DRAGONBALL Z: LORD SLUG (1991)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *cosmological, metaphysical*

Now that I'm on the fourth of the DRAGONBALL Z movies, I see that they're all of a piece in their inability to fully capture the appeal of the manga and anime serials. Because they're all very short, there's only enough time for a quick setup, the hero's confrontation with the villain, and a generally desultory battle which said hero Goku wins. There's little room for the fun character interactions of the serials, though so far WORLD'S STRONGEST came the closest to emulating the serials' model.

Unlike the first and third movies, though, the fourth, LORD SLUG, at least has a decent villain, as well as another one original to the movies, though later he showed up in the anime. Slug isn't at all complex-- he's pretty much the standard world-conqueror-- but as a "Super Namekian," he's something of an evil parallel to Goku's friendly rival, the Namekian Piccolo. He also kills a henchman flagrantly at the opening, which is always the mark of a decent evildoer. Another opening gambit is that Slug gets hold of the Dragonballs and summons the wish-dragon in order to gain both youth and immortality. Garlic Jr did much the same thing in the first film, but Slug is a much more formidable fighter, and he can even turn into a giant-size version of himself, just as Saiyans can under the right circumstances.

Though the action's very basic, the script does toss in a few curves. For one thing, this is the first movie that allows Goku's wife Chi-Chi to kung fu a couple of henchmen before she's rendered unconscious, so at last she gets to do something besides nag her husband and son. One of Slug's minions has the revolting ability to spawn small, impish copies of himself from his back, after which he sends the imps flying to suck the energies of prospective victims. Finally, though all of the movies give Goku's son Gohan some minor business to perform, this time Piccolo teaches Gohan how to prey on a Namekian biological weakness, which adds a little spice to the formula. This is the first of the "Z" movies in which Goku assumes his "Super Saiyan" form, though I have no idea as to how that manifestation fits in with the main manga-anime continuity.