Ipodman
Love Tension
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2008
- Messages
- 9,670
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 33
Well, i know there are a few review threads going on, but since theres no "Official" review thread, i decided to put my review here. Also since i believe my country is probably the first few to see it...
Before anything, let me tell you i went into the cinema with little expectations... and yet im disappointed with the film.
FYI the cinema was half-filled, mostly teens and kids.
ACTION SCENES:
Firstly, the action scenes are horrible. The film starts off with Goku fighting [blackout]his grandfather[/blackout]. A little humour is injected in, a little slap-stick here and there, very CHILDISH... (a few kids behind me laughed, i didnt). The next fight scene happens very quickly after, between Goku and [blackout]some classmates[/blackout]. The action was at most times too fast. The camera switches around alot, and i couldnt really see what was going on- Who punched who, who fell to the floor? it was all a mess.
Another scene was very dark and Goku is fighting some sort of [blackout]Orc-like-monster[/blackout]. The terrain looked very fake, some sort of [blackout]volcano land with a lava lake[/blackout]. They were supposed to [blackout]cross the lava lake. Goku took some of the monsters' corpses and threw them into the lava lake. He says something like "Im making a bridge!", and the others praise him.[/blackout]
[Example of the corniness of the film]
The climax of the movie, which comes quite quick given the film is less than one and a half hours, is of course, [blackout]Goku VS Piccolo[/blackout]. The story never really kicks in, so you might wonder at this point why [blackout]these two fighting [/blackout]is such a big deal. At this point, i wouldnt care if [blackout]Goku died and Picolo lived[/blackout]. Anyway, the [blackout]two fighting is just them waving their hands around, creating different colors of "blasts". [/blackout] Again, the camera switches around too fast, and i couldnt make out what was happening. [blackout]Picolo and his sidekick died [/blackout]very easily. There was no climax at all.
With them shouting the names of the attacks and all, im assuming they wanna make it look like the anime but combined with the bad acting, it all looks too cartoony.
SCRIPT/DIALOG:
The script/dialog. is terrible and boring. Shout-outs like "Impressive!" everytime someone does something 'smart'. Stuff along the lines of "I have to find the dragonballs..." Obviously with intention of making the film emotional, but it just made it corny.
CASTING/CHARACTERS:
Casting Is All Wrong! Needlesss to say, Chatman's acting as Goku is plain wooden and stiff. He has the same expression when he [blackout]talks, fights, kisses ChiChi, dies, [/blackout]and everything else... Some mildly comedical acting from Chow (as Master Roshi). I cant balme him for his bad english. but certain lines i couldnt understand what he was saying.
As the plot developes, the characters that starts appearing seemed to be 'forced' into the storyline. Bad use of the Dragonball brand. The characters' personalities are only explicit during the scenes they are introduced. Throughout the story, the characters fail to emulate the kind of liveliness they had in the manga/anime.
PLOT:
The plot is simple and predictable, Goku and team have to find the seven dragonballs before Piccollo (sp?). The twist comes when Goku realises [blackout]he has to defeat a monster called Oozalu (or something). Turns out this monster is himself.[/blackout] (wow.. shocker!). Most people already know this from the Manga/Anime, and so the biggest twist of the story falls flat. The way Goku [blackout]transforms into the monster [/blackout]is stupid. I mean, REALLY stupid. I was wishing he would just [blackout]complete the transformation and not stay and squirm there[/blackout]... And [blackout]Oozalu[/blackout] for that matter, is a [blackout]piece of HORRIBLE CGI[/blackout]. He isnt [blackout]very big , only a little bigger than Goku, and i repeat - BAD BAD BAD CGI!!![/blackout]
What the Ape looks like: [blackout]The monsters in the forest in Tomb Raider.[/blackout]
City being blown up:
[blackout]Everytime Goku finds a new dragonball, the dragonball 'talks' to him, telling him the future. When this happens,Goku sees short flashes of what the future is. So Goku sees the the city getting destroyed in the future.. it doesnt really happen....[/blackout]
Pacing:
When the movie started, Goku interacts with his grandfather for quite some time, probably to show their close relationship...
And then theres scenes at his school, where goku deals with teenage angst, girl-boy-relationship problems...
nothing very Dragonball yet - so far so good,
but after [blackout] his grandfather dies [/blackout] the movie starts accelerating badly. Characters start appearing very quickly, and those who have not seen the Anime or manga wont be able to appreciate the characters.
Editing:
During non action scenes, the talking / walking around seems to be quite good... not distracting in any way.
However during fights, the camera switches alot and its too close to the people so i cant make out what was going on.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, the film turns out to be the utter rubbish everyone was expecting it to be... for those who wants to watch it, just play the trailer a few times and you already have.
Before anything, let me tell you i went into the cinema with little expectations... and yet im disappointed with the film.
FYI the cinema was half-filled, mostly teens and kids.
ACTION SCENES:
Firstly, the action scenes are horrible. The film starts off with Goku fighting [blackout]his grandfather[/blackout]. A little humour is injected in, a little slap-stick here and there, very CHILDISH... (a few kids behind me laughed, i didnt). The next fight scene happens very quickly after, between Goku and [blackout]some classmates[/blackout]. The action was at most times too fast. The camera switches around alot, and i couldnt really see what was going on- Who punched who, who fell to the floor? it was all a mess.
Another scene was very dark and Goku is fighting some sort of [blackout]Orc-like-monster[/blackout]. The terrain looked very fake, some sort of [blackout]volcano land with a lava lake[/blackout]. They were supposed to [blackout]cross the lava lake. Goku took some of the monsters' corpses and threw them into the lava lake. He says something like "Im making a bridge!", and the others praise him.[/blackout]
[Example of the corniness of the film]
The climax of the movie, which comes quite quick given the film is less than one and a half hours, is of course, [blackout]Goku VS Piccolo[/blackout]. The story never really kicks in, so you might wonder at this point why [blackout]these two fighting [/blackout]is such a big deal. At this point, i wouldnt care if [blackout]Goku died and Picolo lived[/blackout]. Anyway, the [blackout]two fighting is just them waving their hands around, creating different colors of "blasts". [/blackout] Again, the camera switches around too fast, and i couldnt make out what was happening. [blackout]Picolo and his sidekick died [/blackout]very easily. There was no climax at all.
With them shouting the names of the attacks and all, im assuming they wanna make it look like the anime but combined with the bad acting, it all looks too cartoony.
SCRIPT/DIALOG:
The script/dialog. is terrible and boring. Shout-outs like "Impressive!" everytime someone does something 'smart'. Stuff along the lines of "I have to find the dragonballs..." Obviously with intention of making the film emotional, but it just made it corny.
CASTING/CHARACTERS:
Casting Is All Wrong! Needlesss to say, Chatman's acting as Goku is plain wooden and stiff. He has the same expression when he [blackout]talks, fights, kisses ChiChi, dies, [/blackout]and everything else... Some mildly comedical acting from Chow (as Master Roshi). I cant balme him for his bad english. but certain lines i couldnt understand what he was saying.
As the plot developes, the characters that starts appearing seemed to be 'forced' into the storyline. Bad use of the Dragonball brand. The characters' personalities are only explicit during the scenes they are introduced. Throughout the story, the characters fail to emulate the kind of liveliness they had in the manga/anime.
PLOT:
The plot is simple and predictable, Goku and team have to find the seven dragonballs before Piccollo (sp?). The twist comes when Goku realises [blackout]he has to defeat a monster called Oozalu (or something). Turns out this monster is himself.[/blackout] (wow.. shocker!). Most people already know this from the Manga/Anime, and so the biggest twist of the story falls flat. The way Goku [blackout]transforms into the monster [/blackout]is stupid. I mean, REALLY stupid. I was wishing he would just [blackout]complete the transformation and not stay and squirm there[/blackout]... And [blackout]Oozalu[/blackout] for that matter, is a [blackout]piece of HORRIBLE CGI[/blackout]. He isnt [blackout]very big , only a little bigger than Goku, and i repeat - BAD BAD BAD CGI!!![/blackout]
What the Ape looks like: [blackout]The monsters in the forest in Tomb Raider.[/blackout]
City being blown up:
[blackout]Everytime Goku finds a new dragonball, the dragonball 'talks' to him, telling him the future. When this happens,Goku sees short flashes of what the future is. So Goku sees the the city getting destroyed in the future.. it doesnt really happen....[/blackout]
Pacing:
When the movie started, Goku interacts with his grandfather for quite some time, probably to show their close relationship...
And then theres scenes at his school, where goku deals with teenage angst, girl-boy-relationship problems...
nothing very Dragonball yet - so far so good,
but after [blackout] his grandfather dies [/blackout] the movie starts accelerating badly. Characters start appearing very quickly, and those who have not seen the Anime or manga wont be able to appreciate the characters.
Editing:
During non action scenes, the talking / walking around seems to be quite good... not distracting in any way.
However during fights, the camera switches alot and its too close to the people so i cant make out what was going on.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, the film turns out to be the utter rubbish everyone was expecting it to be... for those who wants to watch it, just play the trailer a few times and you already have.
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