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It’s only
been in the past few of years that I’ve
gotten interested in the world of Anime
(Japanese animation for the uninitiated).
Admittedly a lot of what I’d seen
in the past didn’t really impress
me. Of course, I had watched “Speed
Racer” when I was a kid, and enjoyed
it only because it was a colorful cartoon,
fast and easy to understand. As an adult
I had only been exposed to “Pokemon”,
“Digimon” and all the other
little ‘mons” floating around
out there. Seems I just couldn’t ever
get myself interested enough in Anime to
watch any of the supposed ‘good stuff.’
Early in 2002, I caught part of an episode
of a series called “Cowboy Bebop.”
And when I say ‘part’, I mean
I only saw the last five minutes of an episode.
Oddly enough, in that five minutes I saw
some of the best and most remarkable animation
I had seen in years.
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I immediately started looking into getting some
of the shows on DVD to see what I had been missing.
I found a full set of the series, watched the
entire thing in two days and was hooked. Then,
shortly after that I saw and reviewed “Vampire
Hunter D” and its sequel “Vampire
Hunter D: Bloodlust,” both of which impressed
the hell out of me. At that point I finally figured
out there was more to this Anime thing than caught
the eye.
I still wouldn’t consider myself an expert
on the subject in any way, shape or form, but
I can make boil down the distinction to what appeals
to me and what doesn’t. I’m learning
it has less to do with style, and more with plot,
just like any movie. I’ve since watched
several Anime titles, including the works of Hayao
Miyazaki (“Castle in the Sky”, “Kiki’s
Delivery Service”, “Spirited Away”,
etc…), most of which I enjoyed immensely.
I loved “Trigun.” I was even impressed
by the ultra-gory Anime sequence used in Quentin
Tarantino’s “Kill Bill, Volume 1.”
All in all, great stuff. But then there’s
the other side of the coin.
For example, I tried watching “Dragonball
Z” a few times with my son… but just
couldn’t get into the rapid-fire action,
silly characters and often rambling plotting.
Yet, it had a huge fan base… so I guess
I was missing something. So it was with some hesitation
that I opted to watch the recent live action version,
“Dragonball Evolution.” Actually,
even my son was hesitant and his final opinion
was actually worse than mine. I think perhaps
watching the film is much better experience for
someone who hasn’t seen the series than
for someone who has.
However, watching “Dragonball Evolution”
I was struck by two divergent thoughts…
how incredibly cool the scenes looked and how
indecipherably incoherent the film was. Well ok…
maybe not completely indecipherable. Let’s
see if I can explain the gist of it. Our hero,
Goku (Justin Chatwin), is charged with the safekeeping
of a Dragonball by his grandfather. We learn there
are seven Dragonballs and if they are all gathered
together the bearer is granted a single perfect
wish. Unfortunately, an evil villain Flute…
uhhh… Violin….ummm… oh yeah…
PICCOLO (James Marsters) is on a quest to gather
up all the Dragonballs. It is up to Goku to stop
him. (Wow, I guess that isn’t too confusing…
yet the film still manages to make it a little
hard to follow…)
Ultimately I still had a little bit of fun watching
“Dragonball Evolution”, more so because
of how silly it was rather than how awesome it
could have been. The visuals are for the most
part quite stunning, but the acting… even
from such luminaries as Chow Yun-Fat, are either
over the top, or totally uninspired.
20th Century Fox is releasing the Bluray this
week, and I will say that the film’s visuals
look pretty awesome in 1080p. There is only one
part of the movie, right near the beginning that
doesn’t seem to look quite right, but after
that everything else looks terrific. The sound
is also very well mixed, which added to the surround
experience especially during the action sequences.
For those interested in the behind the scenes
goings on, the Bluray offers up several special
feature including a look at Goku’s workout
and features a lot of the martial arts ‘moves’
used in the film. There are also two Fox Movie
Channel Specials, the first showing the preparation
of one of the action sequences. The second is
a fairly long interview with actor Justin Chatwin.
You’ll also find some deleted scenes, a
music video for the song “Worked Up!”,
and a ‘game’ of sorts that asks you
to click the red button on your remote whenever
a Dragonball Icon shows up on the screen during
the film. And of course, there is a Digital Download
available for the film.
“Dragonball Evolution” is by no means
meant to be an Academy Award winner, but surely
no one would expect it to be. (If you do have
that expectation… you are no longer allowed
to watch movies.) It’s silly Saturday afternoon
fun.
Directed by: James Wong
Starring: Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung,
Chow Yun-Fat, James Marsters
Extras: Goku’s Workout, Goku’s Quest
Game, Deleted Scenes, Brian Anthony “Worked
Up!” Music Video, Gag Reel, Making a Scene
(Fox Movie Channel), Life After Film School with
Justin Chatwin, Digital Copy
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1), English 5.1
DTS-HD Master Audio
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 8/4/2009
MPAA Rating: PG (Intense Sequences of Action /
Violence and Brief Mild Language)
http://www.foxbluray.com
We'll give Dragonball Evolution (Blu-ray) a
C-.
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