There are heroes and villains galore in the Dragon Ball universe. But some true heroes don’t really think of themselves as champion material. And that’s especially true when their father, who never seems to age, is such an awesome world-saver.
Such is the case with a kindhearted half-human named Gohon. He’d much rather focus on his research and studies than go out and train. And that’s much to the consternation of his mentor, the mean, green power-machine alien known as King Piccolo.
Piccolo is concerned that the heroic (but slightly nerdy) Gohon is doing himself a great disservice by stepping away from his ki-focused training. (In fact, he sees the possibility that Gohon might even be a far greater warrior than his father.) How will Gohon ever be able to gather that lifeforce energy and transform into his true fighting form if he does not train?
Almost worse still, Piccolo is afraid that Gohon is letting his responsibilities to his adorable and earnestly eager 3-year-old daughter, Pan, slip. Piccolo is more that happy to pick up the slack and train the tyke, but there are some things a father must teach.
Now, however, an arising, dire situation might pry Gohon away from his study and back to things of importance. King Piccolo has caught wind of a plot by the nefarious and eminently sinister Red Ribbon Crime Syndicate.
Thanks to the machinations of a young super-genius, Dr. Hedo, Red Ribbon has created two incredibly powerful androids that threaten everything good. And the baddies are working on an even greater threat in the form of a mountain-sized juggernaut of an android called Cell Max!
It will take Piccolo, Gohon and every other right-minded person of strength to stop them. It will even require the power of the mystical Dragon Balls, as well as magical wishes from an ancient dragon.
But if they can succeed, perhaps the world, and Gohon’s family, can be set aright.
Gohon may seem rather disconnected from the uber-cute Pan at first. But when his daughter is threatened Gohon flies into action. He draws on every ounce of strength to save her. Gohon and others (such as Piccolo) are willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of all.
[Spoiler Warning] Even the first two androids that Dr. Hedo creates, Gamma1 and Gamma2, eventually recognize the justness of Gohon and Piccolo’s struggle against the Red Ribbon Crime Syndicate. They join in and sacrifice themselves (one giving his life) for the righteous cause.
There is definitely a mystical spirituality swirling about in the Dragon Ball fantasy realm, but it’s never fully explained. The seven mystical Dragon Balls are used in one quick scene to summon an ancient dragon that grants three wishes. And the fighters reference drawing on a ki power—a concentration of magical lifeforce—to fly, bulk up their muscles and shoot blasts of energy. This ki causes Gohon and Piccolo to transform into larger, glowing and more violently powerful versions of themselves.
A female character named Bulma uses two of the dragon’s wishes to comically “firm up her bottom” and “lengthen her eyelashes.” (Though she doesn’t actually look any different after the wishes are granted.) The camera briefly focuses on her fully clothed (and, obviously, animated) backside in one scene.
A chubby male character has the back of his pants torn off in battle. And his bare rear is spotted several times and used as comic relief. An older warrior is drawn to the “cuteness” of a young female in his group.
Pounding and pummeling abound here. That destructive force falls into three categories: There’s cute and funny violence, such as when 3-year-old Pan punches an over-muscled bad guy in the stomach by surprise and knocks him out. There’s competitive thumping as friendly foes pound away at each other with powerful kicks and punches. And then there’s the ongoing good-versus-evil battles that feature an ever-expanding explosiveness and a rising level of peril, as good guys and bad guys draw on larger and larger sources of power.
Soldiers shoot ray gun weapons. Battlers shoot blasts of focused, laser-like energy from their fingers, mouths, eyes, and seemingly, the very pores of their bodies. Amid many attacks, large swaths of ground, buildings and surrounding scenery are crumbled, burned, and destroyed in spectacular ways.
A man is poisoned by a venomous sting. (We don’t see what happens to him after he takes on a greenish hue and staggers away.) One character dies and then crumbles to dust. An android loses an arm has the top of its head blown off.
There are six uses of the word “d–n” and one or two uses of “dumba–” and “crap.” Someone gasps, “What the h—?” And another says, “Don’t poop your pants!”
The central bad guy, a character named Magenta, smokes several cigars. And Dr. Hedo creates a cyber-bee that stings someone and poison’s him with its venom. Gohon swallows a special bean that gives him a burst of focused power.
The super-genius inventor, Dr. Hedo is an overweight kid-like guy who constantly gobbles Oreo cookies. We’re told that people who picked on him while he was in prison met with mysterious deaths.
The Dragon Ball franchise—an expansive entertainment universe that includes manga, anime, movies, video games and toys—is one of Japan’s biggest and longest-running pop-culture endeavors. And if you don’t know of its history, well, the exposition-heavy beginning of this film, with its scores of quick character cameos and introductions, will likely leave your head spinning.
Once things get going, however, and characters’ magical, lifeforce-powered muscles begin glowing and rippling, the story’s plot boils down to something kinda simple. There’s a nefarious organization stirring up trouble in the form of several nearly unstoppable androids, and the heroes must rally together to shut them down.
That’s when things get fun and when diehard fans will be grinning uncontrollably. The eye-candy animated visuals here are dynamic. The typically understated Dragon Ball humor is sharp. And the musically propelled fight sequences are spectacular. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is pretty much everything an eagerly awaiting fanboy will be hoping for.
What does that mean for content-concerned parents? Well, families will experience a few bumps in the form of bim-bam-boom cartoony violence and some mild language concerns. A smidgen of winking toilet humor pops up, too.
It should also be noted that you can find this pic in Japanese with English subtitles or dubbed into English. Which, of course, will make a big difference for younger viewers.
All in all, then, the latest Dragon Ball effort is about what we’ve come to expect from this franchise: a rollicking anime actioner with enough content that parents may want to think twice when it comes to young fans of the series.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
