Dragonball: Evolution Review
Apr 8, 2009 by Ross MillerIs Dragonball Evolution really as terrible as it’s looked in every trailer & commercial? Find out here.
Short version: Dragonball: Evolution is a badly written film with horrible dialogue, lackluster action and a sense of fun that’s nowhere to be found.
Screen Rant’s Ross Miller reviews Dragonball: Evolution
When you head to the theater to see a movie called Dragonball: Evolution, you obviously aren’t expecting Shakespeare. From the advertising, the whole thing gives off a feeling of light, campy, action-packed fun that you would hope would allow you to just sit back, relax and turn off your brain for 90 minutes or so.
Yeah, well, that’s why we have words like “hope” as a counterpoint to “guarantee.”
Dragonball: Evolution may very well be one of the worst films of the past 12 months or so – I am actually struggling to think of the last movie I thought was quite as bad as this one was. And it’s not one of those cases where it’s just not my cup of tea… No, this is a flat-out bad movie in pretty much every area that makes up a motion picture.
Based on the popular anime series of the same (or at least similar) name, Dragonball: Evolution follows Goku (played by Justin Chatwin) who carries out his grandfather’s dying request to find Master Roshi (played by Chow Yun-Fat) and locate all seven of the powerful Dragon Balls. He already has one of them, but with the help of Bulma (played by Emmy Rossum), Master Roshi and Yamcha (played by Joon Park), he must find the others before the evil Lord Piccolo (played by James Marsters) does, whose intentions are to use them to take over the world.
Now let me just point out that I very much represent those who are not fans of the source material, and in fact know next to nothing about it. I can say without reservation that I am in the majority – if you’re a fan it may feel like everyone in the world is a fan of the cartoon, but trust me, most of the general movie-going population (who will be exposed to this through TV and other marketing) will barely even have heard of it, never mind having seen any of it.
So I then have to judge the film purely on its own merits, without having the prior knowledge to be able to compare and contrast it with the source material. Some fans of the cartoon may get a kick out of seeing such things as a certain costume or a hairstyle appear in some form, but as a movie this thing flat out stinks. And not even in a “yeah it was bad, but kind of fun in spite of that” kind of way – in pretty much all areas you can think of, it is awful.
The main problem with the film is the script, meaning both dialogue and the story. First off, I can’t believe how bad the dialogue was in this movie. From the very first scene in the film, which sees the movie starting off with a short back story explanation, the dialogue is painful. Near the beginning of the movie we see Goku being trained to fight by his grandpa while balancing on two ropes – and the back and forth exchange of dialogue is like something written to sound cool, but is delivered and pulled off so poorly that it’s cheesy and downright cringe-worthy.
That’s pretty much representative of the entire movie right off the bat – everything comes off as cheesy, nothing can be taken seriously, not even when Goku is supposed to be upset right after his grandfather dies (which happens within the first 10 minutes, so that’s not really a spoiler). Every time a character opens their mouth and delivers this atrocious excuse for dialogue, I felt like covering my ears and shutting my eyes in embarrassment (which I did do a handful of times, I’m not even kidding).
Well, you might be thinking “so what?” Who cares if the dialogue is bad and high on the cheese-meter? The action has to make up for that, right? Well, wrong. Actually, dead wrong. Action is the one thing that could have saved this movie from the abyss, but they even manage to muck that potential up. The action is not just mediocre or even sub-par – oh no, it’s worse than that - it’s terrible. Director James Wong clearly doesn’t know how to direct the needed action (although he seemed to do okay with Jet Li’s The One), and the attempts he makes are reminiscent of a young kid having fun in a special effects studio, just randomly pressing any of the fancy buttons on display.
They attempt to have 300-esque action scenes of things going from normal speed to slow-motion and then suddenly speeding back up to normal again. But for such a technique to be effective you have to know what you’re doing, and it’s evident from this movie that Wong doesn’t. Zack Snyder, although using it a bit too flippantly in 300, timed the slowing down thing pretty much perfectly, matching up exactly with the action on-screen and giving that extra bit of kick. But here it’s used far, far too often for no reason other than to just have it in there for the sake of it. There’s a strange sense that the movie thinks what it’s doing is cool… but “laughable” is more the accurate description.
You probably want to know how the cast did… Well unfortunately, like the rest of the movie, pretty awful. Justin Chatwin is completely miscast in the role of Goku (for some reason an American playing this character just doesn’t feel right), Emmy Rossum is hot but nonetheless terrible as Bulma, and I feel embarrassed that Chow Yun-Fat has gone from amazing stuff like Hard Boiled and The Killer to eye-rolling stuff like this. The only actor who did all right (and I stress, just all right) was James Marsters as (an underused) Lord Piccolo – he’s not in any way good, but, let’s just say… he was less terrible than the rest of the cast.
The only thing I can think of that’s even remotely positive about Dragonball: Evolution is that the special effects are pretty cool at times. Not during some of the hand-to-hand combat scenes (where the effects are so obviously… effects, if you know what I mean), but when they use what is known as “KI attacks,” which are basically blasts of different colored energy from their hands.
Props go to Amalgamated Dynamics for creating special effects which are, on their own, quite visually stunning. Also, the movie is really quite short, so at least I didn’t have to sit through the pain for all that long.
However, that’s pretty much where the positive stuff ends – you just know a movie is in trouble when you are literally straining to think of something you liked about it.
I don’t know if the story they used here in any way resembles the original cartoon/anime stories, but how they told it in the movie was abysmal. There were clearly elements taken from the source material, and it is then clearly a story (or one of the stories… I don’t know, I’m not a Dragonball fan) that may work well in a cartoon but it does not work well on the big-screen. Not for even the slightest moment.
I lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes, snickered, groaned, and shook my head in embarrassment and shame during this movie. I can’t actually believe the filmmakers looked at the script and thought, “Yes, this is good stuff. Let’s go ahead and make it!” It’s probably just one of those cases where they saw the popularity of the source material and thought that they could make a quick buck by just throwing anyone in the roles, sticking together bits and pieces from the cartoon to form something resembling a story.
So needless to say I don’t recommend Dragonball: Evolution. I wasn’t expecting this to be any good, but I don’t know if I was expecting it to be this bad. Please, if you believe in the magic of cinema, avoid this with as much effort as it takes.
Our Rating:
0.5 out of 5
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@KEN J
Actually it was the Red Ribbon Gang b4 Piccolo, and it was about the adventures about him and the quest for finding The 4 star dragonball after someone made a Wish. It just seem like you trying to nitpick and how simple the story is. There are ways to edit a story to make it better.
@ Cyber Punk
You do otherwise you would not have wasted effort getting a failed listing and still, have yet to produce anything relevant to your point. Word of advice, check your sources, and have your backing material handy.
Tranformers hands down. PERIOD.
You have failed to prove the total sales numbers for Transformers which means Dragon Ball has a bigger fan base END OF STORY.
Ciberpunk, go out your bedroom and ask your mother, father, uncle, sister, anyone. “Do you know transformers?” then ask again “Do you Know dRagon ball?”.
Then, sit and think about u are trying to prove. Good Luck.
LOL Cyber you are very funny. Again where are these total DB sales that you speak of?
*typo again:
Then, sit and think about what u are trying to prove here. Good luck with your responses.
Im not a fan of both series, but is very obvious everybody know what a transformer is. A dragon ball? i dont think so.
I doubt Transformers has a biggter fanbase than DBZ. Transformers is jst more popular here in the U.S., therefore it gets much better treatment from the big U.S. film studio. People don’t seem to realize just how incredibly popular DBZ has been for over twenty years.
JM< depends on if your father, uncle, sister are from the U.S. or in Asia, or even Mexico, or possibly Germany where DBZ is very popular.
Transformers No. of episodes 98
Dragon Ball/Z No. of episodes 444
Transformers No. of animated films 1
Dragon Ball/Z No. of animated film 16
I’m in Mexico and let me tell you, DB and DBZ were very popular, but never like Transformers.
And it’s not a matter or popularity, big proyects deserve big budgets no matter where they come from. Dragon Ball Z is not as popular to deserve a big one, like i said it has a fan base but is not that popular, and with that ridiculous premise what can u expect? A Peter Jackson epic?
CyberPunk, what about all the others transformers shows like beastwars, beastwars neo, armada, etc, etc?
You are only proving your a fan boy of DB.
Instead of making false/incomplete statements, save your energy to go to the theater and support this craptacular movie. Or, if you dont like it, make a “sign this petition” page or something.
What’s next? A “DB is bigger than Batman?”
@T
So his uncle, mom, and sister, basically have to be born in the 1990s is what you are suggesting?
There is no way in heck DB is or ever will be bigger than Batman. It will be interesting to see what the sales are for this failed flick.
@JM
Those are just spin-offs. As you can see i didn’t Dragon Ball GT because that doesn’t count either.
All my statements are true i don’t what lair you see in them.
Oh and Dragon Ball is more popular Batman in other countries. Not most but some.
I think my google is different than yours because i think there’s a lot more episodes of transformers, like i said im not fan of transformers, but with a little clicks i discovered that the complete trasnformers series are:
American Series
Fight! Super Robot Life Transformers
Scramble City
Transformers: 2010
Transformers: Hero
Transformers: Headmasters
Transformers: Masterforce
Transformers: Victory
Matrix Forever
Transformers: Zone
Transformers: Return of Convoy/Battlestars
Transformers: Operation Combination
Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers
Transformers: Beast Wars Second
Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers
Transformers: Beast Wars Neo
Transformers: Beast Wars Metals
Transformers: Car Robots
Your “98 episodes” is just for the “american series” listed first.
Using google should not be that difficult. Please end this discussion and get back the good talking about this great review!!! PLEASE.
Transformers
# of Films done by Hollywood that don’t suck 1 more than likely 2
DB – 0
Sorry i ment say was “As you can see i didn’t put Dragon Ball GT because that doesn’t count either.”
Dragonball is one of the largest media franchises of all-time. It debuted as a comic, then spawned a long-running cartoon series running 500 episodes shouldered to over 20 theatrical films, with a video-game library comprised of over 50 games (of which is among the highest-selling super hero games the globe over).
The series has an unbelievably large and loyal fanbase- it’s considered a religion how often it’s disputed and discussed. This is why companies endorse it, buy it, distribute it, and continue producing so many products with its name on it. You’ll be surprised to find that there aren’t many franchises that are as successful as Dragonball.
SIN187, the cartoon and game franchise itself is worth over 3 billion dollars. The same couldn’t be said about Harry Potter before its adaptations, or Spider-Man, or X-Men, or Superman, Transformers(by a long shot! lol) or Batman. The fact is, Dragonball sees exceptional success in that particular medium. While it may not work as well in live-action, it still holds that throne for the genre it invented.
You should do your research. It’s not like your opinions hold any merit or make any sense for that matter.
16 of those Dragon Ball films appeared in theaters so it counts. I never said a No. of Hollywood films.
@ 4900PR
Tranformers and Hasbro still have that 3 billion beat. Furthermore I fail to see your merit on anything accept that you know how to search up info on google and try to come of as somebody who is really nobody. It’s not like your opinions or life hold any merit or make any sense as well. Companies endorse it becuz blind and foolish people will buy crap just because they claim to be fans. Which is why we have this crap movie.
@ Cyber
There were also 7 (8 if you count Freddy vs jason) Freddy Kruger movies released in theaters so what is your point? There was also about 30 or so WuTang films released in a theater. So you point was?
Prior to the adaptation, Transformers’ franchise wasn’t nearly as successful as Dragonball’s.
Transformers began as an average-length Japanese cartoon series (most of its American audience doesn’t know this), and to some extent did it have merchandise. Neither the cartoon or its merchandise have sold as rampant around the world as Dragonball.
It never had a best-selling manga world-wide, a long-running cartoon series that hit #1 all over the world, a neverending toyline, card-game series, extended series or over 50 different games …and nor did it generate over $3 billion dollars as a cartoon product.
Sorry, fellas- Dragonball holds the gold. You’re confusing the original Transformers with Hollywood’s rendition and promotional effect of generic proportion.
More than half of Hollywood’s Transformers fans aren’t fans of the original series. The ideas were reintroduced as a cartoon in America, and it didn’t do well. So, there you have it.
@SIN187UM
I failed to see your proof that Transformers made over $3 billion in toys sales. I have shown you minds now it’s your turn. Plus Dragon Ball already made over $3 billion aswell.
@4900PR
Actually Sim3 got DB beat in games category.
I think you’re confused, Sin187.
Do you even know what Hasbro is?
Since when were The Sims placed in the super-hero category?
@4900PR
Actually you are the only one trying blur those lines. More than half of DB fan’s aren’t fans either. Just who go look up some stuff to talk about at the bus stop waiting for school, or they won’t feel left out of the Manga/Anime loop. DB is already on it’s way down hill, this flick will make the ball roll faster.
Since you got on this media franchise crap, tried (but failed) to bash some one. Matter O fact if u wanted to, u could make a super hero in Sims.
@SIN187UM
Now you just running out of stuff to say. At least me and 4900PR made are points very clear. Your just not making any sense anymore.