Movie Review: “Dragonball Evolution”
Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 6:15PM | By Franck Tabouring 
Seen on: April 11, 2009
The players: Director: James Wong, Writer: Ben Ramsey, Cast: Justin Chatwin, Joon Park, James Marsters, Emmy Rossum
Facts of interest: Wong also directed "The One" and "Final Destination."
The plot: Goku must find the seven magical dragonballs before the ruthless villain Piccolo calls forth a badass demon who will destroy the world.
Our quick thoughts: James Wong’s “Dragonball Evolution” is certainly not the worst film I’ve seen so far this year, but it’s still a bad one. A very bad one, actually. I don’t really know much about the “Dragonball” franchise and I’ve never read the series or played any of the video games, but I like to think it doesn’t take an expert to realize this movie is pretty much a crappy big-screen adaptation.
Justin Chatwin stars as the film’s hero Goku, who must collect seven magical balls in order to prevent the ruthless villain Piccolo (James Marsters) from unleashing a badass demon who could destroy the world. That’s pretty much all there is to say about the story, because the plot of “Evolution” is incredibly thin and repetitive.
Lacking suspense, logic and diversity, Wong’s movie spends its entire 80 minutes (that’s without credits) following Goku and his buddies trying to find all seven balls before it’s too late to save the world. This may sound all adventurous at first, but in truth, Goku’s mission is never really challenging or intriguing. It’s boring, instead.
The film’s biggest flaw is obviously Ben Ramsey’s ridiculous script, and the thing I hated most about it was the cheap dialogue. I mean, my list of complaints here is pretty long, but the things these characters uttered throughout the movie were just embarrassingly primitive and laughable.
But also from a technical point of view, “Dragonball Evolution” failed to impress me. Most of the visual effects look cheap, and whether that was intentional or not doesn’t matter. They just don’t look good. The film also boasts a bunch of fighting sequences, and while some of them are moderately fast-paced, they still lack originality.
As far as the acting is concerned, I couldn’t find a single decent performance in this flick. Chatwin just doesn’t look comfortable in the role of Goku, and Yun-Fat Chow tried way too hard portraying Master Roshi. And don’t you think Emmy Rossum was just terribly annoying as Bulma?
Freaky quote: “I am Goku. I am Oozaru. In order to defeat you, I must be one with myself." – Justin Chatwin
The final word: Plenty of “Dragonball” fans called me names because I hated some of the film clips before the film’s release, but I am dying to know: do you diehard fans love this adaptation? I can’t compare it to its source material, but looking at it solely as a movie, “Evolution” stinks big time. It’s indeed a waste of time and money.
Article by Franck Tabouring
Reader Comments (6)
I don't know who in his right mind would call you names. We all knew from the first photos and leaked plot that this movie was gonna be very, very bad. But a lot of us were surprised when we actually saw it: we never tought it would be THIS bad. I wrote a very long and detailed review, but it is in spanish XD, however you can see my reaction to the movie in this video:
(It's also in spanish but you can jump to 4:15)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuTtgcjKTeQ
So this movie sucks a lot and has nothing to do with the original Dragon Ball. The movie, in the best scenario, doesn't make sense at all.
(I am willing to traslate my review to english if someone helps me to spread it...).
So you were right all along.
EDIT: I DID MY REVIEW IN ENGLISH:
http://dragonballpesadilla.blogspot.com/
Okay,Let's start from the top.I love DBZ and Dragonball.I've hoped for years that someone would make a movie out of DBZ.So when my brother informed me that the movie was coming out I was very excited to see it...that is until I saw the previews.ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! What happened?! This is not the Goku I know!First things first, WHY IS HE WHITE?! The entire cast should have been asian, just like the series! There's no white people, or black people, or any other race for that matter. Why can't we just follow the original format? Futhermore, why are we in America? Goku didn't even go to school. Plus, he was a fighter not a stupid school boy trying to get a girls attention so he practiced fighting b/c of that. Come on! Did they do any research before they made this movie? Why does Piccolo look like something from Star Wars? He is suppose to be green with antennas and tall in stature. And Goku is suppose to be tall with a muscular build. And why is Bulma's hair not blue everywhere? Why is there only one blue streak? I am completely disgusted by this. This movie screams LOW BUDGET and poor script. I refuse to go watch it. This movie insults any true Dragonball fan who knows anything about the series. This cartoon had potential to be a big hit with multiple sequels like Spider-Man or X-Men. But, the studio completely screwed it up. The series was popular just like it was. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I consider myself a standart fan.
To be honest - the movie even fails to be good as stand-alone action movie. I was expecting more massive fights and explosions etc.
As for Dragonball - well.. I suppose you can do wit what creator said - The movie is so off, you must treat is as it was in different paralell universe, rather than adapdaptation of cartoon.
And you're right :( sadly all characters are very weak. Someone noted, that Goku was made like an angry teen, rather than a joyful childish man from cartoons. when I saw "Bulma" I thought of Tomb Rider rather than the actual character.
I wonder what was their budget? Just curious how much money was wasted like a poo in toilet.
james wong why dude? I mean after watchin the one i thot to myself dis guy culd b the one 2 actually bring dragonball but hey guyz wat do u expect the thot of childish anime its so unfare that fantastic four,spiderman,punisher,daredevil,hulk,wolverine,x-men,watchmen,transformers,ironman,ghost rider,batman and superman get 2 come 2 lyf includin harry potter nd tarzan.i wuld rathr c stephen chow direct this movie it wuld b ok for if it were chinease o japanese but god plse lets sumone make this movie a big hit! Lyk terminator salvation,kung fu hustle,matrix.
Why didnt goku fly