Movie: “Dragonball Evolution”
Director: James Wong
Stars: * (out of five)
If the theory of evolution assumes that species evolve into higher forms of life over time, then “Dragonball Evolution” comes as a heresy to the Darwinian doctrine. All the noise and clunk from the television series “Dragonball Z” is here, but all the positive traits like style from the older series, “Dragonball,” is gone. In the original Japanese manga, there was something quite magical about watching the adventures of a boy with a monkey tail flying around on a cloud. Even when the series became more dangerous, the whimsical style still remained the key to success. The exaggerated hairdos, the bright color palette and the powering up to energy levels over 9,000 was what made the original series so memorable. But natural selection has chopped off all the favorable attributes for the film version.
This movie should have simply been named, “The Hero’s Journey: Evolution.” Disregarding the original source material, this film is nothing more than a deranged form of a paint-by-the-numbers beginner’s screenwriting formula. There is no personality in this film apart from what its formula allows. The teenage martial arts expert, protagonist Goku (Justin Chatwin), has a “Call to Adventure” when his dying mentor grandfather informs him he is the chosen one, and must gather seven dragonballs in order to save the world from the evil green antagonist, Piccolo. The seven dragonballs scattered across the earth are said to be able to grant someone a wish when they are brought together. After “Crossing the First Threshold,” Goku meets some Allies and Enemies who test him in martial arts combat in preparation for the final confrontation with Piccolo. If this plot sounds like it came from a cartoon, wouldn’t it make sense for the filmmakers to treat it like one and exaggerate the style? Toning down the extremes in order to ground this fantastical story in reality is plain ridiculous.
The signature six-foot-tall hairdo of Goku has been trimmed down to a more manageable three inches. The lush green landscapes have been replaced with ugly grays. Everything from the special effects to the martial arts choreography looks like it came out of the bottom of the barrel in a back corner of a second-hand flea market. Even the massive fan base for “Dragonball” called for a boycott of this film, which could have been well avoided had the filmmakers understood what made “Dragonball” appealing in the first place. Why did Goku transform from an Asian monkey boy to a white teenager with a bad haircut?
Asians are quite underrepresented in American media, so it should come as an outrage that the studios cast one of the most popular Asian superheroes, Goku, with a white actor. The sad truth is, people like Mickey Rooney get Asian roles in movies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” “Dragonball Evolution” mistakenly alienates one of its core demographics, which is not only culturally irresponsible, but also economically stupid.
