Posted: 07/13/2009

Dragonball: Evolution (2009)

by Michael J. Nicholas

“The first rule is- there are no rules!” Pretty deep for ancient Asian philosophy. Well, that’s what you get when Hollywood drops down from the bonsai tree of zen to dazzle the world with not only martial arts action, but generic wisdom as well. Dragonball: Evolution is the live action film taken from the mind of Akira Toriyama, whose creation spawned video games, graphic novels and even a television series. Directed by James Wong and co-produced by Kung Fu Hustle’s Stephen Chow, the movie fails to capture the essence and spirit of the story in which created it, due to an overall lack of enthusiam in my opinion.

There are seven magical Dragonballs that Demon Lord Piccolo needs to destroy the Earth so he and his alien race can take control of the universe. Once all balls are together, the holder gets granted one ‘perfect wish’ by a magical dragon. Justin Chatwin plays Goku, a caucasian teen raised by his Asian grandfather, and not knowing the identity of his real parents, finds out that he is the ‘chosen one’. (I just couldn’t help but think Beverly Hills Ninja here.) After receiving a ‘Dragonball’ from grandpa for his 18th birthday, he soon realizes the orb he’s carrying is more than just some ancient Chinese trinket. His new found romance with classmate Chi-Chi (Jamie Chung) gets put on hold when he returns home one night and finds his grandfather near death by the hands of evil warlord Piccolo (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s James Marsters). By the way, this demon character looks way to much like the over the top, green-faced, zuit suit wearing wild man that Jim Carrey played in ‘The Mask’.

Goku encounters a hip, gun-toting young lady named Bulma (Emmy Rossum) in search of other Dragonballs to use for commercial gain as an unlimited power source that she could develop at her father’s company. Using a gadget that she built to track the whereabouts of these glowing red spheres, her and Goku team up to find all seven hidden throughout the world. First, they must search for master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat), in order for Goku to continue his training. It’s a shame though that Roshi behaves more like a kung fu clown and less that of a real martial arts master. Once everyone is acquainted, they begin their journey in the desert and soon after, encounter master theif Yamcha (Joon Park). Goku soon finds out that his love-interest, Chi-Chi is also a martial artist when he discovers her training at a secret desert temple. She helps the group with the task at hand, but doesn’t join them on the journey to take down Piccolo.

For a movie based on video games and animated series action, it sure was a dissapointment witnessing all the lack-luster fight sequences. The C.G.I. effects were mid-grade at best and left me feeling that maybe there was a small budget behind them. One of the biggest downers of the film was the lack of originality of any kind in the script. Then again, with the actors used, I guess you can’t expect miracles when it comes to martial arts fighting- and acting for that matter. But, the movie was made for kids and not opinionated adults like myself, so maybe it’s better than I think it is.

The special features on the DVD include:
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
Music Video ‘Worked Up’ by Brian Anthony
Goku’s Workout
Fox Movie Channel’s ‘Making a Scene’
Fox Movie Channel’s ‘Life After Film School’ with Justin Chatwin
Garfield’s ‘Pet Force’ Trailer

Michael J. Nicholas - a.k.a. Nicky The Note - reviews, opinions & life lessons.

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