Filmsy - Movie Reviews Blog

Street Fighter II the Animated Movie

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Street Fighter II

Is this movie stupid? Kinda. Is this movie awesome? Oh, Hell YES!

Street Fighter II the Animated Movie is a popcorn flick if there ever was one; only in cartoon-form. There isn’t much plot. It’s based on a fighting game, after all. And even though Street Fighter has probably the most plot of any 2D fighter ever made…that’s still not saying much.

Basically, M. Bison is the leader of Shadowlaw, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. He’s gathering the best street-fighters from around the globe in order to build an unstoppable army. He has his sight’s set on the World Warrior, Ryu, but can’t seem to find the guy. So he gets the next best thing, instead: Ken Masters. There’s some stuff in there about Guile and Chun-Li trying to topple the Shadowlaw organization and what-not, but the main focus of the movie is really the relationship between Ken and Ryu.

“The Plot” is pretty much just a string of coincidences (and sequences that have nothing to do with anything) that serve to get two characters from the game to meet each other and throw down for no readily apparent reason. And Hell, it actually works.

Street Fighter II honestly feels like a 2D fighter brought to life (unlike the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, which felt like a steaming pile of excrement brought to life). All the characters from Street Fighter II are present, even Akuma, and they all wail on each other using their trademark special moves.

You don’t play a fighting game for the plot, you play it cuz you wanna fight. Subsequently, you don’t watch a movie based off a fighting game for the plot, you watch it cuz you wanna see people fight. And fight they do. All the time.

The animation is beautiful and the fight choreography is top-notch. Everything moves at a manic pace and all the characters work-in their special moves so fluidly you almost have to watch the movie 2 or 3 times just to notice them all. Every character from the game, save for Akuma, gets at least a few seconds of screen time to show off their stuff. This might leave a few fans upset, as their favorite characters wind-up shoved into the background or are given only a few minutes of screen time (like Cammy). However, even if their appearances are short, they’re screen time is filled with them doing something awesome (Blanka was particularly hardcore).

The voice-acting from ADV should also be commended. You’ll recognize many of the voice actors, like Steve Blum, from ADV’s other productions, such as Cowboy Bebop and The Big-O. A few of the voice actors play multiple characters, but their talented-enough for you not to really notice it. At least on the first couple viewings. After a few more times you might notice that Dee Jay and Balrog are voiced by “that black dude who was in Halloween H20 for a few seconds”.

The music in the AMERICAN version is fantastic, too. The Japanese version, unfortunately, thought it would be a good idea to make the score sound like a ballet. It’s almost as if they decided to get the most inappropriate music they could find. The American version, thankfully, replaces the boring soundtrack with lots of rock and roll, which suits this kind of movie much better. Even if you’re one of those “OMG Undaground Muzack 4 lyfe!” snobs who doesn’t like any of the more mainstream artists chosen for the soundtrack, all the music chosen suits the scenes they’re applied to nicely. Particularly, in the best fight of the movie; Chun-Li vs. Vega. It transitions from a creepy slasher movie-inspired score, to a melodic French pop song, and then catches you off guard with a blast of KMFDM’s “Ultra”. It makes Vega’s entrance much more alarming.

Is Street Fighter II the Animated Movie a “good” movie? Well, by Joe Average’s standards, probably not. But to anybody whose been alive for the past 16 years and has played a Street Fighter game, you’re gonna love it.

It’s worthy of a B- at the very least. I personally love the movie, but I’ll agree, it’s a brainless popcorn flick that’ll only appeal to people who are fans of the games or the fighting game genre.

Grade: B-

Dragonball Z movie 3: “Tree of Might”

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Dragonball Z movie 3

My personal favorite of all the Dragonball Z movies, and certainly one of the best in the series, “Tree of Might” is bitter-sweet in a way. Sweet, in that the movie is so good, but bitter in that it marks the end of an era for Dragonball Z. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

In “Tree of Might”, the evil space-faring Saiyan trouble-maker, Turles, has brought his gang of thugs to Earth. Their intention is to use the Earth and all its life-force to grow the Tree of Might. The Tree of Might is a colossal shrub which, once full-grown, reaches high up into the stratosphere. The tree bears fruit which concentrates all the life-force and energy of the whole planet. By eating the fruit, one becomes nearly invincible. Well, Goku and his friends aren’t particularly happy about their planet being left a withered husk, and quickly have a showdown with Turles.

“Tree of Might” marks the end of a few eras in the Dragonball Z saga. Firstly, this is the last of the movies dubbed by the phenomenal Ocean Group. This also happens to be some of their best work. Second, this is the last movie before the introduction of the Super Saiyan concept, which much to my dismay, would go on to become 99% of Dragonball Z’s focus. Finally, and this is one of the reasons I like the movie so much, it’s a great “farewell” for the non-Saiyan heroes of the series that we’d come to know ever since the original Dragonball.

After “Tree of Might” (or, if you go by the TV series, the Garlic Jr. saga) all these original supporting characters would be gradually shoved into the background to the point of becoming completely obsolete, or being reduced to painful comic relief, all for the sake of introducing more Super Saiyans.

This movie gives Yamcha, Chao-Tzu, Tien, Piccolo and Krillen one last chance to shine as effective, powerful warriors. Sure, Goku saves the day in the end, but that’s to be expected. Never-the-less, each character gets at least one or two scenes to really show off their clever special moves. Yamcha’s “Power Shot” was always one of my favorites, if only for its visual flare, and we get to see it one last time. True, Piccolo and Krillen do manage to hang on as cast members for most of the Dragonball Z series, but in Krillen’s case, he becomes so weak in comparison to the Saiyans that he is reduced to being nothing more than a joke (“Brolly’s Second Coming” is particularly terrible). Piccolo manages to stick around as a fighter, but nothing particularly effective when compared to the other Saiyans.

It’s also great that all these classic Dragonball characters got to show up in the Ocean Group’s last movie, as it gives us one last chance to hear all the characters’ voices. Yamcha always had a voice that was ten times more badass than the actual character, while Tien wound-up with a humorously stereotypical kung fu movie-voice. I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat it here, I really wish Ocean Group had managed to hang in there through at least movie 6. Brian Drummond’s completely psychotic voice for Vegita was one of the most impressive parts of the Ocean Group’s dub of the TV series, and it’s a crying shame they didn’t make it to any of the movies featuring that character. I’d really liked to have heard loco-Vegita without the embarrassing restraints of television censorship.

As far as the plot goes, it isn’t as inspired as “The World’s Strongest”, but its creative-enough for one to look past the tired “Alien shows up to fight Goku for some reason” story. Regardless, it gave us a chance to see Gohan transform into his freaky giant ape form and wreck Goku’s s***. Toei’s animation for this movie is particularly dark, and Ape-Gohan looks magnificently evil.

Although “The World’s Strongest” is the best movie in the series, “Tree of Might” is my personal favorite as it’s a nice finale to the “classic” days of Dragonball. It gets a B+, as far as Dragonball Z movies are concerned.

Grade: B+

Dragonball Z movie 2: “The World’s Strongest”

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Dragonball Z movie 2

A personal favorite of mine, in regards to the Dragonball Z movie franchise, and agreed by most to be one of the best in the series. Personally, it ranks at a VERY close second place, right behind “Tree of Might”, as my favorite in the series.

The plot? Well, for a Dragonball Z movie, it actually has a pretty inspired one. Geriatric mad scientist, Dr. Kochin, uses the Dragonballs to free the evil Dr. Wheelo (pronounced “Willow” in the movie but spelled “Wheelo” on the back of the box) from his icy tomb deep in the mountains. Together, they plot to take over the world, only there’s one snag: Dr. Wheelo is nothing but a brain in a jar. Dr. Wheelo needs a body, but not just any body; he wants the strongest one in the world. You can guess what happens next. Goku and Company are brought to his fortress in the mountains to do battle with his various bio-warriors, and eventually, Dr. Wheelo-himself. If they lose, Dr. Wheelo gets Goku’s body. If they win…we get another Dragonball Z movie.

“Tree of Might” is my favorite in the series for personal reasons, but looking at “World’s Strongest” for all its merits, it really is the BEST in the series. The animation direction in this film is remarkably cinematic. Everything has a very creative and epic visual flare, as opposed to other Dragonball Z movies, which tend to be dull-looking and feel like an episode of the TV series. “World’s Strongest” feels like an actual MOVIE.

For Dragonball Z, the plot is most creative and entertaining. The TV series and the movies tend to follow the same formula of “evil alien/demon fighting Goku, transforming over and over again until it reaches its top level and then Goku has to turn to Super Saiyan 15 to beat him”. This was an early Dragonball Z film, so that means NO Super Saiyan plot-devices. Yay! The whole B-movie concept of a mad scientist with his brain inside a giant robot is very alarming considering the predictable trend of the bulk of these movies and is really most refreshing. All the characters are worked into the plot expertly and, save for maybe Krillen who kinda comes out of nowhere, nothing feels particularly forced.

Toei’s animation is gorgeous. The later movies would suffer from off-balanced animation budget (where two-thirds of the budget would be saved for the fight scenes and the remainder would be used for the “boring” stuff), but not “World’s Strongest”. The animation through-out this film is incredibly consistent and down-right pretty.

Of course, the animation shines best during the fight scenes. And let me say, this movie has my personal favorite fight in the entire franchise: Goku vs. Kishime and Ibuforiya. The battle is fast, brutal, hectic, creative and all-around CRAZY! From Kishime’s vanishing speed technique, to Ibuforiya’s ice blasts; there’s so much going on at once you almost get dizzy. And there’s one particular punch Goku throws at Kishime, you’ll know it when you see it, that I just want to congratulate the people at Toei for. EVERY time I see it I can’t help but go “OUCH!” The animation, sound, everything comes together to give an incredible feeling of power behind the blows. And there’s also plenty of fanboy-tingly moments, like Goku, Master Roshi and Krillen all shouting “Kamehameha!” at once. Great work.

And the voice-acting from Canada’s Ocean Group is once again worthy of all levels of praise. I say it often, but Scott McNeil’s Piccolo is just magnificently evil and barbaric-sounding. Saffron Henderson’s Gohan also really shines in this movie, giving the kid a tough yet cute voice that sounds childish and professional all at once. Don Brown’s Goku also deserves some kudos for striking a pitch so high while screaming “Kaiyoken!” that people often mistake it for the original Japanese voice actor (who was female).

I suppose the only real draw-back is Gohan’s musical number in the middle of the movie (they had one of these in “Dead Zone”, too). It’s really pretty annoying to listen to and very off-putting, considering how crazy-violent this movie is. It’s also kind of embarrassing when you’re telling someone how hardcore the action in the movie is, and then they have to sit through super-deformed Gohan dancing around with cartoon rulers and pencils.

This movie, at least as far as Dragonball Z movies go, gets a solid A. Whether you love Dragonball Z or are looking to get into it, this is something you should see. It’s the very best the franchise has to offer.

Grade: A

Dragonball Z movie 1: Dead Zone

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Dragonball Z movie 1 Dead Zone

Dragonball Z movie 1: “Dead Zone”

The early Dragonball Z movies will always be my favorite. These were from the days before Super Saiyan level 72, deus ex fusions and villains that were nothing but the same product in different packaging. Back when a kamehameha actually meant something and characters cared about the Dragonballs (those things the show is titled after).

In Dead Zone, the evil alien known as Garlic Jr. seeks to gather together all 7 fabled Dragonballs in order to be granted the gift of immortality. His goons carelessly drag young Gohan along with them as they steal his Dragonball. Little do they know, Gohan is the son of the World’s Strongest Man, Goku! Goku quickly tracks the villains down but arrives too late; Garlic Jr. has already been granted immortality and can never be killed. Goku’s pal, Krillen, and his then-arch-nemesis, Piccolo, join in the fray but find that Garlic Jr. is no easy challenge.

I prefer the Dragonball Z movies to the television series. It’s basically everything that makes the TV series fun (insane fights, spectacular choreography, colorful characters, zany plots) but without everything that makes the TV series annoying (filler, consistently stiff animation, filler, constantly unnecessary comedy relief, filler). At least, most of the movies don’t succumb to those set-backs.

The animation in Dead Zone isn’t anything overwhelmingly spectacular, but it is several notches above the best episodes of the TV series and, unlike many of the later films, stays consistent through-out the entire movie. Often times in the future movies, the bulk of the budget is reserved for the fight scenes, making the “boring” scenes in the movie very awkwardly, and poorly, animated. Dead Zone doesn’t have that problem and the characters look great even when they aren’t doing anything exciting.

However, this movie is only 45 minutes-long, so the pace stays at break-neck speed for the most part. The fight scenes are great, the best one being when Ginger and Nicky break-out their swords and duel Goku and his power-poll. The choreography between the three characters is exciting and hilarious at the same time and is at the very least the best fight in any of the Dragonball movies that involves swords.

The showdown with Garlic Jr. also manages to build some of the best tension in any of the movies, with all the heroes fighting a seemingly hopeless battle with the immortal bad guy, all while the Dead Zone dimension is sucking everything into its gaping portal. I wouldn’t say it qualifies as a “nail-biter” but it does make things a lot more hectic.

This is also one of the only three Dragonball Z movies to have been dubbed by Canada’s Ocean Group; you might remember them as the first cast of people for Dragonball Z’s English dub, and who many consider to be the superior voices. Indeed, the Ocean Group delivers one of their best performances for the dub. Scott McNeil’s Piccolo is badass incarnate, while Don Brown’s rendition of Goku (although I preferred Ian Corlett’s) is very humorous and fits the character perfectly; he’s a riot during that sword fight. It’s a shame the Ocean Group didn’t stick around long enough to dub a few of the later movies, particularly 5 and 6. I always wanted to hear Brian Drummond’s infamous Vegita-voice without the restrictions of TV censorship.

Dead Zone does have its drawbacks, though. Gohan’s musical number in the middle of the film is out of place amongst all the violence and is really more annoying than entertaining. The older audience will most-likely just fast-forward through that part. Then there’s the length. Anybody paying more than $15 bucks for a 45 minute movie is going to feel ripped-off. It’s a good movie, but I can’t rationalize paying very much for such little content.

Dead Zone is Dragonball Z at its core, well before all the bells and whistles got bells and whistles. I give it a B. Definitely one of the better movies in the series.

Grade: B

Dragonball Z movie 12: “Fusion Reborn”

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Dragonball Z movie 12: Fusion Reborn

The Dragonball Z movie series is one-step away from its conclusion, and to be honest, it’s really for the best. The Buu Saga, with all its goofiness, redundant levels of Super Saiyan and filler beyond anything you’ve ever experienced before, ranks as my least favorite of all the Dragonball Z story arcs and is one of the reasons why I quit watching the television show. And sadly, this movie culls most of its inspiration from that very story arc.

Story-wise, it goes like this: a dimwitted teenage employee in the Afterlife accidentally busts a machine collecting negative energy from souls departing to Hell. The negative energy possess him and he becomes the all-powerful, but annoyingly childlike, Janenba. Janenba wastes no time turning everything in sight into candy, and by flexing his powers over time and space, breaks down the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Gohan and Associates get in gear rather quickly to save their city from the walking dead (and a certain Nazi dictator) while Goku and Vegita take-on Janenba in the Afterworld. Things go from bad to worse when Janenba stops fooling around and transforms into his mightiest form, JanenPA. If Goku and Vegita want to win this battle they’re not only going to have to put aside their differences and fuse into a single super-being, but they’re going to have to do it RIGHT.

I’d say the worst part of the movie is Janenba. The character is, for all intents and purposes, Majin Buu colored yellow. He acts the same, he looks the same and he has the same candy-fetish. So if you loathed the Buu Saga as much as I did, you’re going to totally hate the first half of this movie.

Luckily, once the action picks up, he transforms into the royally hardcore Janenpa. The bulk of the animation budget was dedicated to the fight scene between Goku, Vegita and Janenpa, so the brawl is absolutely gorgeous to look at. What makes Janenpa so cool are his attacks utilizing his ability to warp time and space (think “The Spot” from Spider-Man only more violent). The animation never fails to accommodate this unique talent and the battle really shines as one of the best in the entire movie series.

Regretfully, since the majority of the budget went toward that fight scene, the rest of the movie has animation-quality noticeably worse than most filler episodes of the TV series. A few “artistic” devices were used to try and make this seem less obvious, like making most of the ghosts and zombies look completely flat with thick, black outlines (like the animation in Clerks: the series). Yet despite all that, the scenes not involving Janenpa are incredibly dull to the senses.

I’d also like to say that the movie had one of the most badass and also the most disappointing moments I’ve ever seen in a Dragonball Z movie. In one scene, Frieza makes a grand comeback and confronts Gohan. The two get ready to spar when Frieza commands an entire army of dead Dragonball Z villains from the TV series and the movies. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen and really got my hopes up. Unfortunately, this lasted maybe 5 seconds. I won’t ruin how it ends for you, but chances are you’re going to be just as painfully disappointed as I was.

The main focus of the movie, the fusion of Goku and Vegita into Gojita, is remarkably unsatisfying. To try and create “tension” they include a torturously long segment of the most childish potty humor you can imagine, and quite frankly it just isn’t funny. The appearance of Gojita at the end isn’t going to impress anyone at this point in the Dragonball timeline either, as once you’ve seen one Super Saiyan transformation you’ve quite honestly seen them all.

“Fusion Reborn” has one of the most glorious fight scenes you’ll see in any Dragonball Z movie, hands down. However, this only makes up a very small portion of the actual film. The story is just rehashed from a uniquely bad arc of the TV series, the animation when characters aren’t fighting will have you wishing you were doing Algebra homework instead and the bit with Frieza is such a rotten waste of potential you might just hurl a brick at your TV.

This gets a C-. If it weren’t for that fight scene I’d rank it quite a ways lower.

Grade: C-