Anime Fix

Dragonball: Evolution : 4.1/10

Movie – English 85 minutes
March 2009 US Release : April 8th 2009 100 minutes

Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Screenplay written by Ben Ramsey
Characters created by Akira Toriyama
Production by Dune Entertainment and 20th Century Fox
Directed by James Wong

Plot
Martial artist and high school student Goku, faces many difficulties adjusting to life as a teenager. As his 18th birthday arrives, his life is destined to change dramatically. His primary concern is gaining the affections of Chi Chi, a young woman in his school and fellow martial artist. His concentrations are soon altered as an alien, Lord Piccolo, returns from his 2000 year imprisonment to seek revenge on mankind. Goku soon learns of the legendary dragonballs, capable of granting one true wish, and as he gathers companions all with their own agenda for seeking the dragonballs, he finds himself in a situation in which he must save the world from total annihilation.

Conclusion
Dragonball: Evolution does little to please any of its possible viewers. To fans of the anime, the completely altered characters and storyline will breed contempt for the film; for those not experienced with the series, the film fails to create strong personas and links between them to engage the viewer. With strong visual effects, unique characters, and acceptably performed roles by the acting crew, this film is unable to overcome the complete absence of style and emotion of its screenplay. Do not enter into this film with expectations for greatness, rather, watch this film as a simple, fast-paced adventure with some nice fighting performances, and one can be satisfied with their experience from Dragonball: Evolution.

Actors from top to bottom: Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun-Fat, James Marsters, Eriko Tamura (Mai)

Characters

Goku: played by Justin Chatwin
A fast study in martial arts, his superhuman speed and strength allow him to progress quickly into the strongest fighter in the world. He must learn the source of his true strength and decide what feelings will allow him to protect all that he knows and loves. Chatwin’s capabilities as an actor are limited at best, but his physical understanding of acting is at many points in the movie enough to overcome his severe shortcomings at voice control and emotion. Facial expressions are not without highlights, but there are many points in the movie where Chatwin’s inexperience is evident.

Master Roshi: played by Chow Yun-Fat
An older martial artist, learned in many unusual techniques, he is the knowledge bearer that Goku must seek in order to understand the true nature of his mission, his enemy, and his own potential as a fighter. He objectifies women and has an awkward mix of humor and sincerity. Chow Yun-Fat often appears uncomfortable and forced with an inexplicable grin on his face at many points; he fills more as a role of spectator than mentor, as he has little to no report with the main character.

Lord Piccolo: played by James Marsters
An alien released from his two millennia imprisonment, intent on wreaking vengeance upon mankind. His lines are brief with very little depth offered on his motivations; he exists as a character with the simple purpose of seeking the dragonballs, by any means necessary with no regard for the effect his desires have on others. Marsters’ role is simple and to the point, he has no extended dialogue or heavily motivated interaction with other characters, and serves only as the most basic “evil” archetype.

Bulma: played by Emmy Rossum
A young woman attempting to recover the dragonballs for their capabilities as an energy source, and the fame and renown associated with the discovery. She reluctantly finds herself with companions on her journey and quickly learns to enjoy their company as she soon finds herself adopting their morals and ambitions of protecting the world they know. Rossum effectively creates a meaningful character, the only one with consistently meaningful emotion, and observable growth of personality. She is the lone bright spot among the cast, and proves capable of firing humorous one-liners as well as making some awkward script moments enjoyable, through her contemptuous yet supportive demeanors.

Genre
The fantasy element of this film distinguishes it from both marital arts and adventure films one would compare it to. Its characters are unique, but simple. As a martial arts film, it moves too quickly, concentrating more on its action components than a strong willed and emotionally charged protagonist. As an action film, it attempts to introduce too many characters and fails to cement them together properly to allow the viewer to feel a part of their adventure. Amongst graphic novel adaptations, Dragonball: Evolution finds a niche, bringing to life some astounding martial arts visual effects, and putting a human face on its unique superhuman characters. Easily the films make-up resembles other ventures that bring to life many comic book or video game storylines and characters.

Style
Visually Dragonball: Evolution displays a wonderful futuristic vision that loosely applies some of Akira Toriyama’s original creation. It exercises cinematic brilliance in many of its fight scenes and displays briefly some of the amazing possibilities for its superhuman hero. Scene cuts and drop-ins are often uninspiring, lacking the awe and drama one expects from film. Many of the CG created visual effects appear forcefully added, and do not fit into the film, or the flow of the story. Music is very inconsistent, as the movie begins with a heavier, rock style soundtrack, and awkwardly adds symphonic backgrounds to some scenes. Overall sound effects are not noticeably spectacular or awful; they serve their purpose and at times are capable of heightening the viewers’ sense of drama, especially during fight scenes. I would have liked to see this film attempt to use its Rock Music concept and create an overall feeling to the film, similar to Mortal Kombat (1995) and its style of mixing music and fighting, as this would have greatly added to the emotion and allowed fight scenes to stand out.