Dragonball Evolution DVD Review

Dragonball Evolution DVD Review

Giving the popular Japanese manga and anime series a live-action makeover is a big undertaking. For that, "Dragonball Evolution" deserves a bit of leeway. Including the pointy hair alone should get them an "A" for effort. And the ultra-critial pubescent male fanbase gave the movie hell prior to even seeing it, but to be honest. It wasn't all that bad...

Review Opinion
By ComicBookMovie - Jul 29, 2009 03:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Dragonball Evolution

The original "Dragonball" graphic novel series appeared in Japan in 1984, and went on to become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 150 million volumes sold and successfully spinning off into countless anime features, TV versions and videogames. Aiming to tap into a ready-made market, Fox did its best--and produced a fun movie that did homage the the property. It was well worth watching just to see how they would handle the cross-over from anime to movie.

The prologue rapidly outlines details of an ancient battle for the soul of planet Earth by Lord Piccolo (James Marsters) and his beastly cohort, Oozaru (Ian Whyte) -- a strange clash the world has somehow forgotten along with the world's saviors.

Our story begins 2,000 years later on the 18th birthday of Goku (Justin Chatwin) as he undergoes a daily ritual of martial-arts training with his feisty grandfather, Gohan (Randall Duk Kim). Chatwin does a good job as our hero--even pulling off the pointy hair. The martial arts scenes were well performed, and fun to watch. Especially the no contact fight against multiple high school bullies.

In honor of Goku's coming of age, Gohan presents the youth with a shining dragonball orb, revealing the heirloom's history and wish-granting power if united with the six other existing dragonballs.

Goku has other maturing experiences on his mind though,and brushes off a birthday dinner with his grandfather to attend a party thrown by comely coed Chi Chi (Jamie Chung).

Meanwhile, Gohan is attacked by Lord Piccolo and his sexpot companion, Mai ("Heroes" thesp Eriko), who are on their own mission to collect the seven dragonballs. With his dying breath, Gohan directs his grandson to enlist Master Roshi (Chow Yun-fat) to help him gather the seven balls himself before an impending solar eclipse occurs.

The movie turns into a quest at this point, with Goku enlisting fellow travelers along the way: Emmy Rossum's belligerent Bulma, Joon Park's cocky Yamcha, and Chow providing both Yoda-like wisdom and lusty comic relief.

The film climaxes with a surprise character twist for Goku that will bug most purists, but yet works for the movie.

A 20th Century Fox release and presentation, in association with Dune Entertainment III, of a Star Overseas production, in association with Ingenious Film Partners, Big Screen Prods. Produced by Stephen Chow. Executive producers, Akira Toriyama, Tim Van Rellim. Co-producers, Rodney Liber, Rich Thorne. Directed by James Wong. Screenplay, Ben Ramsey, based on the graphic novel series "Dragonball" by Akira Toriyama, original manga published by Shonen Jump.

Goku - Justin Chatwin
Bulma - Emmy Rossum
Chi Chi - Jamie Chung
Lord Piccolo - James Marsters
Yamcha - Joon Park
Mai - Eriko
Gohan - Randall Duk Kim
Sifu Norris - Ernie Hudson
Roshi - Chow Yun-fat
Carey Fuller - Texas Battle
Seki - Megumi Seki
Oozaru - Ian Whyte

Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: July 28, 2009
Run Time: 85 minutes

BUY IT AT AMAZON

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answer
answer - 7/29/2009, 3:25 PM
I've yet to see the film. Doubt it will ever happen!

The trailer on the front page has made sure of that! ;)
Wadey09
Wadey09 - 7/29/2009, 3:32 PM
I have seen bits and pieces of this movie and have yet to make an opinion about it. The fight sequences I saw were ok but some of the effects seemed a bit off. I'm thinking about investing 1 dollar to rent it at redbox and see if this is the crapstorm so many people make it out to be.
Fastlane
Fastlane - 7/29/2009, 4:42 PM
I'm buying the dVD - I am looking forward to seeing the dvd extras. This film is fall in your lap easy and fun. Anyone of us would be lucky to have been one of the characters in the movie and got to learn all the martial arts, green screen hanging by a wires swinging through the air. I look at the enthusiasm of the actors and the fun they are having - it makes me excited to see what behind the scenese stuff comes out on dvd.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 7/29/2009, 7:13 PM
You need a new rating system for how bad this movie was..one star, 1 out of 10..just does not cut it..it was abysmal, it was horrendous, it was ...[frick]ing shit!
ScorpioEagle1
ScorpioEagle1 - 7/30/2009, 2:11 PM
O.k. let me start this post with I am a HUGE Dragonball Z fan.. I did not read the manga nor did I catch the first animated show Dragonball.. when it hit the US in the 90's Dragonball Z is what you got.. that being said.. I watched Dragonball Evolution last night and all I can say is what a steam pile of CRAP!! That's 1.5 hours of my life I can never have back.. I was on the fence about the movie hoping for the best knowing I'd be disapointed royally..

Problems:
Justin Chatwin: I mean it's a Japanese story.. GOKU is supposed to be ASIAN.. I've read comments about the fact that he's an alien and not Japanese.. that's crap.. he's supposed to go unnoticed which means he blended with the people in the area who are you guessed it JAPANESE.. if it's so not a big deal why didn't they just go after an asian guy who actually knew martial arts? why? because it is a big deal this is as bad as trying to have Will Smith play Captain America.. not a smart move..

Yamcha: He had no role in this movie he couldn't even fight.. this makes no sense.. the scenes between he and Bulma were just pitiful.. no chemistry.. nothing..

Roshi: he looked nothing like him but I give Chow a pass sense he's the only guy with any acting chops in this festering turd of a film..

Piccolo: come on.. he wasn't even wearing the Namekian wardrobe the voice and look were decent but no antenna's.. the fight with Goku was just ridiculous.. it ended before it even began.. the special effects sucked! Goku was supposed to be naturally gifted he learned techniques incredible fast.. well CHi Chi was teaching this dude.. Roshi, Gohan (his grandfather) it was just terrible.

They need to just reboot this thing and start with something that makes sense like "the Arrival" when Vegita arrives.. all and all I think this movie turned out to be exactly what we all thought it would be whale fesis.. unless they are ready to put the proper money, time and talent behind this and be ready for a 3 picture franchise this won't work..
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 7/30/2009, 3:36 PM
I really feel for the DRAGON BALL fans!!!

The chics in it were great, that was about it! I wanted this to be a good movie, it just wasn't STREET FIGHTER CLUN LUNN was 10 times better than this an that was only okay, did surprise me how dark though STREET FIGHTER was but this, damn, bad of the bad!
prototype87
prototype87 - 7/31/2009, 10:58 AM
gonna rent it...just to see how it is.


ok ok..i confess! i wanna watch it cause the chicks in it!
Kyatollah
Kyatollah - 7/31/2009, 9:16 PM
Scorpio Eagle wrote:
"O.k. let me start this post with I am a HUGE Dragonball Z fan.. I did not read the manga nor did I catch the first animated show Dragonball.. when it hit the US in the 90's Dragonball Z is what you got.. that being said.. I watched Dragonball Evolution last night and all I can say is what a steam pile of CRAP!! That's 1.5 hours of my life I can never have back.. I was on the fence about the movie hoping for the best knowing I'd be disapointed royally.."

Well, one problem is your admitted lack of familiarity with the original series. Having seen nearly all of Dragonball and read near all the manga, the film isn't the exercise in blasphemy everyone claims it to be. It had some missteps, but the characters were well done, which was my biggest concern.

"Problems:
Justin Chatwin: I mean it's a Japanese story.. GOKU is supposed to be ASIAN.. I've read comments about the fact that he's an alien and not Japanese.. that's crap.. he's supposed to go unnoticed which means he blended with the people in the area who are you guessed it JAPANESE.. if it's so not a big deal why didn't they just go after an asian guy who actually knew martial arts? why? because it is a big deal this is as bad as trying to have Will Smith play Captain America.. not a smart move.."

Technically, Dragonball is set on a parallel Earth, with radically different geography, and Asia does not exist. Don't even get me started on the Cap nonsense...

"Yamcha: He had no role in this movie he couldn't even fight.. this makes no sense.. the scenes between he and Bulma were just pitiful.. no chemistry.. nothing.."

Yamcha was but a desert bandit when he met Goku and Bulma. He later trained under Muten Roshi, which the film understandably did not touch on yet. The relationship with Bulma was a bit rapid-fire, but hey, they were touch-and-go as it was in the manga.

"Roshi: he looked nothing like him but I give Chow a pass sense he's the only guy with any acting chops in this festering turd of a film.."

Well, the essence of the character is what's important, and Yun-Fat certainly succeeded. Remember, this film was made for wide release, so certain things would not have worked. (I've seen an aesthetically accurate Roshi in "Dragonball: The Magic Begins," and... ugh.

"Piccolo: come on.. he wasn't even wearing the Namekian wardrobe the voice and look were decent but no antenna's.. the fight with Goku was just ridiculous.. it ended before it even began.. the special effects sucked! Goku was supposed to be naturally gifted he learned techniques incredible fast.. well CHi Chi was teaching this dude.. Roshi, Gohan (his grandfather) it was just terrible."

1. The cape and turban could have been very offensive to Middle-Eastern viewers, so I understand why they 86'd it. If you look at Lord Slug, though, the outfits have a bit in common.
2. I, too was disappointed in the final battle, but in the manga, Goku's first showdown with Piccolo pales in comparison with the World Tournament match at the end of Dragonball (which if translated to screen, would eclipse most fight scenes in film.)

"They need to just reboot this thing and start with something that makes sense like "the Arrival" when Vegita arrives.. all and all I think this movie turned out to be exactly what we all thought it would be whale fesis.. unless they are ready to put the proper money, time and talent behind this and be ready for a 3 picture franchise this won't work.. "

In my opinion, they laid decent groundwork for a franchise, which could succeed given one change- GET RID OF JAMES WONG. As a matter of fact, Stephen Chow should have directed the movie, and should take the reins from this point on. A Dragonball sequel in his capable hands could even surpass Kung Fu Hustle.
DBZalltheway
DBZalltheway - 8/11/2009, 3:52 AM
i dont know why people still think that goku was asain, yes he was a alien, and he was supposed to blend in with the people.... but he wasent supposed to blend in with
Japanese people, hes supposed to blend in with PEOPLE IN GENERAL... the movie was crap i will give it that... piccolo was not a bad job but i would of loved to seen him in the Namekien close.. and the antenna's would of been awesome, but the voice actually was really good.. but they should rebut it.. idk how it would turn out but they should do so
ScorpioEagle1
ScorpioEagle1 - 8/12/2009, 2:10 PM
@Kyatollah

Very astute comments about my post and you have some valid points.. honestly you are correct I was not a fan of the original Dragonball franchise in any form and was am not very knowledgable on that part of the lore. However in retrospect I guess they did a pretty decent job attempting to bring it into this current time period. The essence of Roshi was there and there was a conscious effort to keep the stoey rooted in Dragonball not Dragonball Z.. but why the change in the origin of the dragonballs? Why would Goku be a minion of Piccolo's? I just think they should have began with DBZ.. even Dragonball but leading up to the events of the world marital arts tournament and Goku running off to marry her and then set up for Vegita and the arrival.. I understand it was a daunting task to bring the story to a movie and please the many many fans but I think they could have done much much better but as long as they learned some lessons maybe we'll get somethig that isn't necessarily aimed at 8 year olds and resembles the show or the manga more..

Good read though dude I enjoyed your feedback...
Osiris
Osiris - 8/28/2009, 9:10 PM
ok the one thing that was wrong with the film was they tried to put the entire Dragonball series into an hour and a half movie, they should have made it 2.5 hours or at least 2 hours they could have touched on a lot more that way.

but given this is FOX they did decent with what they had to work with, Characters where spot on and the main points of the king piccolo saga were there along with the very begining of DB. I understand why a lot of DB was cut from the film, the Red Ribbon army was not really needed which consisted of a majority of the DB episodes, and if the series continues on enough to reach the android saga it can be easily worked past. Hell a lot of ppl didn't even watch DB and when they saw the Android saga they didn't think anything of the Red Ribbon Army so it's not a big deal.

DBZ is the next step and it needs to be handed off to someone who knows DBZ, or knows how to make believable DBZ fights like the Wachowski bros, when watching the final fight in the last Matrix all I could think was "god damn they need to make a DBZ movie cause this kicks ass."

I say try again with the same actors, go into DBZ but change the director(s) and maybe the franchise can be saved, DBE is not horrible but the series can be by far better in the right hands.
ninzen
ninzen - 2/9/2010, 1:59 PM
I'm a fan of DB and DBZ (GT was lame compared to the first two) and I haven't seen the movie. All of the previews I saw just made me think it was going to be sucktastic and it sounds like I was right.

I will watch it, if only to have a leg to stand on in bashing it! LOL!

As for doing another DBZ movie, I agree with Osiris, I think the Wachowski brothers have a good sense of the vision necessary to pull off a movie like this. The Neo/Smith fight at the end of Revolutions shows a good DBZ fight is possible.
aishiteru
aishiteru - 4/29/2010, 8:16 PM
it's actually not as bad as people make it out to be, it's like there were a few details left out of the script, but it's actually pretty close

-goku was found and trained by gohan
-goku and bulma become a team (as well as yamcha etc.)
-goku is trained by roshi
-they look for the dragonballs
-goku becomes the oozaru, which is a giant ape (well large)
-goku and piccolo fight
-goku beats piccolo by using his inner saiyan and flying while using a kamehameha(in manga he shot it at the gound to fly up and punch a hole through piccolo while there's an transparent image of the oozaru beside goku)
-they summon shen-long and have their wish granted

But there is alot of major WTF moments too...
-oozaru worked for piccolo(why fox?)
-they knew piccolo was a namek (piccolo didn't even know he was a namek until dbz when vegeta and nappa arived)
-oozaru was 8ft compared to 100ft .-.

and to people saying why isn't he asian...BECAUSE HE'S A [frick]ING ALIEN, IT DOESN'T MATTER!

anyway that's what i have to say.
aishiteru
aishiteru - 4/30/2010, 5:24 AM
oh and another wtf moment
-goku changes at an eclipse(originally full moon)

and a kind of in the middle thing
-the kamehameha could be considered as a wind/air technique because roshi did use it to put out a fire...after oolong disguised himself as bulma and shows roshi her(his) boobs. oolong also wishes for panties in that manga xD
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