Cast: Justin Chatwin, YUn-Fat Chow, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung, James Marster, Joon Park, Randall Duk Kim; Director: James Wong; Producer: Stephen Chow; Screenwriters: Ben Ramsey, Akira Toriyama; Music: Brian Tyler; Editor: Matt Friedman, Chris G. Willingham; Genre: Action; Cinematography: Robert McLachlan; Distributor: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation; Location: Los Angeles, USA; Running Time: 85 min.;Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: For viewers age 13 and below with parental guidance
Two thousand years after Piccolo (James Marsters) is imprisoned when he attempted to destroy the Earth, he escapes and begins to search for the 7 dragonballs that will enable him to summon the Shen Long dragon and make a wish to finally conquer Earth. In his search, he kills Gohan (Randall Duk Kim), grandfather of 18 year old martial arts master Goku (Justin Chatwin). Meanwhile, Goku seeks out an old family friend Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) so he can unlock the secret of the dragonball and defeat Piccolo and save the Earth before the solar eclipse happens.
Dragonball Evolution is a film remake of anime TV series of the 90s. However, despite using real characters and hi end CGIs, the film falls short compared to the original cartoon. The movie is filled with tacky actions sequences, ghastly performances and below average direction. The slow-mo technique to emphasize or style an action sequence becomes tedious and corny. Another problem area is the characterization. The translation from anime to big screen real life comes to nothing with mediocre acting and weak dialogue. Fans of the original TV anime will be disappointed and first timers will be bored.
The heart of the movie is about “searching” – a search for the talismans, a search for victory, a search for one’s true character, a search for heroes and saviors. Life is a continuous journey to search and discover and to realize one’s worth and mission.
The movie’s fight sequences become more violent and destructive after it was translated to real life action. Parents should take precaution in allowing their young children to watch the movie unsupervised and unguided.
