It feels almost like a bad idea from the off. It was undenyable that ‘Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan’ was a character that really resonated with DBZ fans, and while I wasnt particularly smitten with his first outing, even I conceeded that; if ‘Cooler’ could get two movies after being fired into the SUN!. It wouldnt be TOO farfetched that Broly could return in some way shape or form.

Unfortunately; And I have NO idea why they chose to, the plot for Broly’s BIG return is pretty baffling and, even if im being generous doesnt really fit the standard set in the first movie.

So the plot here is that, a short time after the events of the first ‘Broly’ movie, Broly somehow survived being utterly obliterated and escaped in a saiyan pod…and wouldnt you know it, of all the planets he could crash land on, he landed on earth, crashing into a frozen lake, which quickly refroze around him.

Since then, while heavily injured, Broly has been aura farming the surrounding area, draining the land of its energy so that he can recover enough strength to return. But now several years have passed, Goku is dead still, Vegeta cant be bothered to fight and Videl is essentially just…hanging around babysitting Goten and Trunks because…what else is she going to do?

Goten and Trunks have decided, for a lark, to hunt down the dragonballs to wish for fun and adventure. and while hunting for the 4th ball (because…of COURSE its the 4th ball) they stumble on a withered village overgrown with diamond cut crystals. Videl is shocked that such a poor and withered looking area could have such riches, and thats when they stumble on the locals who inform her that a beast has been attacking the village for years and a sacrifice is needed to appease it.

Goten and Trunks step in and agree to take out the monster…and they THINK they catch it…but its just a random dinosaur, and after an altercation in which Goten screams PAINFULLY loudly for a VERY long time, the Saiyan cry awakens Broly.

Cue, probably one of the more embarrssing moments in DBZ history, as ‘The Legendary Super Saiyan’ whos power is apparently unending and unmatched universally, gets messed around by two kids who are both half Saiyans until Gohan turns up, recognises Broly and a final battle commences for the safety of earth.

Tepid is probably the best summary I can give for this one, its half hearted in almost everything it tries to do. I like Goten and Trunks, I think they’re funny and Im quite sad to see they dont really get developed on all that much across ‘Super’ and ‘Daima’ but an opportunity to see the gang in action post ‘tournament of power’ (albeit in a non canon sense) was welcome. But they dont really do all that much, the adventure itself is kind of underwhelming, not helped either by the fact that the core cast (Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo) are simultaineously TOTALLY absent from this…APART from VERY fleeting cameos that happen at key moments that could have been good developmental moments for Goten, Trunks and Gohan.

Literally, the film will put Goten, Trunks and Gohan in a situation where they might ACTUALLY assert themselves as ‘big’ hero material…only to then have them immediately undercut by a piccolo cameo…that isnt EVEN a piccolo cameo…its a fake out.

It feels like the film wasnt comfortable existing as just a Goten and Trunks vehical, and from what i’ve read online, this is a recurring problem, where the studio just will NOT let the series grow past Goku. and thats a real shame because, this universe is incredibly rich and diverse, and i’d love to see the other cast members actually get a chance to grow and develop.

Instead? this feels like weak filler for the most part, it likely would be a 3-4 episode arc of the series, and not a particularly memorable one. Cheeky humour is pretty much the only thing this has going for it, and Broly; who had a detailed and complex backstory that genuinely gave a sense of menace, uncertainty and unease. Here? is just a ‘Frankensteins Monster’ of a character, who can barely get the name ‘Kakarot’ out in one piece between screams and groans. Its a MASSIVE downscaling of the character that takes him from tragic villain to just…a slab of meat in mittens.

The fight scenes are formulaeic, Im not the biggest fan of Videl as a character, the whole thing is just screaming ‘cash grab’ which…given this came out a year after the ‘Dragonball Z’ anime concluded, isnt surprising…

The animation is about on par with the TV series, but given where we’ve just come from, this is a series that feels tired. It isnt really giving anything new, and even with half the OG cast missing, it still somehow feels like its retreading old ground.

The animation and art direction is ‘to standard’, and I do enjoy the antics on screen (for the most part) but ultimately; this one just wasnt really for me. I’d say if you like Goten and Trunks as characters, you’ll probably get a kick out of this, but if your coming here expecting an epic follow up with Broly. you will be bitterly…BITTERLY. dissapointed.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/dragon-ball-z-broly-second-coming/