August 4, 2009

Dragonball is one of the most iconic mangas to ever grace paper all over the world. Dragonball has spawned three anime TV series and countless feature films over the years. Now some years later, the world receives a live-action adaptation that to some is nothing more than a means to rile up the fanboys/girls across the globe. I am no stranger to the Dragonball sagas, having seen pretty much every episode to date. I don’t consider myself a fanboy, despite the knowledge of the DB universe that I hold, as I have friends that could put me in my place without breaking a sweat. So without further wait I give you my review of Dragonball: Evolution - Z Edition on Blu-Ray.

I will stress that this film is an adaptation of the anime and manga that myself and countless other fans grew up with. It is also the first film in an announced trilogy, so I first approached viewing this film on Blu-Ray with an open mind, since I didn’t get a chance to see it in theaters. To be honest after watching it, I liked it. Sure, I spotted the things that would drive certain people insane, but the film could have been a lot worse (i.e. Bloodrayne).

The story of Dragonball: Evolution revolves loosely around “The King Piccolo Saga” from the anime. Though certain liberties were taken to make this film realistic and yet somewhat true to its source. In this film Son Goku (Justin Chatwin) is tasked with finding all of the famed Dragonballs, of which he has one, before Evil Lord Piccolo (James Marsters) does to grant the one perfect wish to banish Piccolo from this world. Along the way, he befriends and teams up with Bulma (Emmy Rossum), Yamcha (Joon Park), Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) and love interest Chi-Chi (Jamie Chung).

Dragonball: Evolution is filled with all sorts of martial arts scenes that will please pretty much anybody. There are two fights in the film that I particularly liked. The first being the fight at Chi-Chi’s party, which was really cool considering Goku didn’t threw a punch and the bullies ended up beating themselves up. Sort of reminded me of something you would see in a Jackie Chan film. It was even better when combined with Justin’s lines as he out maneuvered the school jerks.

The second scene that I enjoyed was the double Chi-Chi fight sequence. This fight was the most difficult sequence to film according to director James Wong. Actress Jamie Chung had to portray two different versions of Chi-Chi to make the scene believable. She along with the camera crew had to get every movement right to make this sequence work as well as having both Jamie’s face on the screen at the same time. I agree that the film would have collapsed on itself if this scene hadn’t worked.

Personally I think that all of the actors did a good job of portraying the iconic characters from the anime. Chow Yun-Fat’s performance as an outlandish mentor is enjoyable. It’s interesting to see him outside of his normal stoic image. Justin Chatwin’s portrayal of Son Goku is pretty good. His character doesn’t start out as the Goku that we all know but he quickly becomes that fighter with the aid of his friends. Jamie Chung’s performance is one of the highlights of the film for me and the confrontation between Goku and Chi-Chi at the end is classic Dragonball. Emmy Rossum is perfect in her portrayal of Bulma and I look forward to possibly seeing her in the sequels.

Filmmaking: 8
Between Director James Wong (Final Destination, The One) and Producer Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shoalin Soccer), Dragonball: Evolution is a pretty cool martial arts film. Both of these two men are among my list of favorite directors/producers. They do a pretty decent job taking a source that is known the world over and making a story that is familiar and yet its own. Now I won’t deny that there are things that I think could have been done better such as the portrayal of Oozaru. I did however like the way Piccolo was designed and Marsters played him very well. The overall style of the world is one grounded in a sense of reality while still portraying the futuristic world of the anime.

Visuals: 7
The box art cover and pictures portray Dragonball: Evolution as a rather bright and colorful film. This is perhaps only half true. There are moments when the visual effects are quite good and others where they lack. The costume designs are well done especially with Goku’s outfit in the big fight between him and Piccolo. Piccolo himself I felt was well made. Sure he didn’t have antennae sticking up off his head but he was believable and that was all that mattered to me. I even like the little touch of teal/cyan in Bulma’s hair. The visual effects used to create the main characters signature attacks were colorful and well done. The level of picture quality on Blu-Ray looked really good in the 1080p, 2.40:1 AVC format, especially during the slow motion segments scattered throughout the film. This is particularly apparent with the water in the party fight.

Sound: 7
Dragonball: Evolution is presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio which made every kick, punch and grunt sound amazing. The score composed by Brian Tyler is quite good and fits into the film well. I also have to give props to Ayumi Hamasaki for the ending song “Rule” which actually plays occasionally throughout the film. Sadly there is no director/actor commentary track to be found on the Blu-Ray.

Value: 8
Dragonball: Evolution features several bonus features. Featured on the main disc you have a quirky workout video tailored for the young ones. You also get deleted scenes, a gag reel and a music video by Brian Anthony. The music video I could have done without, as it did nothing for me. You also get two FOX Movie Channel featurettes. One is called “FOX Movie Channel presents Making a Scene” which show us how they pulled off the big Chi-Chi fight. The other is called “FOX Movie Channel presents Life After Film School with Justin Chatwin” which covers an interview of sorts involving Justin’s views on acting and his role in Dragonball. Buyers of the Blu-ray even get a Digital Copy of the film to enjoy on the road.

Overall: 7.5
The majority of the public’s opinions will probably fall into one of two categories. On one side we will have the people that like the movie despite its inaccuracies, and on the other we will have the people that are crying out in anger that they screwed it up. I fall in that first category. I like Dragonball: Evolution for what it is. It's funny, action-filled and for the most part a good story. For those of you that liked the film you can pick it up for around $25 to $30 dollars at most retailers. Those with a casual interest will want to rent or wait for the price to drop.