Dragonball: Evolution

Starring: Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun-Fat, Jamie Chung, James Marsters, Ernie Hudson, Randall Duk Kim
Directed by: James Wong
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Goku (Justin Chatwin) is an average teenager who is shocked to return home one day to find his grandfather (Randall Duk Kim) has been murdered for a mysterious dragonball. He teams up with a enterprising woman (Emmy Rossum) and a martial arts master (Chow Yun Fat) to collect the seven dragonball and unite their power to stop an evil alien (James Marsters) determined to destroy the planet.

Review:

Tim: In the vein of full disclosure, I need to say that I occasionally watched a few episodes of "Dragonball Z" when I was young, and I actually really enjoyed it. So, when this movie came out, despite the fact that it had "massive bomb" written all over it, I still felt somewhat excited about it (not excited enough to see it in theatres, but some excitement nonetheless). After seeing it, I have to say that my worries were well founded. This is a ridiculously flawed, disappointing, silly, ineffective movie. And yet, despite all its problems, I couldn't help but enjoy myself. In spite of how bad this movie is, I couldn't bring myself to hate it. This is truly one of those movies that are so incredibly bad, they are actually good.

Now, when I say good, I don't actually mean good. This movie is quite flawed, many in irredeemable ways. Still, I did somewhat enjoy my experience here. In fact, I was laughing throughout the movie. Yes, most of these laughs were unintentionally funny parts, but I just had to shake my head and laugh at some of the ridiculousness crammed into this film. Luckily, this is a movie that knows it's bad, so much of its silliness helps it because it has a sense of humor. Had this movie taken itself too seriously, these flaws would have been fatal.

The cast is a bit disappointing. Justin Chatwin would not have been my first, second, or third choice to play Goku, but I like that he made the role his own and does put it some effort. He's not great, but in a movie like this, he does about what you could reasonably ask of him. Emmy Rossum is mostly wasted in a stupid role. I liked Chow Yun-Fat, as this film gave him an opportunity to showcase a lighter, funnier side to him. He is a bit too over-the-top, but he works. James Marsters is a bit weak as Piccolo. This movie needed a terrifying, strong villain and his performance (and his appearance) is a bit lackluster. I wish he was a more memorable bad guy.

The action scenes are at least decent. The special effects and fight sequences suffer from a too-small budget, but they do provide some entertainment. This film would be greatly helped by some more exciting and more effective moments. Sadly, these are too few and far between. The plot is mostly worthwhile and does offer a few surprising twists. Still, none of this is as effective as it needs to be.

Dragonball: Evolution is a complete mess of a movie, but it is good natured about it. I really, really wish this movie would have worked because I love the source material and believe some great movies could have come from it. Unfortunately, this is not what I expected. This film is a disappointment which I contradictorly liked far more than I should have. This isn't exactly a guilty pleasure, but I definitely feel guilt that I didn't hate it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, The Invisible, The Chumscrubber, War of the Worlds