The follow-up to 2013’s universally praised Battle of the Gods has been released in Resurrection F, although former villains Beerus and Whis make an appearance in this film, the new antagonist is not only the most staple villain in Dragon Ball’s canon, but one of the most iconic anime villains of all time; the evil tyrant Frieza.

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ is an 2015 action anime film, it is produced by Toei Animation, distributed by Toei Company & 20th Century FOX, and licensed by Funimation Entertainment in America. It will be released in theaters in English dub between August 4-12.

Goku & Vegeta prepare to face the newly revived Frieza.

WARNING: This review contains complete to near complete spoilers for Resurrection ‘F’.

Like Battle of the Gods before it, Resurrection ‘F’ helps shape the revival of Dragon Ball, bringing the franchise back to form. Perhaps the biggest element in Resurrection ‘F’ is the writing, not only did Goku AND Vegeta feel like important parts of the story, but other characters such as Krillin, Gohan, and even Master Roshi had their place in the film and were given respectable screen time to shine. The revival of Frieza and the arrival of he and his army on Earth provided some fun scenery and brought legitimate danger as the soldiers totaled in over 1,000, and it was great seeing Jaco, the Patrolman included into the Dragon Ball anime canon, though some may be confused as to who the Time Patrolman is and where he fits in the Dragon Ball universe.

Frieza’s new final form.

THE GOOD: Resurrection ‘F’, like Battle of the Gods felt more like it was apart of Dragon Ball rather than Dragon Ball Z. There was once again more focus on other characters, and everyone had their moment on screen, even Master Roshi was kicking ass like it was nothing, when was the last time we saw Roshi in battle?  And it was almost tear jerking seeing him do the kamehameha again (from a long time fan’s perspective). The action was classic Dragon Ball Z scenery, though I’m disappointed we didn’t get a scene of Frieza training, it’s only mentioned in dialogue that he trained for 4 months to get his power level over 1 million, I believe there’s a few panels in the manga adaptation of ‘F’ that features Frieza training that would have been fun to see animated. I also enjoyed seeing Frieza legitimately rival Goku in strength even though his own incompetence was the cause of his defeat in the end.

Master Roshi using the kamehameha in the anime for the first time in over a decade.

THE BAD: While I can’t particularly think of anything completely negative featured in Resurrection ‘F’, I will say that I wish Frieza would have gotten a little more screen time than the Z-Fighters, and more background information on Jaco and Bulma’s sister Tights would have been appreciated, especially for those who aren’t in the know over the Jaco, the Patrolman spin-off manga.

Goku as a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Resurrection ‘F’ while not significant in terms of actual story progress, is a fun addition to the Dragon Ball canon. The revival of Frieza provided a good use of Goku and Vegeta’s new ability, while also making Frieza feel like a legitimate threat, even though his revival seemed silly on paper. Every secondary character (excluding Yamcha unfortunately), got their own little moment to shine either on screen or in actual battle. Whis mentoring Goku and Vegeta was some fun scenery, but there was a lot of missing background information, such as how did Goku and Vegeta come to obtain the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form? Who were Jaco and Bulma’s apparent sister Tights (for the uninformed)? What type of training did Frieza do to obtain his new form? These were all questions that should have been answered, and I feel that the hour and a half didn’t really give a justified amount of time to do so. Again, while not significant in actual story progress beyond Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, Resurrection ‘F’ provided some great scenery that’s sure to please any die hard Dragon Ball fan. Otaku Dome gives Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ an 85 out of 100.