Fast-paced action, goofy costumes and high technology are to be expected from “Dragonball Evolution.” The story follows a na?ve and optimistic martial artist named Goku (Justin Chatwin, “The Invisible”) as he sets out on an adventure to gather artifacts of mystical properties that will grant him one perfect wish. He is joined by a lovely femme fatale, Bulma (Emmy Rossum, “Poseidon”), a con artist named Yamcha (Joon Park, “Speed Racer”), the skilled Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat, “The Replacement Killers”) and his love interest, Chi Chi (Jamie Chung, TV’s “Greek”). Goku’s efforts are set directly against the evil Piccolo (James Marsters, TV’s “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), an ancient alien recently escaped from imprisonment to wreak havoc on the human world.
The kid-friendly script limits the actors’ performances, and character development is almost non-existent. These two go hand-in-hand with the rushed pace of the movie, which moves from scene to scene accomplishing either development of the mythology or a fight scene to raise the stakes. The whole thing is thoroughly contrived.
It’s hard to believe that both a world where martial arts involving the focusing of destructive energies is commonplace, and Chatwin’s hair becomes increasingly messy over time are one in the same.
Unfortunately, believability isn’t the biggest problem for “Dragonball Evolution.” The real problem with the adaptation of this anime franchise to the big screen is the audience it intends to reach. On one hand, you have a tween-and-under demographic that will be pleased enough to see people shooting energy balls at each other. On the other hand, there are die-hard or just casual Dragonball fans that will see this movie and be disappointed. The movie is not faithful (at the very least, it’s grossly inaccurate) to the manga or the show, but that’s not the worst of it. To give everyone a fair shake, it should be noted that it is difficult to translate cartoons to live action because animation as a medium can display a spectacle more easily than state-of-the-art special effects.
Also painfully apparent in this movie are the pitfalls of converting the stories of Dragonball into an 85-minute film (some story arcs in the show span multiple seasons). Finally, even if one successfully translates complicated, fantastic stories into a Hollywood production, there still remains the problem of truly capturing the essence of the source material without making too many concessions to accessibility for the casual viewer.
“Dragonball Evolution” uses all of the superficial aspects of the anime but leaves all of the substance. Underneath Goku’s pluckiness and relentless optimism is the isolating knowledge of being one of very few left of an ancient and fearsome race. Imagine watching a Superman movie without the whole “Last Son of Krypton” bit. It just wouldn’t be the same. The movie even delves into some heady identity-crisis type psychology toward the end, but the results are flat. Especially taking into account the vast wealth of viable stories that were forgone to create one singular plot highlights Hollywood’s primary goal of producing profit with no respect for the art. This practice is by no means surprising, but it still is disappointing. Don’t see this movie unless you are with a younger sibling or just want a bit of mindless action — emphasis on the mindless part.
1 star out of 5.
