Piccolo and Gohan finally get their own story instead of waiting in the background for Goku to show up. The action is choreographed with real weight, every strike matters, and the movie remembers that Dragon Ball works best when it lets characters breathe between fights. The CG animation is rough compared to Broly, but if you can get past the visual downgrade, this is a character-driven Dragon Ball film that actually cares about development over spectacle.

Years after a young Goku destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, Magenta wants revenge and a revived army. He recruits Dr. Hedo, grandson of Dr. Gero, and tricks him into believing Earth's greatest heroes are secretly alien villains. Hedo builds two new androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, who call themselves Super Heroes and believe they fight for justice. With Goku and Vegeta training away from Earth, the attack falls on Piccolo, who is mentoring Gohan's young daughter Pan, and on Gohan, who has traded fighting for academic work. As both are pulled back into battle, the question remains of what the new Red Ribbon Army is really after.