Dragonball Z - Movie 13: Drachenfaust

This is a good movie. Recommend you watch is It. The fights are amazing.

"Wrath of the Dragon" is one the best DBZ movies. It is nice when the conflict of the movie is a bit more than simply punch the bad guy. With the conflict of Tapion and Hoi, it adds a layer of mystery to the usual Dragon Ball story. Yes, it is obvious who the bad guy will be, but it is nice to have some mysterious elements.

The story this time around gives other characters, particularly Trunks, some well-deserved time to shine. Tapion is a fun new character, kind of looks like a combo of "Ocarina of Time" and "Chrono Trigger". The relationship between Trunks and Tapion is believable and endearing.

Hildegarn is an interesting villain. He doesn't have much of a personality, but he has a cool design. With him being a kaiju, it leads to some unique fight sequences between him and the heroes.

My main problem with the film involves its ending. I won't go into spoilers here. Suffice it to say that it felt like they back tracked on all they built up. The ending feels rushed an undeserved. It is all very well animated, but the ending lacks a certain...punch. I'm sure saying that will unleash the wrath of the Dragon Ball fans.

This is not the best DBZ movie but by no means the worst. There is plenty of violence and no curse word is spared. The Godzilla-esque monster Hildegarn is quite awesome espcially his teleportation technique. Goku's Dragon Fist is quite an attack. Goten and Trunks have plenty to do and are the main source of the comic relief. As a DBZ movie I'd give it a seven-out-of-ten.

You know about that saying "save the best for last?" It's in the case here. There have been good ones(12 and 6) and bad ones(11 and 7). But they're all nothing compared to this one. It has Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Videl, Bulma, Master Roshi/Kame Sen'nin, and Kuririn of the DBZ cast. It introduces Taipon, and the plot focuses on Trunks quite a bit. I can't say any more without spoiling anything, but it does have some good character development in some of the characters. Of course, the title is Dragonball Z, so of course you're going to see a huge, destructive battle during the second half of the movie, but I'm not spoiling anything! It's too good to reveal any important plot points!

BOTTOM LINE: This one's awesome!

I liked this one very much, and I dare say it is the second best DBZ movie amongst the older ones, behind The History of Trunks only. There are so many good points in this movie, and I'll try to enumerate them,

First of all, Super Saiyan 3 and the epic Dragon Fist, a technique that was forgotten in the manga and anime series are seen together here in an awesome moment. Super Saiyan 3 is one of the worst transformations in the series. I mean, it has never beaten up anyone, and this movie provides this necessary moment!

The plot is very good, actually. It is a bit more deep than it is used to be in DBZ movies. Characters have a quite nice development, and the dramaticity is way more mature. The ending could be even more dramatic, only that Tapion had to step aside for incredible Goku's Dragon Fist be put into action. No complaints about that. Everyone really wanted to see Super Saiyan 3 one last time.

Tapion is cool and Hirudegarn is amazing. His evolution is very surprising and gives him an even better condition as villain. Also the humour is less present into this one, but this is no defect, by no means. As I stated before, this movie is a bit more serious.

Stunning fight scenes, many characters do show up and fight. Even Gotenks, and he just shows up very quickly, which is good, because he is very annoying. It was nice to see him, anyway. Some surprises like Vegeta saving people. Well, this is a must watch for DBZ series fans. I loved it!