‘Dragon Ball: Resurrection F’ Schools Hollywood
5 Lessons ‘Dragon Ball: Resurrection F’ Can Teach the Mainstream
If there’s anything the last few months have taught us it’s that mainstream films are repeating parts of dying formulas. With original films being traded away for sequels and trilogies and whatever else people think is cool and hip for the youngsters, going to the movies has turned into somewhat of a gambling experience. Many formulas have failed but every now and again something comes along that reels everything back to a more enjoyable, simpler time. ‘Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F’ is one of those films. Yes, it’s an anime movie and has a different sort of feel than something like say ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ or ‘Southpaw’ but nevertheless there are some valuable lessons both we as the audience and Hollywood as the mainstream film source can learn from its execution:
1. Keep. It. Simple.
Plot matters. It’s no secret that the new trend in films is complexity. It seems that ever since Christopher Nolan made us all question the mere reality of dreams everyone has tried to hop on the let’s-make-something-abstract-and-not-easy-to-think-about train. Despite it being a part of a beloved animated series, ‘Dragon Ball: Resurrection of F’ kept things surprisingly simple. Frieza died, Goku got stronger, Frieza came back to life, Frieza wanted revenge, Frieza and Goku fight, Goku wins fight, movie’s over. No loopholes, no plot twists, no dream sequences, no flashbacks, no vampire romance, just simple story. This allowed even newcomers to the series to pick it up and feel involved.
Simple stories allow the audience to be much more involved in a film and allows them to kick back and enjoy what’s happening in front of them rather than having them think about how they’re going to skip lunch this week because they have to buy a second ticket just to understand what just happened. Find a point and stay with it.
2. Care About the Characters
Characters matter. While they all need a story of sorts, they do not need anything flashy or even necessarily intertwined with all of the other 20 members of a movie plot. This film built its characters in the simplest of ways and made the production value of the overall project so much higher. Little things matter, especially when it comes to films that take on already existing story.
Characters should interact without wanting to shag each other every 5.2 minutes and they should have substance. Even if they only have a few lines let what they say matter. Films today spend so much time trying to make the most unique and abstract characters that they forget to give them the simplest of character traits to possess. The audience will recognize this and respect a film so much more if the characters are obviously cared for.
3. DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE!
Words matter. Admittedly, the dialogue felt more like entertaining banter than plot driven lines but it lent so much to whatever the current situation was that it made the film shine brilliantly. Every character had their own brand of humor going on and what’s important is that they kept that going from start to end. It was beautiful. Vegeta’s prideful little quibs added so, so much to his snippets of the film and at the same time it bounced off of Goku’s oblivious, optimistic rhetoric in a way that just helped everything come together.
While I enjoy great dialogue that drives the plot, one thing an audience will love is that it’s doing so without them noticing. Prime example of what not to do: Disney’s ‘Big Hero 6’. While it (sort of) worked, there were times when the cat was let out the bag and you can catch the characters sounding more script-y than genuinely themselves. This can really decrease the power of the punch a film can deliver.
4. Stop Being So Serious
Tone matters. Like I stated in my take on ‘Fantastic Four’, the whole gritty-brooding-Batman thing is overdone and needs to stop. Not every movie needs to be dark, and take a skinny dip into the depressing pool of depressing-ness and make the audience face the reality of what can possibly be their depressing reality that is their life. Live a little Hollywood. Kick back and relax. We don’t pay $10-$15 to be reminded of reality. If anyone knows anything about ‘Dragon Ball Z’ it’s that it’s high stakes, high action, all the time. The very existence of the human race is put on the line more times than I can count and the Earth has been destroyed time and time again. Despite all of this, ‘Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F’ doesn’t shove this in your face every half an hour. Bad things happen, the film moves on.
Even though it’s not effective 100% of the time it’s something that can really make all the difference in a movie-going experience. There’s a time and place for both sides of the spectrum, from ‘Inside Out’ to ‘Dumb and Dumber’ to ‘The Godfather’, but sometimes it pays off to take out the angst for a second and just relax. Relaaaaaaaax.
5. Respect the Audience
The audience matters. There are few things more insulting than a bad movie. Everyone may not be able to agree all the time on what makes a good movie but a bad movie is almost absolute across the board. ‘Fantastic Four’ (yes I’m still butthurt), ‘The Last Airbender’, ‘Jack & Jill’, ‘Rango’ are all examples of films that would be voted “Most Likely to Make Someone Kick A (Stuffed) Puppy” by almost everyone across the board. The audience deserves to be respected, especially when it’s an audience of an already established story. Those are the people who go into the theatres with torches in case the worst happens. Please respect the audience Hollywood.
This film was one of the most respectful films I’ve seen in a long time. It was accommodating to both veterans and newcomers to the series, entertaining to anyone who may not even into the whole anime thing, witty and hilarious for anyone with even the slightest sense of humor, adventurous enough to keep people on the edge of their seat, and yet confident enough to keep the hero always on top. Thank you ‘Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F’ in making me feel like a respected audience of the general public. In return you will certainly acquire my legal tender so that I may possess a piece of such a fine experience -tips hat-.
‘Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F’ has succeeded in ways that most recent films have failed. This goes to show that people of all interests, shapes, and sizes love a good movie. Don’t believe me and think that it’s all just anime nerds eating this up? Check out it’s 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating, it’s 8.1 rating on IMDB or its almost $60 million worlwide box office total. That may not sound like much for a film but keep in mind that not only was this a limited release film but it was only showing in said theatres for 10 days. There’s a lot that can be learned from ‘Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F’ and I can only hope that there will come a day when Hollywood starts to take note.
