Dragonball Evolution (2009)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

James Wong

Writers (WGA):

Ben Ramsey (screenplay)
Akira Toriyama (novel)

Release Date:

10 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This Easter the legend comes to life.

Plot:

The young warrior Son Goku sets out on a quest, racing against time and the vengeful King Piccolo, to collect a set of seven magical orbs that will grant their wielder unlimited power.

Plot Keywords:

Dragon | Grandfather | Warrior | Teacher Student Relationship | Alien Race

Cast

Justin Chatwin	...	Goku
Yun-Fat Chow	...	Master Roshi
Emmy Rossum	...	Bulma
Jamie Chung	...	Chi Chi
James Marsters	...	Lord Piccolo
Joon Park	...	Yamcha
Eriko Tamura	...	Mai
Randall Duk Kim	...	Grandpa Gohan
Ernie Hudson	...	Sifu Norris
Texas Battle	...	Carey Fuller
Megumi Seki	...	Seki
Ian Whyte	...	Oozaru
Richard Blake	...	Agundes
Jon Valera	...	Moreno
Rafael Valdez	...	Butler

Also Known As:

Qi long zhu: Quanxin jinhua (China: Mandarin title) (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Chat lung jyu: Chyunsan jeunfa (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
D.B.E. (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Dragon Ball (USA) (original script title)
Dragonball (USA) (working title)
Dragonball: Evolution (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG for intense sequences of action/violence and brief mild language.

Runtime:

85 min | 100 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA | Hong Kong

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | DTS

Certification:

Australia:PG | South Korea:All | USA:PG (certificate #44706) | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 | UK:PG | Ireland:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:9 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIA | Chile:Y7 | Mexico:A | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dune Entertainment

Trivia:

It was suggested to give the entire cast special wigs of different colours, to keep the essence of the "Dragon Ball" animé, but James Wong vetoed this idea to make the film more realistic. However, Emmy Rossum had a blue streak dyed in her hair and Justin Chatwin had his hair touched to make it spiky so that their respective characters possessed a classic yet distinctive look.

Goofs:

Plot holes: In the opening credits Oozaru is seen wearing the same gi Goku later wears even though its 2000 years before Goku is even born.

Quotes:

Lord Piccolo: [looking around Gohan's home] It's not here...

Movie Connections:

References Johnny Tsunami (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rule

A beyond Sub-par interpretation of Dragon Ball onto the big screens.

This is a total butchering of what I had held great hopes of seeing. The movies attempts to follow the dragon ball story line, meanwhile adding a "modern" spin on it (ie. chi chi's castle, and Master Roshi lives in a regular semi whats up with that?). What the viewers want to see is a storyline that follows the cartoon series without any changes, and additions. Overall, the plot is weak, the characters do not look like the cartoons (ie. Yamcha, Master Roshi), the 2D cartoon series had better special effects than the movie (and the series had NO special effects, thats how terrible it was). I created an IMDb account JUST to comment on how they butchered Dragonball for me and I hope that Hollywood is smarter next time as to when they bring such a strong fan based series onto the big screens or they will only infuriate more of the audience.