Title: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
Director: Tetsuro Kodama
Voice Cast: Kyle Hebert, Sean Schemmel, Robert McCollum, Christopher Sabat, and others
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 3 stars
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the fifth feature film of this immensely popular franchise, which started as a manga (Japanese comic book) way back in 1984. The franchise gained global popularity after its animated television series rolled out in 1986 and was broadcast in over eighty-one countries.
Despite its popularity, the franchise has a niche audience, so this film will only appeal to die-hard fans. They will immediately understand what is going on, as the narrative is chock-full of giddy nostalgia, fan-favourite characters, and power moves, exactly what any fan of the long-running saga is looking for.
It is not that the finer nuances of the tale will be lost on those watching the film for the first time. The clever setup in the first act of the film, offers ample background to the characters and the narrative, thus making the film acceptable and enjoyable.
At its core, the story is a traditional, good-versus-evil tale. The film begins by telling us about the origins of the Red Ribbon Army, an evil organisation led by the nefarious Magenta, the CEO of Red Pharmaceuticals.
His army is floundering, and so to revive it, along with the Staff Officer Carmine, whose car is outfitted with a dome-like sun-shield to accommodate his giant pouffe of hair, Magenta seeks the help of the 24-year-old genius Hedo. He is the grandson of Dr. Gero - the genius scientist who is the mastermind behind the Red Ribbon Androids.
The Oreo biscuit-loving Hedo creates two androids named Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, who are presented to the world as superheroes but are actually carrying out Magenta’s less-than-compassionate aims.
Returning heroes like Gohan and Piccolo are part of the ensemble, who are ultimately called to action against Magenta and his would-be army. The two of them tag their history to make their presence relatable.
The story is straightforward, but it contains recycled elements of the franchise and plotlines, which fans may enjoy, but it holds the film back a little.
Apart from the plot, the dialogues are funny at times but verbose, despite the voices of the ace cast perfectly matching the characters.
Overall, the tone of the film is aggressively loud and dramatic, with high-energy action sequences. There is a fiery fight between Gohan and the Gammas, which is set during a raging rainstorm that makes for a brilliant visual climax.
On the animation front, the film is eye candy, vibrant with psychedelic and mesmeric frames, blending traditional character design and finely rendered expression with supersmooth computer effects.
In India, the filmmakers went all out to entice the audience, releasing the film in three versions: the original Japanese with English subtitles, dubbed English voice tracks, and a Hindi version. So, no matter what option you opt for, you will not be disappointed with the film.
