Film Reviews

Dragonball: Evolution

• Rating:
• Director: James Wong
• Starring: Chow Yun-Fat
• Details: US/Hong Kong / (85mins) (PG).

The latest Manga craze to grip pre-teen boys is Dragonball - something that totally passed this reviewer by since he moved away from home (two nephews already introduced him to the 'delights' of Power Rangers and Pokemon) - and pre-teen boys should love this live-action adaptation.

When he turns 18, Goku (Chatwin) is orphaned when Lord Piccolo (James Marsters) - a monstrous being that, 2,000 years ago, waged a war on the world but was imprisoned by a brotherhood of men - kills his grandfather. Piccolo needs 7 Dragonballs to take over the world. Or something. With the help of Bulma (Rossum), Chi-Chi (Chung) and Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat), Goku embarks on a quest to retrieve the balls before Piccolo does...

It's action that the boys want, and it's action they get. A Matrix/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon action sequence is never too far away and, during the quieter moments, there are plenty of cute-looking women sporting generous cleavages to keep interest levels high. The plot gets easy (everywhere the heroes turn up, a Dragonball is 'close'), the special effects are a tad shoddy from time to time, action scenes are short on bloodshed and Wong tends to overdo the 'bullet time' style - if Goku made a cup of tea there would be 'whooshes' galore - but that won't bother the young fans. And the movie's message of 'have faith in who you are' is a nice one.

Review by Gavin Burke