“Some men don’t need a reason. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
As I have been journeying through the DBZ films again, this one has struck a chord with me once more. You can check out my reviews for all the others so far here: https://letterboxd.com/curranator1/
I have always loved Broly, as a character in any incarnation. He’s just cool, and epic. But there’s more to it. When playing in the backyard as a child, my friends would always want me to “be him” and I obliged. He’s a large blonde guy (as am I, tall and big), his movie first came out in 1993 which is the year I was born, and his voice actor in the dub is from the same town I am from. Needless to say, I have a connection with the character in these ways, so some of this obviously is nostalgia. But why the quote from The Dark Knight at the top?
Broly is the unrestrained horror of DBZ. The rampaging Hulk. The horrifying Doomsday. The awe-inspiring force of nature. Anytime I rewatch this, that pure terror is amplified. Some villains can be reasoned with, but ones that can’t be are scary beyond belief. There’s no bartering, no monologues. Only evil.
That evil isn’t without some pathos. Heroes and villains aren’t necessarily born, they’re made. While the reboot gives different context to Broly and remolds him as a hero, here is much more tragic. Instead of growing up in isolation, he’s caused incredible discomfort from Goku’s crying as a child (which was unnatural due to sharing in Bardock’s visions), on top of feeling off due to insane power at birth, also in the midst of all of this being near mortally wounded, left for dead and then instinctively surviving the exploding planet with his father by sheer will.
Some may find it silly, but I find that unique set of circumstances the perfect scenario for a basket case of unchecked PTSD and what it can do to a person. Broly could only make sense of his own power, express his remarkable grief through the terrorization of everything around him. Almost like a fugue state. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, especially if unchecked and abused and unguided without kindness. Paragus gave up on his son, instead of teaching him to fight through the evil and become more from it, he ignored it by using it. Abusing Broly for his own needs. This made everything worse. Broly had a darkness festering in him, a creature of rage lurking beneath the surface looking for any excuse to break free, created by circumstances too nihilistic to imagine – and Paragus nurtured this further into a near unstoppable monster. When he finally hears Kakarot’s name and senses his aura – it digs beneath the controlled creature, under the raging monster, and gives birth to a demon of raw hate. One who continues to dive further into the abyss, drawing strength from it. At this point, his motives, upbringing, and agenda cannot be clearer – and they suddenly don’t matter anymore to him.
While Broly hits me on such a cathartic level for some reason. I’m so glad this one actually feels like a film to let me dwell on all of it. At 72 minutes, there’s ample time for backstory, fleshing out of character motivations and humor – which is pretty good, with just a few out of place jokes that feel like an early attempt at the MCU formula. For better or worse.
Everyone’s reactions to Broly are well earned. Goku is excited at first, then deadly serious when he realizes what’s up. Gohan is hopelessly naive, and Trunks is skeptical of all from the start. Piccolo knows Broly cannot go unchecked any longer and has to be put down. But Vegeta is the most surprising of all. I feel for him – he finds what he thinks are likeminded Saiyans, finally giving him the respect he deserves and what? It’s all a farce. Paying for the sins of his father, slapping him in the face with his own prideful heritage. And on top of all of that? The true legendary Super Saiyan stands in front of him. Dwarfing Kakarot his mortal rival, his own son and the strongest warriors he knows. Deep down, Vegeta knows he’s inferior. It all comes to a head here as he completely, seemingly out of character loses all sense of hope, paralyzed by fear. He knows. How perfect is it that Piccolo, another former bad guy and rival of Goku, pulls him out of this rut? Vegeta overcomes his own fear, replaced with pride, only to be proven correct. But then in a rare instance, he sets aside his pride to trust friends. Helping save the day. Perfect contained arc here, and a great extension for Piccolo as well.
Speaking of Mr. Green Batman, at this point Piccolo is just stalking Gohan, waiting to shoot a blast out of his way. What a guy! Er, Namek….Namekian?
The animation is astounding, yet I noticed the cropped of the original aspect ratio is a problem at times here, and I think some sound FX are missing. Maybe I remembered wrong. The soundtrack one of my favorites. When Pantera plays over arguably one of the coolest and spine-tingling transformations ever, I get chills. It amplifies the definitely one sided but still fantastic fights. Broly cannot be stopped. Yet Goku is an immovable object.
You could argue it’s all “power of friends saved the day” but given the aforementioned character moments within them, I’m willing to let that slide. My biggest flaw with this film is the rushed nature of the final fight. Always has been, always will be. Goku may have punched him in the spot he was stabbed (more on that in a moment) but they could’ve extended that fight. The stakes were crazy, sure, but another minute of exchanging blows, and maybe Goku noticing the weak point and continually striking it (to weaken further) would’ve been great and showed Goku’s smarts. THEN do the final blow. Maybe there’s a way to fan edit it with the new one. The runtime was already long, so they could’ve dialed back the beat downs if needed.
As it stands, it’s just straight up anticlimactic, while remaining visually stunning. That’s absolutely true, and will remain a flaw forever. However, there’s an attempt to make it more than meets the eye, which makes it a little more forgivable for me on this rewatch. It makes it a little more poignant, bare with me.
Broly is the Achilles of DBZ. The Legendary Warrior of mythology foretold. Arguably driven mad by trauma. Manipulated by kings and fathers. Bored by no challenge in battle. Takes down the respected Prince’s (Vegeta/Hector) pride (outclassing him) in front of his Kingdom (Troy burning/ruins of New Vegeta) and quite literally dragging his body through the streets. Broly is an honest take about classical mythological giants. True, absolute power and skill. Until he wasn’t. Achilles had his weakness. His Achilles Heel. Broly has his weak spot on his stomach, from the wound that destroyed his life as a newborn. Paris, the Prince who was seen as a joke who only wanted to seek out women/love but viciously saves his kingdom; and Kakarot, the champion non-prince Saiyan seen as a “clown” by Vegeta (Hector) who only wants a good challenge, to defend the Earth at all costs in the dub. While Paris sometimes represents the cowardly side of things in some interpretations, I also see him as the Prince who isn’t taken seriously yet vanquished the ultimate foe. Here we have Mr. Son Goku, a joke of a Saiyan born in the lowest of low classes, surpassing the Prince and all others consistently. While he gained power from the abyss of suffering – Goku draws it from hope. Kakarot’s fist becomes the metaphorical arrow to Broly’s abdomen, his heel. His wound that begun his pain, also ends it here.
That is cinematic poetry. I love this movie.
5 out of 5 stars
Read this review on Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/1dTu