After the death of his father and the downfall of the Red Ribbon Army, Magenta and his associate Carmine recruit young genius Dr Hedo to resurrect the once great powerhouse to take over the world with a new army of androids. With Goku and Vegeta off world, it’s up to Piccolo and Gohan to step up as Hero’s of Earth in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
The Dragon Ball franchise has been around for over 20 years in the west, so whenever the series creator Akira Toriyama produces original content for fans, it’s an exciting time. This latest film is just that and is particularly special as it gives what some fans would say are underappreciated characters a real chance to shine. Piccolo and Gohan have been in the fabric of the Dragon Ball story since the early days and now finally take center stage.
On top of that, this story brings in a host of new characters, including androids Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, and even after all the villains that have come before them, still manage to feel fresh as they posses unique traits and have an arc even though the film is just over 90 minutes long.
The cast of the film boasts a crazy array of talent with the English voice cast being led by series veterans Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat and Kyle Hebert who are joined by not only rising talent such as Zach Aguilar, Zero Robinson, Aleks Le and Jason Marnocha but also the legendary Charles Martinet.
The only real minor problem that baffles us is the choice of making this title the first CG Dragon Ball film. To begin with, the animation just feels, wrong. The early parts feel like a video game rather than what we are used to. However, during the fight scenes it actually works rather well but is then let down by the stilted scenes in which characters are talking.
Minor problem aside, Super Hero is an incredible fun ride that new and old Dragon Ball fans alike will have an absolute blast with. Feeling like the Dragon Ball of old with a splash of new, you will want to see this on the big screen!
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is in UK cinemas from August 17th
