Dragon Ball Super: Broly is the first film to carry the Super name, released in Japan on December 14, 2018, and the biggest box office hit in Dragon Ball history. It takes Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan from the 1990s movies, and rebuilds him from scratch as part of the official story. The film opens with a long prologue about the last years of Planet Vegeta and then jumps to a few months after the Tournament of Power, when Goku and Vegeta run into an opponent unlike anything they've faced.
Full plot (spoilers)
Years earlier, King Vegeta learns that a newborn named Broly has more potential than his own son, Prince Vegeta, and exiles the baby to the remote planet Vampa. Broly's father, Paragus, goes after him, but his ship is wrecked on arrival and the two are stranded there; Paragus raises his son for one purpose, revenge. Some time later, Bardock realizes Frieza intends to wipe out the Saiyans and, with his wife Gine, sends their infant son Kakarot to Earth shortly before the planet is destroyed.
In the present, two low-ranking soldiers in Frieza's army, Cheelai and Lemo, find Broly and Paragus and bring them to their boss, who plans to use them against Goku and Vegeta. The clash takes place on a frozen wasteland on Earth. Broly grows stronger with every exchange: he pushes Vegeta to the limit, even as a Super Saiyan God, then matches Goku in Super Saiyan Blue. When Frieza kills Paragus right in front of him, Broly unleashes his Super Saiyan power for the first time and overwhelms them both.
Goku and Vegeta retreat to Piccolo, who teaches Vegeta the Fusion Dance. After two botched attempts they become Gogeta, who takes on Broly in his Full Power Super Saiyan form. Gogeta gains the upper hand, but Cheelai and Lemo use the Dragon Balls to send their friend safely back to Vampa. In the final scene, Goku visits with supplies, hoping to train him, and introduces himself by his Saiyan name: Kakarot.
What it introduces
- A completely new Broly: no longer a sadistic monster, but a gentle, naive young man shaped by his father's abuse.
- Gine, Goku's mother, and a new canonical version of Bardock's backstory.
- Cheelai and Lemo, Frieza Force soldiers who befriend Broly.
- Gogeta's debut in the official story (he first appeared in a non-canon 1995 film), including a Super Saiyan Blue form.
- Broly's Full Power Super Saiyan form.
Production
Tatsuya Nagamine directed, while Akira Toriyama wrote the story and screenplay and designed the characters. The prologue draws on Dragon Ball Minus, the short story in which Toriyama had reworked Goku's departure from Planet Vegeta in 2014. The big visual change is the character design by Naohiro Shintani, who replaced Tadayoshi Yamamuro's familiar style with softer lines closer to Toriyama's own drawings; in the fights, hand-drawn animation alternates with CG sequences. Norihito Sumitomo composed the score, and the theme song, "Blizzard", is performed by Daichi Miura.
Funimation produced the English dub, which premiered in Los Angeles in December 2018 before the film opened in the US and Canada on January 16, 2019.
Did you know? The world premiere was held on November 14, 2018, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, in front of a thousand fans chosen by lottery.
Reception
Broly set a new opening record for the franchise in Japan and, within weeks, overtook every previous Dragon Ball film there. Worldwide it grossed more than $120 million, making it the highest-grossing Dragon Ball film ever. In the US it was the first anime screened in IMAX and broke the franchise's opening-day record with about $7 million, ending with more than $30 million in the US and Canada. It was also nominated for Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Prize.
Critics praised the animation, the fight choreography and the new take on Broly; the most common complaints were some jarring shifts between 2D and 3D and a rather abrupt time skip between the prologue and the present.
Where it fits in the timeline
The film is set after the end of the Dragon Ball Super anime, a few months after the Tournament of Power, so it's best watched after the series. Next comes Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, where Broly trains alongside Goku and Vegeta.
Our take
This is the film we'd recommend to anyone, even people who haven't followed Dragon Ball in years. The Planet Vegeta prologue is the most grown-up storytelling the Saiyans have ever had: a warrior race living under Frieza's heel, and two fathers, Paragus and Bardock, making opposite choices for their sons. Then the battle arrives and takes over most of the film, and this is where Shintani and his team shine, with fluid, inventive animation. The real masterstroke, though, is Broly himself: from screaming monster to tragic, ultimately likeable character. To explore the other films, check our movie guide.