Fridae

Millions of Asian kids grew up loving the Dragonball manga and anime series because of their terrific plot, characters and humor. To have Hollywood now take the franchise and turn it into an insipid action film starring a white actor in the role of Goku is pure travesty.

Justin Chatwin, the 26-year-old Canadian we best remember for playing a gay drug dealer in TV's Weeds, is young Goku. Upon the death of his grandfather, and obeying the dying man's wish, Goku goes off to find the great Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) and gather all the seven Dragonballs.

He must do so to prevent the evil Piccolo (James Marsters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) from getting his hands on them. Owning the seven Dragonballs allows the user to have his wishes granted. And Piccolo, like all nefarious villains, is bent on world domination�

From the first to the last reel, Dragonball: Evolution is utterly, stunningly bad. After terrific comic book adaptations like The Dark Knight, Ironmen and Watchmen, we almost forgot how truly miserable such adaptations can be. It's also surprising, considering that it's directed by James Wong who got his big break on The X-Files, and subsequently went on to write and direct the successful Final Destination franchise.

How James came to screw up this most beloved manga story is anyone's guess, but we're speculating that studio meddled with the picture, insisting on white actor for Goku and cutting off his tail. Of course, James Wong is too much of a professional to ever blame the studio. At any rate, Dragonball: Evolution is spectacularly poor.