Cooler hits different because he's everything Frieza should've been: a villain with actual experience, actual power, and the cold patience to let you watch Goku suffer before he bothers transforming. The fight choreography doesn't waste a second, and when Goku goes Super Saiyan, the English rock track doesn't undersell the moment like so many DBZ films do. It's a 45-minute movie that understands the only story that matters is the one where two warriors find out who's stronger, and it commits completely.

Goku has returned to Earth after defeating Freeza, and life feels normal again as he heads out on a camping trip with Gohan and Krillin. The calm breaks when three henchmen ambush the group, and soon their master joins in: Cooler, Freeza's older brother, who wants payback for his sibling's defeat. Goku gets away with Gohan and goes into hiding, but the furious Cooler and his men start searching for him so they can kill him and have their revenge. The long battle that follows sees Cooler reach the fourth stage of his evolution and take the upper hand, until Goku becomes a Super Saiyan. The film is a sci-fi action adventure built around one big showdown.