MOVIE NEWS – Almost fifteen years have passed since the unsuccessful Dragonball Evolution live-action film, and new adaptations are still spoiling the anime.

A film adaptation is always a risk. Especially if a well-loved title is being developed or an animated piece is being developed into a live-action version. Unfortunately, most of these adaptations fail, like Dragonball Evolution and Netflix’s latest anime adaptation, Knights of the Zodiac. Evolution in 2009 became one of the worst anime film adaptations of all time.

Not only did the film perform poorly at the box office, but it also received poor reviews from critics and fans alike, who slammed the film for its screenplay and especially for its disloyalty to the source material.

When it comes to film adaptations, the number one mistake we can make is not sticking to the source material. This is a massive problem with book adaptations, video game adaptations, and, of course, anime adaptations. The film clearly fell into this camp fourteen years ago and paid dearly for that mistake. But that wasn’t his only problem. Unfortunately, Evolution also failed due to inadequate visual effects, confusing story management and casting. Although based on an anime, the entire cast was white. Ultimately, these issues killed the entire live-action Dragonball movie franchise.

Knights of the Zodiac repeats many of the mistakes of Dragonball Evolution

Unfortunately, it seems like Hollywood still hasn’t perfected the live-action anime adaptation. Almost fifteen years after the release of Dragonball Evolution, Netflix has released a new anime film, Knights of the Zodiac. The latter, unfortunately, runs into the same problem as its predecessor in 2009. The movie is based on the manga “Saint Seiya”. It follows a street orphan who discovers that he has incredible powers that make him the only person strong enough to protect a reincarnated goddess. The film stars Mackenyu, Famke Janssen, Madison Iseman, Diego Tinoco, Mark Dacascos, Nick Stahl and Sean Bean.

Although “Saint Seiya” is a popular manga series, Knights of the Zodiac has not been a huge hit with both audiences and critics.

The film scored a hefty 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even in positive reviews, there are negative hints. Although some critics appreciate the film’s melodramatic and entertainment value, they still feel that it will disappoint fans. Ultimately, it is by no means a work of art. Like Evolution, it is also criticized for using CGI and a plot that is difficult to follow. Neither film seems to have captured the magic of the source material.

What the movie does well from the Saint Seiya comic

Knights of the Zodiac wasn’t all bad, though. Even though the movie has big changes compared to the anime, it is by no means the worst. It definitely has its own beneficial properties. For one thing, unlike Dragonball Evolution, an Asian person plays the main character here. Furthermore, one of the comments of many critics was that the film successfully reproduces the anime’s atmosphere. The movie is exactly as dramatic and exaggerated as the anime. In this way, it doesn’t deviate completely from the manga and can be enjoyed more than some previous attempts.

Source: Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes