Review of Dragonball Evolution (2009) by Chads — 12 Apr 2009

Since Chi Chi(Jamie Chung) is a competitive fighter and can hold her own against the men, "Dragonball: Evolution" misses a golden opportunity to evoke the Japanese translation of her name, which is "father", by having the young woman taunt her prospective vanquished male opponent with a lusty, "Who's your daddy?" Chi Chi also has a second meaning; it's slang for a part of the woman's anatomy, the breast.

In Laurent Cantet's "Entre les murs", a Parisian middle school teacher calls two ethnic female students, "skanks", without realizing that the term in their culture is slang for "prostitute".

To him, a "skank" means somebody who is talkative. Mr. Marin(Francois Begaudeau) gets the benefit of the doubt. "Dragonball: Evolution" gets the benefit of the doubt, too, in the scene where Chi Chi fights a doppleganger.

The second Chi Chi transforms her namesake into an anatomical one, because now we see two Chi-Chis("chi-chis" from the Spanish), beautiful, to boot. The fake Chi Chi was trying to steal the dragonballs.

There's seven of them, but the film title refers to just the one "Dragonball", which to me, suggests a mythical creature who survived a bout of testicular cancer. The other ball collectors have self-defeating names, too.

Besides Chi Chi, there's Goku(Justin Chatwin), playing yet another version of the "Karate Kid", and then there's Bulma(Emmy Rossum), who to my disappointment, never eats anything. Thankfully, at eighty-plus minutes, there's enough time to physically collect just three of the seven dragonballs.

"Dragonball: Evolution" also stars Chow-Yun Fat, who slums along happily in a comic performance that shows off an unbeknownst funny side to the usually stoic star of "Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon".

He's a bit of a perv. In one scene, he puts a hand on Bulma's knee while they share a motorcycle. He probably notices her chi-chis.