There are certain movies that only a die-hard fan can truly appreciate how utterly bad and painfully horrendous the movie really is. “Dragonball Evolution” is one of those movies. Admittedly, I’m a life-long Dragonball Z fanatic. I caught on to the original Japanese Anime back when you could only find them on bootleg in the comic book store. The series was awesome. Each movie was better than the one prior – with the occasional exception of movies like Bio-Broly of course.
So, why ruin a good thing by transforming it into a live-action feature?
Dragonball Evolution loosely follows the original Dragonball story arc, before Goku (Justin Chatwin) grew up, married Chi Chi and had a son named Gohan. The threat of King Piccolo has returned. Piccolo seeks to collect the seven scattered Dragonballs, which united can call forth the ancient dragon Shenron to grant one “perfect wish.” When Goku’s grandfather is murdered, Goku must seek out Master Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat) to get the training he needs to stop Piccolo.
From the beginning, the story is a cliché Karate Kid knockoff. Goku is a geeky kid who gets bullied by popular kids. Despite his enormous power, he cannot fight them under his grandfather’s instructions. Master Roshi is a funny character in the Anime, but some things don’t translate well to cinema. Why, Chow Yun-Fat agreed to waste his talent on this role is a mystery. I can’t even say I’d recommend this movie for children since it’s an insult to the original Dragonball mythos.
There’s not much that can be said about the Dragonball Evolution feature. It’s painfully scripted, poorly acted and cliché at every moment. There is also a love story between Goku and Chi Chi (Jamie Chung) that gives new meaning to wanting to throw up in your mouth. I actually like Jamie Chung as an actor. She was great in both “Samurai Girl” and “Greek.” However, watching her play opposite a poorly cast Goku is an immediate turnoff.
Dragonball Evolution is one movie that deserves to not be watched. The casual viewer will find it atrocious. However, Dragonball fans will take loathing to a whole new level after seeing this film.
Blu Ray Bonus Features:
- Goku’s Quest – BD Exclusive scavenger hunt game
- Eight Deleted Scenes
- Goku’s Workout: Stunt Work featurette
- Fox Movie Channel Presents: Making a Scene
- Fox Movie channel Presents Life After Film School with Justin Chatwin
- Dragonball Gag Reel
- Brian Anthony “Worked Up” Music Video
Title: Dragonball Evolution
Starring: Justin Chatwin, Chow Yun-Fat
Directed by: James Wong
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: July 28, 2009
Rating: 2 / 10
I wanted to see this movie in theater, but a friend of my brother’s said it sucked. I love DBZ and I greatly enjoyed DB. I saw the movie came out on DVD and rented it today.I figured it would be super cheesy and either really bad or so cheesy it was good. It was’nt as cheesy as I thought. I LOVED it! It was awesome! I loved who they casted as Goku, he pulled it off wonderfully! To make the show or any anime into a live actio film would be a tricky thing, but they pulled it off wonderfully. And even if there was more to add, it showed what was needed to get you into the world. They can exspand from there in the sequals. I can’t wait for them to make more!
I plan to buy this DVD as soon as possible!
Got a love hate relationship with this movie myself. On the one hand it was horribly bad - yes. But, it was entertaining and fun. They tried to do too much in under two hours and the characters and acting all were forced to be over the top out the gate.
Yeah, it’s hard seeing slapstick animation turned into live action. Some anime techniques really don’t belong in live-action. Master Roshi for one they could have done a better job with.
What I don’t like is how everyone tries to do the same ending in these movie version martial arts movies. It’s always use this “great technique” to solve the day. Whether it’s the Karate Kid Crane Kick or the Kamehameha. It’s very redundant and predictable.
They could have done a lot more to make this a great movie and they didn’t. Goku was not a great casting choice. Or maybe he just needed a better director to do more with him.
The sad part is that this movie was destined to be hated on before a single frame of footage was shot. I remember in 2001 when Fox announced they had the rights to it and people said it sucked then.
Really, its not a bad movie, cheesy, maybe, but not bad. Hardly “atrocious”.
The casting, while not being the dream cast floating around the net for years (which would take a $300 million budget to get), all serve their respective parts well. The effects work for what they intend, the music is average, but not bad.
The movie is pure Dragonball, in its tone, its subject, its action and its humor. But it is not Z though, which is where I feel some of the fans’ disappointment lies. More fans are fans of Z, not the original Dragonball. Even among people that have seen both. Particularly in the US where Z was shown nearly constantly for years while the original got a limited run.
The movie hit the points in Dragonball it needed to hit. While it may be condensed it is far from a loose adaptation. It also hit the tone right. even some of the new stuff felt right. the Lava fight for example and how Goku managed to get to the dragonball there could have been ripped right from the show. It FELT right, I could very much picture the animated Goku thinking of that. While in Z that kind of inventiveness was wholy lost to simple pummeling until dead, save for a hint here and there.
I very much enjoyed the movie and hope to see more.
Dear Bags,
You must be blind, my friend. It’s just so sad that people can not see a movie for what it is and have to give it a bad rep because the powers that be decided not to cast their favorite actor or some other stupid reason.
The movie was great. I watched it in the theater and again on DVD. Goku was played great. He acted exactly the part of Goku I love and remember from the cartoons from the way he talked to how he fought. And if you say that you are a DBZ fanatic then you’ll agree that the story was told very close to the installments. But since you’ve given it such a bad review, I doubt you even knew DBZ existed until it became a movie feature.
And to think of it, all the bad reviews make this movie so much better. One comes to expect a horrible movie and instead he/she is pleasantly surprised by how great this movie really is. So I say to all of you still deciding if you should watch this movie or opt out, get the movie you will not regret it.
I just bought this movie watched it and think is freaking awesome! I am a DBZ fanatic and this movie was great. I had such a bad out look on this movie thinking how could they make an actual dragon ball Live action movie good? They pulled it off. Yes they nerdy kid part and all but thats what he was. This movie told the part so well I can’t wait to see the sequal. I have DBZ tattoos and I can only hope that the next movie in this trilogy will live up to the first installment.