My bad.

Plot Summary

The world of Dragonball: Evolution is not what you’d expect. Fighters compete for world championships and the laws of physics are made to be broken. Leaps become short flights, balls of energy fly about, and futuristic technology gets a strong dose of old eastern mysticism. In the middle of it all is a spiky-haired protagonist with a great destiny.

Goku, is a high school outcast that can’t talk to girls or stand up to bullies. Fortunately for him, his grandfather has trained him in the art of kicking butts and collecting names. On his eighteenth birthday, things hit the proverbial fan and Goku is tasked with collecting seven magical dragonballs that are scattered around the planet. If he fails, the diabolical alien Piccolo will resurrect the demon Oozaru and make our pretty blue planet a heap of smoldering space rubble. Along the way he finds help from his friends Bulma, Yamcha, Chi Chi, and the lecherous Master Roshi.

Review

Dragonball: Evolution tries to play it straight and pass itself off as an actual film that people over fifteen will enjoy. Despite good intentions and a few inventive fight scenes, the movie misses the mark in every category.

Character Development

The hallmark of a bad film is when the characters refuse to change over the course of the picture. Other than the cursory “learning to believe

in themselves” lesson that all of one the characters learn, everyone is the same at the end as they were at the start.

I know the word cookie-cu

tter is thrown around a lot these days, but my thesaurus is in my other critic’s pants, so it will have to do. There is no depth to these characters. None. Whatsoever.

Character Design

When it comes to the character design, it’s all in the hair. Goku’s hair is a nod to fans of the original, and it leads to a terrible gag involving hair gel. Bulma is without her blue hair, save for a lone streak in her hair. Piccolo looks less like a menacing space demon and more like the great Gazoo. Oozaru looks less like a ten-story gorilla and more like Teen Wolf. You know character design has failed when the audience breaks into chuckles upon first sight of a world-destroying demon. Seriously, somebody owes Michael J. Fox royalties.

Cinematography

Did they leave the special effects and cinematography to the interns? The film opens with unique and engaging camera placement and passable visuals, but devolves to an overblown mess by the second act. The energy balls being thrown about lack the pulsating power of the anime and resemble something a hobbyist would put on Youtube in some shots.

Acting

The acting is decent from Chatwin (Goku) and Yun-Fat(Master Roshi), but Emmy Rossum and Joon Park turn in some of the worst performances of the year. Park ‘s portrayal of Yamcha is over-done, under-thought, and all around terrible. His voice gave me visions of early days of anime dubbing. Rossum’s Bulma is even worse. While not a bad actress, the way she handled the incorrigible Dragonball hunter was more fit for middle of a Fox Saturday morning lineup than the big screen.

To their credit, the actors did not have much to work with. Ben Ramsey took Toriyama’s work and converted it to a clichéd screenplay that lacks substance or motivation. Everything, from the characters to the plot, are just going through the motions. Dragonball wasn’t all about fighting.

Sure, there was a great deal of fisticuffs, but the show had a great sense of humor about itself. Dragonball: Evolution forgoes the charm of the source material and ends up feeling like action scene after action scene being packed in without pacing or reason. The friendly nature of the screenplay is also a huge problem. No matter what is thrown at our heroic crew, the story gets in the way of itself and makes the whole affair easy to figure out. Piccolo’s reasoning for wanting to jump into our bases and kill all of our men is never fleshed out, and the dialogue uses such original lines as, “Get ready to eat dirt!” As charming as some of Roshi’s lines are, the rest of the dialog will induce heavy groans.

To the film’s credit, it never became boring, like many failed action films over the years. Stupid, redundant, and sometimes unbearable? Yes. Boring? No.

Music

Brian Tyler has created a competent score to go along with the film. Some sections seemed a tad generic, but it matched the overall sense of what was happening on screen. He wont be winning any awards for his work, but I wouldn’t be upset to see him compose for more movies.

Conclusion

All things considered, Dragonball: Evolution really misses the mark. The original fans of the Dragonball are going to be turned off by the lack of acting, amateurish visuals, and the blatant disregard for the source material. Sure, the kids will like it, but with a vapid plot and lack of any substance or message, do you really want your kids to watch it? I suspect the money this film brings in will not warrant a sequel, which makes the “surprise” in the credits more than unnecessary. Not giving anything away, but don’t leave the theater early.

On second though, maybe you should.

Rating

Dragonball: Evolution gets 2 outta 5 Hammies!

Film Info

• Director:James Wong
• Author: Ben Ramsey
• Distributor:20th Century Fox
• Number of discs:
• Running Time: 84 Minutes
• Rating: Rated PG for intense sequences of action/violence and brief mild language.

Plot Summary

Boredom can be deadly, at least that’s how it turns out when a shinigami (death god) decides he needs a little excitement in his life. The shinigami in question, Ryuk, casually drops his death note into the human world, with instructions on its use.

Death Note Theatrical Poster

The human who picks up Ryuk’s death note, Light Yagami, a gifted law student whose faith in the justice system is shaken, sees the death note as his opportunity to rid the world of crime once and for all- and to rule it.

But just as Light is hitting his stride in reshaping the world by offing thousands of criminals, his efforts are confounded by the mysterious world renown detective, L.

L, who always solves his case, has taken on the challenge of uncovering the identity of the quasi-benevolent murder dubbed Kira (Killer) by the public. As the two go head to head, a dangerous game unfolds in which one misstep is a sentence of death.

Who will win this cat and mouse, or more appropriately, shinigami and human, game?

Review

As adaptations of the manga, and even as stand alone films, the live action Death Note movies are almost total failures. To start with, Light was never an idealistic, naive teenager. Never. But in the first movie, he’s startlingly naive and damn near stupid in his views on law and justice.

Light’s new persona is only the beginning of the reworking of the stellar pacing, story and development of the manga series into an unwatchable, plodding, tedious, five hour crapfest. Fans who have dedicated themselves to the manga series, i.e. read every volume and read them carefully, will silently scream as they watch their favorite detective and his rival bore diehard fans to death.

The live action movies have none of the fast pacing, plot twists, tension or suspense the manga has. This is a stripped down reinterpretation of the manga in which only the names (and not all of those) and a few scenes remain intact. It takes forever to plod from the beginning to the point where Misa enters the picture, two and half hours to be exact and the entire first movie. Movies don’t have the same luxury as a series to meander from Point A to Point B, there’s not enough time, but that’s exactly what these two films do.

They add scenes which make no sense, hesitate at points which drag on and on, delete important points all together, tack on insignificant characters and rewrite key characters’ personalities. The biggest omission is the Yotsuba story arc- crucial in the manga in establishing L and Light’s relationship and dynamic, missing all together from the movies. The arc is re-imagined in the most tedious manner imaginable, further destroying the manga storyline and tone.

Granted, there’s always story rewrites in adaptations, and granted omissions are a given, yet the movies still lack the tone and feel of the manga. Mood is something that can still be achieved, regardless of rewrites and adaptations. The manga has mood, drama, tension and pacing. Even barring the existence of the manga, the movies lack any of these necessary tidbits. Another absolutely crucial criteria missing is character development.

Character Development

Death Note The Last Name Poster

Live Action Light is a pale, empty thing compared to Manga Light. Even without a basis to compare with, LA Light’s a shallow, stupid creature merely going through the motions. He’s initially portrayed as a naive and idealistic justice-hugger jaded by the current system, who then turns to remote murder to realize his goals. But no connection is made with this character to the audience. His actions are meaningless and without passion, worse, they’re petulant.

We don’t jeer or cheer Light’s deeds as in the manga. This Light is incredibly dumb and wooden and the most disconnected character of the lot. Gone are the arrogance, extreme emotions and self-confidence of Manga Light. This version of Light takes daily doses of stupid and mediocrity to assure the most surefire road to Fail.

Light’s not the only character hopped up on dumb juice, the entire cast of LA Death Note is flirting with an overdose of stupidity. Naomi Misora, so clever and sure in the manga, is absolutely brain dead in the movie: “Hahaha, I didn’t give yous my real name cuz I like know yuz is Kira and junk. Neeya!” Even without the manga to outshine this important scene with the intrepid former FBI agent, it still makes no sense. Neither does it make sense to change Naomi’s finace’s name, Raye Penber, to Raye Iwamatsu.

L is another dismal letdown in the movies. Instead of getting the clever, dynamic and off-handedly humorous genius detective who’s on par with Light, audiences are treated to L chowing down on sweets and making the occasional contribution to the case. He just sits there, shoveling sugar down his gullet, and has no presence.

L’s range of emotions are stunted and he’s almost as empty as Light. There’s no spark between the two, no tension or hint of hidden dangers and certain death. There’s no feeling of risk either, something both characters dined on daily in the manga. The absence of contrast between L and Light is stark. Light isn’t evil enough to play off L and L isn’t passionate enough about good to cast Light in shadows.

That’s the biggest crime of the movies, that there’s no quasi-friendship cum ying and yang dynamic between these two memorable characters. L and Light have about as much tension between them as an overstretched rubber band.

Character Design

The character designs for the movie are much like the manga and stick to realism and the mundane. The clothes are comparable to what modern Japanese wear, with the exception of Misa who wears gothic lolita inspired gear. Shinigami are designed with a more fantastic bend, which is appropriate for Reapers.

Oddly, the actual death notes themselves are massive. Not only are they huge, they look like something out of a souvenir catalog rather than a book from the realm of death.

Cinematography

Both films are shot with about as much attention to lighting and perspective as a soap opera. Where are the dark, brooding shadows to cast an aura of suspense? Where’s the cleverly placed lighting to highlight an object or expression? What happened to the chiaroscuro, in mood and lighting?

Perspective in the movies is as flat and dull as a noontime series and absent are any shots which have any cinematic appeal. The unmoving pages of the manga hold more visual interest in the first chapter than both movies have in their entirety. Nothing stands out from the story in terms of cinematic language. The visuals are delivered in a straight monotone, without life and interest.

The CG for the shinigami could have been better. The death gods look hokey, rubbery and all around fake when they move. When they don’t move, they tend to look believable, but those instances are rare.

Music

Music adds mood and tension to any visual medium, and is crucial in film, either in its absence or its presence. The music for the movies had zero presence and it lays down on the job. It doesn’t build to a scene, it doesn’t create atmosphere, it does zilch.

Death Note Live Action Soundtrack

The opening for the first movie, Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is a good song in its own right, but makes no sense as the intro to the live action Death Note movie. It’s a rock number with a southern twang. The subject matter, a woman who leads a rough life and moves to California, is an incongruous theme for a movie about a psycho, egomanical teen in Japan who kills criminals with a magic notebook.

Snow, also by the Chili Peppers, accompanies the credits for the second movie. Snow is a great song, and is actually more apropos to the film than Dani California.

Manatsu no yoru no yume, by Shikao Suga is a theme from The Last Name. It’s another good song, a soft ballad, but is wasted on the film.

Acting

Anime Light Versus Live Action Light

Tatsuya Fujiwara gets my vote for worst-cast actor, ever. Fujiwara doesn’t look anything like the handsome, charismatic Light, he looks like a sack of potatoes attached to a stick figure and acts about the same. Tatsuya either didn’t bother to do character research, or he wasn’t up to the part. Anyway it’s looked at, his performance as Light is about as passionate and animated as a dried up piece of jerky.

He doesn’t deliver the main character’s dual, diabolical nature; his charm; his arrogance; his confidence; his persuasiveness; his all around belief in himself. Fujiwara has no concept of Light and it comes through in his performance.

Kenichi Matsuyama does marginally better as L, but not by much. Matsuyama looks closer to L than Fujiwara does to Light, and has L’s mannerisms down, yet he still doesn’t capture the detective’s eccentric essence. He’s fun to watch, superficially, but Matsuyama doesn’t deliver the impact and presence of the character.

Matsuyama and Fujiwara have zero chemistry on screen. It’s like watching oil and water interact, one slides over the other, not quite meshing, not quite mixing-Fujiwara is water, Matsuyama is oil. The two need more chemistry than a superficial melding like that to be believable and it just isn’t there.

Misa, as played by Erika Toda, is another character going through the motions. She doesn’t act, or even look, like Misa Amane. She plays the part far too seriously to ever get Misa’s dim-witted, cheery personality down. Misa needs to be breathy and light, but Toda’s performance is too straight and heavy, it’s too forced. A gothic lolita hanging around Shinjuku on a Sunday would have been a better choice than Toda.

The other actors in the movies, with their campy acting and overacting, give the films a distinctive B-movie quality. Most of the blame for the shoddy performances can be attributed to poor direction on the part of the man behind the cameras.

Rachel's Death Note Entry for Death Note Live Action

Conclusion

The Death Note live action movies are a patchwork of badness and poor choices. Some scenes are done verbatim from the manga, but without the feeling, intensity and context.

Other scenes are horrible, campy re-imaginings of the series and detract from the story. All are held together with consistently bad acting, lack of cinematography and dearth of emotion.

Death Note deserved far better treatment than it received at the hands of these two films. The manga is a brilliant work of fiction and has garnered millions of hardcore fans.

True fans of the manga will howl bloody murder after sitting through all five hours of the movies, while other folk may be happy as a clam with this slipshod work of film. I for one am writing this one down in my own personal, anime death note.

Rating

Death Note, Live Action get 1 outta 5 Hammies!

plot summary

The Racer family has been building and racing custom cars for years. Racing is in their blood and a daily part of their lives. Speed Racer, the middle son of three, is a born race car driver. When he masterfully wins the race at Thunderhead, he draws the attention of Royalton Industries.

The owner of the megacorp makes Speed an offer to drive for his team. Speed refuses, and he and his family become targets of a vengeful corporation. The only way Speed can ever hope to take down the corrupt Royalton Industries is to race cross country with former rival, Racer X, in the infamous Casa Cristo, the same race which took the life of Speed’s idolized older brother Rex.

There’s more at stake than the family business, however, and Speed must discover the true reason to why he races in order to save not only his family, but racing itself.

review

Speed Racer proves Americans can not only make live action anime, they can make fantastic live action anime. But what it really takes to make it work is love. Love of anime and love for film making, two things renown anime fans, the Wachowski Brothers have in spades.

The movie was in a word, amazing. I went in with no expectations and went away with a glowing feeling of satisfaction. Everything that is anime is translated, almost verbatim, into live action. The colors, movements, action and perspectives, which are the hallmarks of this medium, are defined beautifully in a movie that has no right to be as good as it is.

Let’s face it, the original Speed Racer anime was bad. Although the anime is a “classic”, the concepts were bad, the animation was bad, the execution was bad. But this movie has taken a broke down, shoddy piece of “classic” anime and transformed it into something which is more “Anime” than the original.

Fans may be temporarily taken aback by the wash of vibrant colors that fills the screen. Yet just like watching your first anime series, what seems strange at first starts to feel comfortable, homey even. This is what real life anime should be; loud, sexy, fantastic and a little overwhelming.

The visuals aren’t just a homage to anime, though, they are anime. The beautiful people and creative character designs populating Speed Racer are what make anime so appealing and unique. But you don’t have to be an anime fan to appreciate a movie this engaging and fun. It’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement of a race, or a fight with ninjas and colorful villains. The theater audience was cheering as Speed flew down the impossible race tracks- everyone was in on the action. The pervading bubblegum feel of the movie didn’t feel childish, however, just fun. Adult fun. Fun like we imagined adulthood would be like but never was. Fun with an edge, sexy fun but not too naughty.

Speed Racer has something for everyone; bright colors and monkey mayhem for easily distracted youngsters, hot young actors and plenty of race car action for easily distracted adults, and plenty of plot and story for the serious minded movie goer.

Character Development

It was shocking how good the story was. I didn’t even think there would be any story, but Speed Racer had a human, touching plot: A family, torn apart by miscommunication and perceived betrayal, begins to heal, only to be threatened again by the same things which nearly destroyed it before.

It’s also a coming of age story. One in which Speed Racer must deal with his own inner struggles and decide which path he’ll set his future down. There was a subtle maturity to the plot which was slightly masked by the overt visuals. It still managed to shine through, however, and was more of a plot than the entire anime series had combined.

Speed Racer had good depth and was brilliantly fleshed out in well plotted flashbacks. His brother, Rex Racer was an even deeper character than Speed, and given just as much thought. The story centers much upon the brothers past and the terms upon with which they both lead their lives.

Character Design

The movie had a delightfully international cast. It was impossible to pin down where, geographically, the movie was taking place. Judging by the amazing array of nationalities, the story could be set anywhere and everywhere. And the international appeal wasn’t watered down. The various languages weren’t subtitled, which lent an exotic hint to the audio. The viewer was left wondering at an accent or a language. Where’s that guy/ gal from? It was all woven together so well, it added color and depth to the details, and details make or break a movie.

Character designs adhered to the original anime, but were given a boost. The designs looked good, not cheesy. Trixie looked fantastic, better than she should. Her short skirts and adorable bob hairstyle are offset by alluring makeup and bright lipstick. The men look a tad bishounen. There was a balance of Japanese and Western aesthetics to the appearance of the cast. They were all attractive when they were meant to be and appropriately creepy elsewhere.

Certain fight scenes have action lines, much like the original anime did. The effect pulls the movie that much closer to anime. The colors are all anime, however. In any other movie, the colors would be an instant fail, but in Speed Racer, nothing else would have worked.

Visuals

This movie gets high marks for flawless visuals. The CG was fantastic and worked well. The Wachowski brothers have honed their style down to an art and Speed Racer could well be their masterpiece. The action was heart-pounding and not distracting in the least. Visuals pull you in and put you right there in the center of the action, not just watching it.

Music

Michael Giacchino scored Speed Racer with music simultaneously orchestral and electronic. The score lent Speed racer a mature, yet fun vibe.

Acting

Emile Hirsch did a fantastic job as Speed. He came across as appropriately conflicted and innocent and balanced the emotions well. He even managed to put in some of surprised “Oh!” gasps from the anime’s English dub without making it come off as hokkey.

Christina Ricci also did a good job but she managed to annoy me with her character. Her energetic/ sexy/ cute version of Trixie was confusing and attractive, which had the combined effect of annoying me.

Matthew Fox, who portrayed Racer X, did the best job interpreting the anime version of the character. His monotonous and mysterious voice was one I remember well. Matthew Fox did a very convincing job overall as Racer X.

The rest of the cast were also good, but the main characters outstripped them all.

Conclusion

This was an anime live action adaption with a holistic approach so thorough, it touched on everything which is anime and then some. Speed Racer is what live action anime should be, and was as much fun and engaging as any anime, if not more so. There was some pandering to younger audiences in certain scenes, which was distracting and unnecessary, but not overly so.

Looking beyond the visuals, the story was anime as well, as was the storytelling. I was beyond merely entertained with this movie, I was engaged and charmed.

Rating

Speed Racer gets 4.5 outta 5 Hammies!