DVD review (region 1 & 2)
Directed by James Wong
Starring Justin Chatwin, James Marsters, Chow Yun-Fat, Emmy Rossum
Release date 28 July 2009 (region 1); 7 September 2009 (region 2)

Goku (Justin Chatwin) teams up with other comic book clichés in a live action version of the popular manga…

Under tens might very well enjoy this latest product of a very effective money printing machine; it’s got some pretty funky fight scenes, some nice special effects and a script whose sole purpose seems to be to pack in as many faux cool lines as possible for kids to repeat ad nauseum. But that’s not in any way to imply that this DVD is anything but a complete waste of time.

The “just be yourself” message and horrible racial stereotypes were dated even before Power Rangers: The Movie, and at least the bad guys in that were remotely entertaining. The plot, which revolves around finding seven dragonballs in an attempt to imprison the main villain (a method which has already failed once before), is forgotten at the last minute and the ultimate evil is underwhelmingly easy to defeat.

In the age of Pixar and even Dreamworks, you can’t really excuse a movie for being bad just because it’s “for kids”. My six-year-old brother sat enthralled through Genesis of the Daleks last month, so give this demographic a little credit.

In terms of extras there’s a gag reel with no gags, a terrible pop video and some deleted scenes just in case the 80-minute feature wasn’t enough to make you give up on life. Oli Smith

VERDICT 2/10
If your kids ask you to buy this for them, put them up for adoption out of principle.