Dragonball Evolution featured characters from the anime, such as Goku (Justin Chatwin), Master Roshi (Chow Yun Fat), Bulma (Emmy Rossum), Chi Chi (Jamie Chung), Piccolo (James Marsters), Yamcha (Joon Park) and Gohan (Randall Duk Kim). They sport the names but they are out of character.

Dragonball might be the most action-packed anime around but Dragonball Evolution failed in that department. The most exciting action sequence is Goku’s fight with the bullies. What’s ironic about that it is that Goku didn’t even throw a single punch during the entire fight.

Probably the most disappointing moment of Dragonball Evolution is when Goku did the Kamehameha Wave. It looked weak considering that it is Goku’s strongest weapon in his arsenal.

Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat): In an ancient time, Earth was nearly destroyed. Not by man, but by Gods from the sky.

Dragonball Evolution managed to butcher one great anime series. The low budget Taiwanese Dragonball movie made in the 90’s was more entertaining than this one. Transformers and Dragonball were ruined by Hollywood; I just hope that the G.I Joe is a good one.

Then George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) came. He came to Nanking to expose the brutality of the Japanese. He was shocked with what he saw. After a chain of events, he found himself in an orphanage. The children are all victims of the war. We see how Hogg is transferred from an unsympathetic reporter into a compassionate teacher.

Then the time comes when the Japanese invaders are getting near the orphanage. Hogg had no choice but to travel around 600 to 700 miles in the middle of the winter with the 60 children in tow. Along the way he had help from a nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell), military man Chen (Chow Yun Fat), and a opium dealer Mrs. Wang (Michelle Yeoh).

I like Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh’s performance in Children of Huang Shi. When I learned that the two are in this movie, I was expecting another Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Although I was disappointed that it was not an action movie, I still enjoyed their performance. But I was also disappointed that the two didn’t have any scene together.

Radha Mitchell played the role of the emotionally drained nurse who has seen what the war has done. Then we learn how she coped with all the atrocities she has faced.

It’s interesting to see Jonathan Rhys Meyers in a non-sports oriented film. I saw Meyers in Bend it Like Beckham and Match Point. Children of Huang Shi is far from those movies and it just shows how flexible an actor he is. He did a remarkable job in this one.

Children of Huang Shi is a movie based on the lives of George Hogg and the children he saved. It was successful in showing the world of the hardships the Chinese had to endure during that period. Although I read that there are historical errors within the movie regarding the Rape of Nanking, it captured the essence of Hogg’s heroism.