DragonBall Z: Cooler’s Revenge is a 1991 martial arts fantasy Japanese animated film directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, including voice performances by Sean Schemmel, Stephanie Nadolny, Christopher R. Sabat, Sony Strait, Andrew Chandler, Michael Marco, and Bill Townsley.  After destroying Frieza on Namek, Goku returns to a peaceful life on Earth. When informed his brother has been killed by a Saiyan, Cooler is hell bent on killing Goku, and making him pay for his brother’s disgrace.

Plot: The story is fairly simple. In a lot of ways, it’s too simple. Frieza’s brother, Cooler, comes to Earth to kill Goku and avenge his brother’s death. It’s not a bad story just a one dimensional one. We don’t learn anything new about Frieza, about their relationship, nor do we learn about the changeling race. It’s typical of a DragonBall Z story and just feels barebones. Now, that’s not to say that’s not fast paced and entertaining. It’s pretty action packed with an epic climax and a satisfying conclusion.  However, there could’ve been more to the story. Think about Resurrection ‘F’. I feel like that storyline should’ve been this film’s. (3 out of 5)

Characters:  If you love the Z Fighters then you’ll love them in this film.  But honestly, who watches these films for the Z Fighters. It’s always about the villains. So how is Cooler?  Cooler is a pretty solid villain.  He has understandable motivation and personality that’s distinctive from his brother. I do think the film suffers from a serious lack of exposition of who Cooler is, where does he come from, and why he feel so strongly to avenge his brother.  Unfortunately, like his brother he’s pretty one dimensional but it doesn’t stop him from being a total badass.  And like the main antagonist his henchmen have to be pretty memorable as well.  Cooler’s Armored Squadron consisting Salza, Neiz  and Dore  are actually pretty cool.  Dore is probably the weakest of the group while Neil is the best.  Salza was pretty cool though I wish he had more memorable moments. (3 out of 5)

Cast: I’ve only watched the film from the English dub and I really like the voice cast. There have been several versions of the film but I personally think Funimation’s voice cast is the best, especially Andrew Chandler as Cooler.  Not only are the cast from the series reprising their roles but the new cast is great also. (3 out of 5)

Visuals: The animation is good. Some might think it dated but it still looks great.  I like the character designs of our villains especially Cooler’s design.  (3 out of 5)

Score/Music:  The music is great, it has that hard rock soundtrack that makes the fight intense and edgy. (3 out of 5)

Writing:  The writing is okay.  There’s a lot of interesting aspects that this film could’ve explored such as honor, revenge, obligation to one’s family, and what it means to be brothers. But unfortunately the film doesn’t even try.  There’s a lot of action, intense fighting, and even some humor. There is also the lack of exposition of the villains. Why do the Armored Squadron serve Cooler? What is Cooler’s relationship to Frieza? What about their family? How is the planetary trade organization run? This could’ve been the origin story Frieza as well. So much lost potential. The dialogue ia decent.  There’s a lot of witty back and forth though it does come off as pretentious.  All-in-all, the writing isn’t bad but with how limited a concept as the film has, it does hurt the film more than it helps.  (2 out of 5)

The Verdict: In the end, DragonBall Z: Cooler’s Revenge is decent DBZ movie but it fails to pull itself from the typical formula.  The worst thing about the film is the writing and because of it, the film’s story and characters are limited to DBZ stereotypes.  However, there is a lot to like about the film.  The animation is good, characters cool, entertainment high, and a great soundtrack.  DragonBall Z: Cooler’s Revenge gets 3 out of 5.