Dragonball Evolution (2009)

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 | Warrior | Grandfather | Henchman | Morphing

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 | Hindi

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 | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | India:UA

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In the Japanese version, Hisao Egawa and Mami Koyama are the only ones who have provided voice work as Dragonball characters.

Goofs:

Continuity: Goku being a Sayian their hair never changes, his hair constantly changes throughout the movie.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Grandpa Gohan: In a time before many can remember, our planet faced its greatest challenge. A warlord named Piccolo camed from beyond the stars, bringing darkness and chaos to our once peaceful world. Aided by his disciple Oozaru, the evil pair brought the human race to the brink of annihilation. Cities and countries crumbled beneath them. Countless lives were lost. But...

Movie Connections:

References Siu lam juk kau (2001)

Soundtrack:

Rule

Dragonball Evolution - What a screw up!

What is wrong with this picture man? Nothing personal to James as a director. I love his Final Destination series, but I think James is NOT the right person to direct this million plus dollars franchise. Why James is hired to direct this movie in the first place? It is a big mistakes. Like having Ang Lee directing the Hulk. Hiring an Asian to direct an Asian animation epic doesn't mean the movie will turn out great. The director must have a vision of the given materials.

The entire outcome is a disaster and disappointment. It is understandable that the film isn't exactly the same as the original comic, but the characters and the plot just suck as a film on its own. From observing the promotion materials of Dragonball, it seems that Fox doesn't want to do this movie at all. The posters suck and the trailers suck. The studio spends a lot of money on making Marvels and DC comics into movies, look how successful those films had become. The studios should pay more respect and faith in Asian materials.

To me this whole thing isn't making any sense at all because there are established fans across the globe, and Dragonball comic and cartoon itself has last more than TWO decades. This is why I think 20th Century Fox was putting money into this project initially. Everyone is looking forward to see a Hollywood version of Dragonball. Soon as I saw the first teaser, I knew I shouldn't put up in any hope into this movie. Even though I went to see the movie without any expectation, the movie still suck! Despite the led down of the Dragonball fans, it creates negative impulses to those who is new to Dragonball.

Dragonball is a hot cult in Asia and it hits the western market because of the stylistic action and fight sequences. However, the martial arts choreography in this movie is another led down. Not to mention the screenplay, the production design of this film is not consistence at all. Wardrobes, props to makeup, nothing fits together! Not only nothing in this film resembles the original DB, it is a disgrace. No wonder they use the word "Evolution". But when they say evolution, I don't expect the studio turns something respectable like Dragonball into rubbish. I've seen a live action version of Dragonball shot by the Malaysian years ago. Although it is an exact duplicate of the animation. But the movie is far better than Dragonball Evolution.

A lot of us are looking for a remake of this movie.