Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015)

Resurrection 'F' opens with the remnants of a galactic army scouring Earth for the Dragon Balls, which is a tidy way to announce that this film has no interest in the present cultural moment. Frieza returns, reassembled from pieces, and immediately resumes the only project he has ever had: revenge against the Saiyans who killed him. There is no subtext here. There is barely text. A tyrant trains for four months, achieves a gold-plated form, and gets punched.

The supporting cast includes Bulma, whose contribution is a phone call, and a roster of warriors whose contributions are punches of their own. We are not invited to reflect on gender, class, or the environment. When Frieza destroys the Earth in a fit of pique, the planet is restored three minutes later by a time-reversal, which is the least eco-conscious act in animated cinema and also not a metaphor for anything. The film's moral universe is strictly hierarchical: strength determines worth, and the strongest wins. This is not a critique of power. It is a celebration of it, staged with clean linework.

What the film does offer is craftsmanship. The animation is fluid, the fights are brisk, and the pacing was reportedly tuned for an American audience that prefers momentum to drama. We could call the result shallow, and many did, but shallow is a commitment, and the film honors it. Nothing in its ninety-three minutes lectures us about how to live. No character exists to represent a demographic. No villain stands in for an economic system. It is a sequel about two men with glowing hair hitting each other, and it knows exactly what it is. In an era of animated features that arrive with homework attached, that restraint deserves a quiet nod.