The penultimate entry in the original ‘Dragon Ball Z’ movie franchise and…Well…if you just want a quick caption review of this one, what this movie lacks in substance and plot, it MORE than makes up for with frankly BEYOND bizarre visual storytelling.

The plot? This is set in one of those ‘What If?’ universes, and based on what information we’re told of this timeline, its set in a world where ‘Kid Buu’ never happened and the Z fighters somehow managed to defeat Majin Buu in his original form. The end result? Goku is still dead, as is Vegeta and Piccolo is presumably dead too.

Why does this matter? Well; because the film opens with Goku taking part in the afterlife equivilent of the ‘Tournament of Power’ as a representative fighter for King Kai, when danger strikes. See; at the check in point between heaven and hell, an explosion happens in one of the hell ‘cleansing’ tanks, releasing raw, condensed energy into the environment in gas form. This evil power gas attaches to one of the demons who works in processing for hell and turns him into an ungodly powerful super demon who creates a hard barrier around the check in desk, not only trapping all the demons IN the check in area. But removing the barrier that keeps dead people in Heaven or Hell.

This in turn then creates this films two key storylines, with Goku travelling down to the check in desk to defeat the super demon thats created the barrier and restore order, while plot B focusses on earth, as Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Videl (along with a Mr. Satan Cameo) fight an army of the evil dead that have returned to earth looking to take it over…

And…Theres no way really around this, one of the subplots is Goten and Trunks fighting the DBZ universes equivilent of Adolf Hitler…Who ponders recruiting the kids when they turn Super Saiyan due to their blonde hair, blue eyes and strong physiques…This film goes to strange places.

Is this film great? No. The story is an absolute mess, a mixture of frankly BIZZARE comedy moments that literally wouldnt happen today and what feels like a half hearted filler arc from DBZ. The pacings all over the place, as is the tone, the whole thing feels like scraps of ideas that have been reformed into some kind of Schwarma log of a movie.

And like a Schwarma…I know its bad for me, I know I couldnt eat one every day…but damnit if it isnt tasty.

This is a movie that I just sat agog in front of for 50 minutes, and while it wasnt exactly wall to wall insanity, it didnt stop the experience from feeling jarring, surreal and strange all in one. At times, it felt almost like a parody of DBZ, but a parody in the most respectful and sincere way that a movie in which children fight the reincarnated army of Hitler COULD feel respectful and sincere.

There are some works that I think its fair to say, are hard to explain the love for them. This is a movie that…I cant really explain exactly why I love it, but the vibes, the way its assembled and its ‘IDGAF’ attitude to its audience is just…SO watchable. Its a junk food movie in the best possible way.

Adding to this some wonderfully creative and distinct art direction and some interesting cine choices. Cameos galore and some of the best fight sequences in the franchise up to this point. I debated whether to give this 3.5 or 4 stars because, ultimately this is just a nonsensical, throwaway 50 minute farse. But thats ultimately what makes me love it so much. With films like ‘Broly: The legendary Super Saiyan’ or ‘Bojack Unbound’ I felt like they were fine enough stories, but a little dry at times and kind of…less in touch with the more humourous side of DBZ (which I quite like) this is wall to wall bonkers weirdness, with just a dash of stoic fighting to break up the flow…and honestly? I really kind of loved it for that.

Could I recommend it? I’d say if you’ve seen DBZ and like the lighter, more funny aspects of the series, then absolutely! This is one you really wont wanna miss. If you’ve watched the movies and found them a bit dry…then again; THIS will very likely be the film for you! But I cant reccomend this to newcomers to the show, and if you dont much care for the funnier elements of the Dragonball series, you almost certainly will think this is the worst thing ever made…I had a blast with it though!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/dragon-ball-z-fusion-reborn/