a.k.a.Dragonball Z: The World’s Strongest
a.k.a.Dragonball Z: Konoyo de Ichibaniyatsu
Genre: Action
Company: Toei Douga
Format: 1 movie
Dates: 3/10/1990
The diabolic Dr. Wheelo disappeared under an avalanche of snow and ice. 50 years later, he was revived by the Eternal Dragon. Now, Dr. Wheelo and his assistant, Dr. Kochin, are trying to find the world’s strongest body to house Wheelo’s demented mind. Luckily for them, they’ve found that body. Unluckily for them, it happens to belong to Son Goku, and he’s not giving it up without a fight.
summary by Ender
Reviewed: 05/17/2005 by
Grade: 66% 
Highs: Good action pieces
Lows: Weak premise and script; the supporting crew
Who doesn’t love a mad scientist? The convention is as old as the cinematic artform itself. Almost every genre, franchise, style, etc. has used a mad scientist archetype to play off of. Of course, there are times when even classic conventions become redundant and vapid. And nothing rings more truth to this statement than the second Dragonball Z movie.
The idea of a mad scientist running around with all these freaky experiments may have been a good idea in the original Dragonball series (which was always more about adventure than action), but it doesn’t hold any weight here. Wheelo and Kochin are two very annoying villains, as all they do is ramble back and forth about how they will conquer the world and need Son Goku’s body… blah, blah, blah. Sure, Piccolo, Son Gohan, Muten Roshi and company do try to bring some spice, but they really don’t have any place in the story other than acting as time buffers. And to be honest, you don’t need that many time buffers in a 60-minute movie.
There are some very solid fight sequences in this film, and like most action flicks (or Dragonball Z films) they serve as the main event. There is a lot of fun to be had in seeing Goku tear through Dr. Wheelo’s genetic miscreants in a “Game of Death”-style series of fights. And the final fight between the hulking, metallic beast that is now Dr. Wheelo versus Goku and his friends is worth the watch. No matter what the movie, it is always fun to see characters fight something much bigger and scarier than them.
As far as an action movie goes, Movie II is pretty tame when compared to such action films as, say, Spriggan. But as far as a Dragonball Z movie goes, this is one of the better choices if nothing else than to fill your need for mad scientists.
Anime Academy 