x (as he did in ToP) has also been left out from the film. It only seems to me that either Toriyama and Toei is nerfing Goku and Vegeta or they’re actually respecting and consciously choosing not to include their massive power gains from ToP, for fairness’ sake.
And I’m totally onboard with them if that is what they’re going for in this film, cause we all know that if Goku could tap into MUI, the fight with Broly would be over in a few seconds, but that would also mean no Gogeta, so it’s only plausible that Toriyama has decided to give Broly his moment to shine by not bringing out UI, which is a move that I personally agree with as this way, Broly is shown to reign supreme over both Goku and Vegeta while also simultaneously not undermining what they had achieved in the ToP.
But so far, it seems that Dragon Ball Super Broly is only focused on bringing the most amount of Dragonball spectacles as possible—the cannonization of Broly and Gogeta itself is a give away. Plus there’s the fact that Broly survives the film and is going to show up in newer adventures as well, then there’s the inevitable comparison between Broly and Beerus, maybe Gogeta too.
So to sum it all up, although Dragon Ball Super Broly seems to focus more on fan-service than originality, it’s still packed with enough elements to warrant a rollicking good time and multiple viewings. As far as how it affects the series as a whole and what role does Broly play in the future, that’s up in the air for now.
Just jamming in some thoughts there, let me know what you think about the upcoming Dragon Ball Super Broly, sound off in the comments section.
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