Dragonball Evolution

Dragonball Evolution

When I was younger “Dragonball” (actually “Dragonball Z”) was the coolest thing on Earth. It’s still one of my favorites. And well, I thought it could never be made as a live-action feature, but I guess I was wrong. But, unfortunately for us they did a half-assed job. Also note: this is an adaptation of the original “Dragonball”, not the more popular sequel “Dragonball Z”. So there’s no Vegita, Frieza and others.

Yes, “Dragonball Evolution” is very different from the anime/manga, and frankly, I don’t have a problem with that. I mean, let’s face it – the hairs, the fights, the outfits, and all that stuff that looked really awesome animated – that just wouldn’t work in live-action. If they really kept all of that, people would’ve laughed and bashed it even more than they do now. Changes had to be made and I perfectly understand that. But… they changed too much. Let’s go character by character.

Goku: Justin Chatwin… I seriously doubted he could pull it off. But he actually did, and he was pretty good if I might add. I like how they did his hair. He is a different Goku, but he’s still Goku. The thing that bothered me is he could’ve buffed up a little bit. I understand no one can look like the anime/manga Goku, but a few pounds of muscles wouldn’t hurt him.

Bulma: Emmy Rossum. Hmmm, the overall body physique – OK. But the hair? I mean, it’s Bulma’s trademark, the blue hair. And it’s a color that really would’ve worked, even in the live-action version. Instead, she’s a brunette with just a blue lock. It was a long time ago when I watched “Dragonball” but I also don’t recall her being a gunslinger. This Bulma has only the name in common with the original Bulma, and nothing more.

Muten Roshi: Chow Yun-Fat. Now, I think Chow was a great choice. And he’s a great actor. But again, what did you do to his overall appearance, goddamn it?! He looks nothing, and I mean nothing like the Roshi we know.

Yamcha: Joon Park. Same story as before, Yamcha who was originally afraid of girls is a slick ladies man here. At least, he’s still a thief. And by the way, Park had the worst acting out of the whole bunch.

Chi Chi: Jamie Chung. No complaints here. I never liked Chi Chi as a character and thought she always acted a real bitch. So, whatever. Have to say, though – Jamie Chung is very hot.

Lord Piccolo: James Marsters. Again, no complaints to the visual appearance. But they should’ve given him way more screen time.

And that brings us the real problems. “Dragonball Evolution” is too short. It should’ve been at least half an hour longer, provided the film was better altogether. On the other hand, a prolonged feature of this (lack of) quality would’ve only made it worse. Overall, it seems very shallow and rushed, not giving you enough time to get into the story and properly introduce the characters. The Dragonballs are scattered all over the world, but you’’ll have the feeling they’re all in a few miles radius. It’s like” “Oh, we have a Dragonball reading on the radar on the other side of the planet!” and the next thing you know – BOOM! – we’re here! “Look! Another one!” – BOOM!

What was the anime most famous for? It wasn’t the story, or the animation, or the script quality. No, it was the fights. “Dragonball” featured prolonged uber kick ass battles that actually made most of the anime. They regularly featured mass destruction of the environment, whatever it was – just a small area, a mountain, a whole continent, or even the planet. It was mayhem all around. The fights in “DB E” aren’t even close. All you’ll get are a few pathetic ki blasts, and probably the lamest Kamehameha ever, and it’s over. There goes the great and all powerful demon, Lord Piccolo. Hooray.

This film should’ve been done by the Japanese. Why? Because they can really make use of their budget. Not long ago I’ve seen “Casshern”, another live-action adaptation of a manga/anime. It was made with a budget of only $ 5 million, but it looked amazing. “DB E” reportedly had a budget of $ 45 million, and looked like crap compared to it. Using the same SFX technique, they would’ve definitely saved up money, and given it a more animeish look which would’ve been better. Then there’s “Oneechanbara: The Movie”, made with an even lesser budget, which had teleportations, ki blasts, and other things that are a “Dragonball” trademark. Not only that, but it also looked fucking awesome. Now imagine they had the budget “DB E” had. What a film it could’ve been! Instead, we get special effects and fights of B-quality. So it was either the Japanese, or… Michael Bay, the one and only American who could ever make a true “Dragonball” film, with all the explosions and CGI it needed. In another lifetime, perhaps.

So, why such a high rating after all this ranting? Because in essence it was a fun film but with many flaws. And it is, in the end, “Dragonball”, no matter how bad. Just don’t get your hopes up too high.

Rating: 6/10

- review by Ventilation Shaft

Recommendations:

Dragonball Evolution

OMG this review is like a month late. I feel so unholy. Does anyone even read this piece of shit blog anymore? OK so let me just get to it. I've heard a lot of people are refusing to watch Dragonball here because of the bad reviews they are getting.... And I'm gonna go one further and say "Yes they are absolutely effing right".



Dragonball Evolution is about a surprisingly white Goku setting out on a quest to find 6 Dragonballs with Christine Da'ae, the kungfu guy from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and two asses who looks Chinese but talk macam orang putih.



Being someone who has seen Dragonball (not religiously, but I do know what the hell is going on), this movie was such a screw up. The direction this movie should have taken was what Speed Racer did and stay true to the anime version. It would have looked corny but it would have met expectations. Instead they try to pull a whole dramatic scene on this adding romance and other sub-plots which I didn't even find interesting enough to care about.



Another thing that really annoyed be bout this movie was that it tries so hard to be Western. Why do you have to be Western? The title of you movie is fuckin' DRAGONBALL! We get a bunch of white people with Chinese names and a supporting cast of Chinese who try so hard to sound American to the point where it really makes me cringe inside.



It's annoying. Can't do it. Can't win with it. Some of the iconic lines in the manga series got butchered into awkward sentences because they had to be spoken in a Western accent. Do note as Bryan pointed out, at the end sequence, Goku practically made a fool of himself when summoning the dragon thing. Hell I'm surprised the dragon even showed up after the way he summoned it.



The effects were okay, but there wasn't much room to show it off, like I said they were focusing too much on the romantic side to even bother putting in more fight scenes. Oh and how were the fight scenes you ask? It was like Legend of Chun-Li only there were no boobs flying around.



And the romance part of the movie. Get this, an hour into the movie, we already have two couples, who 20 minutes ago all wanted to kill each other. God it was so cheesy. Yeah Bryan your right. If the same thing can happen in the real world, hohohohoho.



Bad actors, bad dialogue, bad effects. What else can I say? Oh and yes the rumors are true. They are adapting SlamDunk into a movie to. I feel like taking a knife and stabbing it into 20th Century Fox's testicles. Hey they ruined my Draonball. I should ruin theirs.

RATING: 3/10 (Summer movies are of to a bad start)

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NicholasC

Last updated: 2010-02-23 02:18:49 by user01

Dragonball Evolution

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Dragonball and Dragonball Z animes, mainly because of when and where they came wasn’t available to me on a regular basis, but the episodes I did catch were addictive. As such, I went into this film knowing bits and pieces of Dragonball lore. Some things came back to me and others seemed like a foreign language, but one thing I can say, is that, with the exception of making the setting modern day and some minor costume differences, the film keeps pretty close to the source material.
Dragonball Evolution is a film that was obviously made for fans of the series, and maybe a few others that were curious. At lease that’s how it feels. There’s nothing wrong with that, unless you’re one of those people that goes into this expecting to see a kick ass martial arts film with lots of special effects. Fact is, the martial arts are there, but could be more, and the effects are low budget, glorifies bits of smoke.
The cast does what they can with what they have to work with, but honestly, the script to this thing is ultimately its downfall. The filmmakers should be applauded for the attempt, but a couple more rewrites would have done a world of good. These characters don’t have the emotional depth of a cardboard box, so the audience is left just watching a bunch of people jumping around all over the screen.
As I mentioned, the effects are ok, for the budget, but far below what they could be.
Choosing Piccolo as the villain for this film was a pretty good choice, but he is kind of wasted, as he may be on screen a total of 15 minutes. Understandably, he’s not the star of the film, but we never get a real feel for him or his plan, other than he wants the dragonballs.
I’m not sure why it is that when a film sticks to the source material it doesn’t do well. This film sticks as close as any to the material it comes from, and was short of being a total flop. I’m no going to sit here and say that this is a film for everyone. AS I mention before, this is mainly for those familiar with the original anime an manga. I wouldn”t go into this expecting too much. It’s just an average film that isn’t boring, but at the same time bounces around a bit, confusing some and losing others, but at the same time, it is still fun to watch.

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