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Link to original post: [drupal=1432]Movie Review: Dragonball Evolution[/drupal]
NOTE: The following is the fanboy review of this movie, for the non-fanboy review scroll down until you find a link of asterisks (*).
If the Eragon movie taught me anything, it's to expect all big-screen adaptation of anything to suck. It was probably this mindset that made me call the Inkheart movie a worthy adaptation of a great novel. I've had my eye on the Dragonball movie for a while, and I expected this thing to suck, I expected to hate the **** thing so much that I walked out of the theater half way through. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad.
So, I sat down in the theater, braced myself for the worst and let it start up. I'll be honest, it wasn't terrible for a while. They did an okay job at adapting the characters. Bulma was really different from the original, which I liked because Bulma is high up on my list of "worst characters ever." In the manga, she was a winy little ***** who seriously needed to shut up. In the movie she's a baddass action chick who doesn't take crap from anyone. "Whatever," I though, sitting in the darkened room. Roshi's around, although he isn't as much of a pervert as he was in the manga. And he's still an off-the-wall kind of guy, at least Roshi was fairly well adapted. But Piccolo... okay, he doesn't even LOOK like Piccolo! All he is is an angry green guy! And why the hell wasn't Krillin in the movie? Seriously, the least they could have done is given him a cameo! And here's another thing, why the hell does Roshi live in the city? It may have been years since I last read Dragonball, but I'm fairly sure that he lives in an Island in the middle of the ocean! And why is Goku eighteen? Isn't he somewhere around the age of 11 in the manga? So I just ignored this little differences, and decided to accept the fact that no transition is going to be perfect. So continued to view, kind of shuddered when Roshi mispronounced "Gohan" as "Go-han" rather than "Go-hon." So I just ignored this, and I accepted the movie for a bit. And then time came to use the Kamehameha Wave. It was as this point that this expression appeared on my face:
and stayed that way for the rest of the movie. Roshi mispronounced that too. He pronounced it "kame-hame-ha" rather than "ka-mey-huh-mey-huh." And they also *******ized it by giving it more than one use. I don't remember it being able to light candles, or to heal people, or to act as a gust of wind. Hell, it isn't even a blue beam! It looks more like blue shock wave! And here's another thing, I don't remember a weird temple thing popping out of the ground when you use the Dragonballs. Well, at least they kept the Great Ape in, and it looks kind of like the Great Ape. But whatever.
Cripes, I really don't know what's worse, watching this or watching Eragon! It's like asking an ambidextrous man what hand he wants chopped off. And just like the Eragon movie, if you're a fan of Dragonball you're probably not going to like it. But I saw it with a non-fan friend who thought that it was freaking awesome. I'll be honest, the movie wasn't terrible, but it wasn't that good either. What it was was watchable. I'll judge it as three kinds of things. First, I'll judge it was a movie based off of a previously established series. For that, it was... well, not terrible, not good, but crappy. Not quite ****ty, just crappy. As a movie, it was run of the mill, nothing really worth checking out. Yeah, you might see it once but after that it's not really worth seeing it again. And as a martial arts movie... well, I've seen better martial arts movies.
**********************************************************************************************
(Sits in large arm chair infront of a fire place, and starts smoking a pipe). So after writing my first review on this film, I recivied several complaints about my bias dislike of it already. So now I bring you a review from a non-fanboy point of view.
I did enjoy the hour and thirty minuets inside that theater. The film was indeed enjoyable, if you watch it from the point of view from a non-fan. However, there are several complaints I have. I thought that the special effects could have been much better. For instance, there is one part where a series of spires and a temple rises out of the ground. The special effects used here would have been acceptable in perhaps the nineties, but by today's standards it looks cheap, an after-though, half-*****, if you will. And another complaint I have is the lack of characterization for one named Mai. She only has about ten lines in the entire film, her reasons for helping the main villain, Piccolo, are never explained, either. There are also a handful of loose ends that are never explored or tied up. Such as how the character Goku mentions a race of alien warriors called the Nameks at one point, but this is never explored.
Despite this, there were a number of things that were good as well. All of the actors did a great job, the plot was overall fairly good, and I really enjoyed Yun-Fat Chow's portrayal of Master Roshi. The film's fight scenes were fast and enjoyable, and the plot was developed enough to have some degree of believability.
Dragonball: Evolution is a summer action flick. A bunch of fighting, an somewhat developed plot and it isn't very long. So if you're not of fan of Dragonball and are just looking for something to keep you entertained for and hour and thirty minuets then go check out this movie. If you are a Dragonball fan, then refer to my first review.
NOTE: The following is the fanboy review of this movie, for the non-fanboy review scroll down until you find a link of asterisks (*).
If the Eragon movie taught me anything, it's to expect all big-screen adaptation of anything to suck. It was probably this mindset that made me call the Inkheart movie a worthy adaptation of a great novel. I've had my eye on the Dragonball movie for a while, and I expected this thing to suck, I expected to hate the **** thing so much that I walked out of the theater half way through. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad.
So, I sat down in the theater, braced myself for the worst and let it start up. I'll be honest, it wasn't terrible for a while. They did an okay job at adapting the characters. Bulma was really different from the original, which I liked because Bulma is high up on my list of "worst characters ever." In the manga, she was a winy little ***** who seriously needed to shut up. In the movie she's a baddass action chick who doesn't take crap from anyone. "Whatever," I though, sitting in the darkened room. Roshi's around, although he isn't as much of a pervert as he was in the manga. And he's still an off-the-wall kind of guy, at least Roshi was fairly well adapted. But Piccolo... okay, he doesn't even LOOK like Piccolo! All he is is an angry green guy! And why the hell wasn't Krillin in the movie? Seriously, the least they could have done is given him a cameo! And here's another thing, why the hell does Roshi live in the city? It may have been years since I last read Dragonball, but I'm fairly sure that he lives in an Island in the middle of the ocean! And why is Goku eighteen? Isn't he somewhere around the age of 11 in the manga? So I just ignored this little differences, and decided to accept the fact that no transition is going to be perfect. So continued to view, kind of shuddered when Roshi mispronounced "Gohan" as "Go-han" rather than "Go-hon." So I just ignored this, and I accepted the movie for a bit. And then time came to use the Kamehameha Wave. It was as this point that this expression appeared on my face:
and stayed that way for the rest of the movie. Roshi mispronounced that too. He pronounced it "kame-hame-ha" rather than "ka-mey-huh-mey-huh." And they also *******ized it by giving it more than one use. I don't remember it being able to light candles, or to heal people, or to act as a gust of wind. Hell, it isn't even a blue beam! It looks more like blue shock wave! And here's another thing, I don't remember a weird temple thing popping out of the ground when you use the Dragonballs. Well, at least they kept the Great Ape in, and it looks kind of like the Great Ape. But whatever.
Cripes, I really don't know what's worse, watching this or watching Eragon! It's like asking an ambidextrous man what hand he wants chopped off. And just like the Eragon movie, if you're a fan of Dragonball you're probably not going to like it. But I saw it with a non-fan friend who thought that it was freaking awesome. I'll be honest, the movie wasn't terrible, but it wasn't that good either. What it was was watchable. I'll judge it as three kinds of things. First, I'll judge it was a movie based off of a previously established series. For that, it was... well, not terrible, not good, but crappy. Not quite ****ty, just crappy. As a movie, it was run of the mill, nothing really worth checking out. Yeah, you might see it once but after that it's not really worth seeing it again. And as a martial arts movie... well, I've seen better martial arts movies.
**********************************************************************************************
(Sits in large arm chair infront of a fire place, and starts smoking a pipe). So after writing my first review on this film, I recivied several complaints about my bias dislike of it already. So now I bring you a review from a non-fanboy point of view.
I did enjoy the hour and thirty minuets inside that theater. The film was indeed enjoyable, if you watch it from the point of view from a non-fan. However, there are several complaints I have. I thought that the special effects could have been much better. For instance, there is one part where a series of spires and a temple rises out of the ground. The special effects used here would have been acceptable in perhaps the nineties, but by today's standards it looks cheap, an after-though, half-*****, if you will. And another complaint I have is the lack of characterization for one named Mai. She only has about ten lines in the entire film, her reasons for helping the main villain, Piccolo, are never explained, either. There are also a handful of loose ends that are never explored or tied up. Such as how the character Goku mentions a race of alien warriors called the Nameks at one point, but this is never explored.
Despite this, there were a number of things that were good as well. All of the actors did a great job, the plot was overall fairly good, and I really enjoyed Yun-Fat Chow's portrayal of Master Roshi. The film's fight scenes were fast and enjoyable, and the plot was developed enough to have some degree of believability.
Dragonball: Evolution is a summer action flick. A bunch of fighting, an somewhat developed plot and it isn't very long. So if you're not of fan of Dragonball and are just looking for something to keep you entertained for and hour and thirty minuets then go check out this movie. If you are a Dragonball fan, then refer to my first review.
Where'd that extra 't' come from though?