Movie Review: Dragonball Evolution

I’ve waited long for this movie with great anticipation and excitement as Dragonball Z is one of those comics that I was a fan of as a kid. I’m not claiming that I know every single detail to storyline in the comic plot but I know quite a number of its basics and some interesting bits and pieces. So to get one of my favourite comics’ or books’ plots or storyline butchered is an absolute crime to me: this movie did just that. I need not mention which parts are just way off course; it’s just really that disappointing.

The storyline for this movie is absolutely bland; it’s the same feeling you get when you’re going off to work and signing in – it’s way too straight forward, with not a single twist. It’s like reading a kindergarten storybook! Well, supposedly there is a twist in it; given the fact that a character is indeed another character (yes, I’m trying not to provide spoilers); but it’s done too bland that the surprise meant nothing. It’s as if you’re unenergetically saying “surprise” instead of shouting it.

The acting ranges between mediocre to downright dreadful. You’d thought Chow Yun Fatt and Emmy Rossum would have helped support the unrecognisable cast of this movie – but no. Emmy Rossum’s performance as Bulma was painful; it was so impassionate that she actually sounded like she was just reading the script instead of delivering the character. At some point, she actually even sound like she was miming!

Chow Yun Fatt was, similarly, surprisingly bad. The way he delivered his lines sounded very fake.

I don’t get why Goku isn’t Japanese or at least even Asian... but that’s beside the point – as a main character, this guy could not portray the amount of emotion that should be present. I think his weak performance contributed greatly to the failure of this movie in evoking any particular emotion. He was only able to provoke humour – but anything beside that just falls down to the ground.

Dreadful to mediocre acting coupled with an extremely sleep-inducing plot; this movie has unfortunately been listed to me as just downright disastrous. It’s as if they just decided to make a movie after an hour’s drinking session – pick whoever is available to act at the time – AND write the scripts spontaneously with very few research and not let any of the characters learn it.

I swear, everyone seems to be just reading and not delivering! Heck even my nephew can do that!!

Verdict: Isn’t it obvious? Don’t watch it – a COMPLETE waste of time.

Regards,

Muaz Al Rashid