Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2014)

Too much of everything

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This movie is what would become the first 14 episodes of Dragon Ball Super. The movie format is far more enjoyable than the long and slightly boring 14 episodes, so watch the movie and jump straight to episode 15 instead. But be aware that you will only really enjoy the movie if you had seen the whole series or read the manga. For a newcomer the movie will not really make any sense because it's filled with details and characters known by the fans. I didn't expect this movie to be better than the others, but I was wrong, it's the best one by far.

Lets get straight to it. This is the best piece of Dragon Ball content since the end of DBZ. Toriyama is back writing the plot, a new villain appears, it's funny, it's got incredible action and it's just pure Dragon Ball. The movie has an excellent mix of action and humour. It takes the best things from Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z and makes what I believe is the best Dragon Ball movie ever.The antagonist, Beerus, and his assistant, Whis, are the best addition to the Dragon Ball cast since Future Trunks. They're that good. Sure, Beerus is yet another overpowered villain fighting the not-powerful-enough good guys, but that's not exactly a gripe. A common complaint I've heard from fans of the series who disliked this film say that this is yet another film that falls under the common DBZ formula. Villain arrives. Heroes fight them. Heroes are failing. Heroes gain new power. Heroes win? Yeah, it uses the same formula. Do you know why? BECAUSE IT WORKS. Dragon Ball Z has been using this formula for pretty much every story arc ever.The action in the film is some of the best action that has ever graced this series. There are some absolutely mesmerizing moments in this film with superb animation. Yet another common complaint for this film was that "there wasn't enough action". That is a stupid complaint. If you literally enjoy this series for only it's action then go watch the obnoxious Broly film for the 1000th time.As for things I wasn't too fond of, there are a few. The film brings back some old characters, and while it's nice to see them, they don't really serve a purpose to the story, so their presence does feel like the creators are padding out the film for a longer length. Goku is the main star here, so you'll be disappointed to find that he's the only character here that actually does the main fighting (Vegeta gets a good fight as well but it wasn't very long). Other then that, there isn't anything else that I actually had a problem with.This movie feels like a love letter from Toriyama. It's what we as fans have been waiting for so long. No more GT crap, no crappy spin off animations, no mediocre video games, actual Dragon Ball content is here and it's canon to the story. It is a must see and a must own for Dragon Ball fans. There are more movies coming so the future is exciting.

I'm quite honestly surprised by all the positive reviews this is getting. This movie was extremely disappointing to me. Let's cover all of the failings of this movie. Presented in the order I think of them:1. Was Kaio-sama's (Japanese) voice actor stoned during recording? He was not able to convey even the slightest bit of fear or panic.2. What was even the point of Pilaf and co in the movie? They did not affect the plot one tiny bit, and yet we spend an almost unbearably unfunny 10 minutes with them in an 85 minute movie.3. I dunno who killed the real Vegeta before this movie started and replaced him with this singing, dancing, acting-loving-toward-Bulma clown, but he's the true villain of the movie.4. Speaking of villains, Beerus was just lame. Stop me if you've heard this before. A mystical villain who is awoken from a long slumber, doesn't play by the same rule set as the main cast, who is all-powerful, but childish and capricious, doesn't think much of wiping out the entire planet, but is convinced not to and is only appeased by yummy foods or the chance to fight a strong opponent. MAJIN BUU MUCH?5. The ever-increasing uselessness of non-Goku characters is a well known meme in this show, but seriously, they cranked it up to 11 this time.6. I've never seen a group of people less concerned about their planet being blown up in my life. If they can't muster up the effort to care that the entire human race is about to be wiped out, why should I? 7. I'll admit, I'm a huge Gohan/Videl fan. The announcement of Videl's pregnancy was one of the parts of the movie I was looking forward to. The scene was nice, but Gohan's reaction struck me as weird. It left me wanting more.8. How did Shenlong know about the Super Saiyan God? He was created by Kami, and recreated by Dende. Neither of whom knew anything about the Super Saiyan God. Shenlong's power (and by extension, his knowledge) can not exceed that of his creator. Further, how would he have learned of something that happened on the other side of the galaxy millenia before he was created? 9. Goku was pretty out of character for his fight with Beerus. First of all, he showed absolutely no concern for fighting a GOD OF DESTRUCTION in the middle of a DENSELY POPULATED CITY.Then we find his only motivation for fighting was that he wanted to be stronger than Beerus. The fact that Beerus wants to kill the entire planet, including Goku's whole family, only occurs to him in a throwaway scene while pushing against the giant fireball.Finally, Goku gives up. The entire story of Dragon Ball is about Goku persevering through struggle, breaking all barriers and overcoming all challenges to protect those he cares about. And he just gives up? Seriously? There are more, but I think this hits the highlights.

very godly movie! to be honest! and for those people who love all those actions just as me!.humor has been added very well and the character of Beerus is cute as well as villainous (there is no villain but he does look like one).the return of Emperor Pilaf is also very funny and i enjoyed that a lot!.Its been a long time since i have seen comedy in Dragonball series and this is definitely one of the best hilarious as well as action packed movie i have ever seen!.it marks a very big levels of powers and abilities as Super saiyajin God makes his entry and there are 2 sequels(1 is confirmed the other is not so sure) to this movie which i think will be better than this one!.