As a fan of the show in my youth, I once upon a time thought a live-action DragonBall movie would be awesome. I was twelve, please forgive me. Upon seeing the first trailers for this movie, I knew how wrong I was. Fantasy elements such as those in DragonBall just didn't seem to work in a live-action setting. Now that DBE is available for rental, I had to pick it up just to see how bad it came out. I am legitimately astonished. While DBE is certainly a bad movie, it somehow manages to avoid being terrible, which is more credit than I ever thought I'd give it.
DragonBall Evolution is far from faithful to the source material, although nostaligia certainly was evoked. The dark lord Piccolo has managed to break out of his seal, and is hunting for the DragonBall's such that he can wish himself back into power. One of these dragonballs belongs to Goku, a geeky teenager who lives with his grandpa and trains in the martial arts, including some wacky airbending stuff and the word "ki". When Piccolo kills Goku's grandfather, Goku and fellow dragonball holder Bulma go on the run to find Master Roshi and stop Piccolo. Oh, and for Goku to woo hot fighter chick ChiChi.
Certain elements from the old cartoons come across very well with live actors. Bulma's motorcycle-in-a-capsule is certainly quite awesome. But for every plus, there's five problems. Goku in high-school is almost insulting to the fans. The airbending techniques come across as a little too sci-fi since the world is made to look a little more realistic than in the cartoons (we accepted it there in a world where a dog was a police captain).
Some of the biggest problems lie in the characters. Chow Yun Fat ostensibly brings some level of respect to the movie, but its one of his worst performances. In one moment where he celebrates a victory, he acts like Roshi straight out of the cartoon, something that doesn't work in live-action. Emmy Rossum really should be getting better roles than Bulma, and Bulma herself is made more action-oriented to fit in with the boys (although she's the only protagonist to play with guns). Joon Park is annoying as all hell as Yamcha, a Korean thief who talks like a surfer. Jamie Chung is definitely the hotter than anyone would have imagined ChiChi, but since when was ChiChi a fighter? Chatwin is decently likable, although the implications of a white Goku are a little unfortunate.
Action is of course what the movie is about, seeing as the series prided itself on five-episode long fight sequences. The beginning scenes are quite awful, such as Goku's fight with high school bullies, with overuse of slow-mo. After that, the fights are a little more fluid and enjoyable, although far from memorable. But hey, we get to see Chow Yun Fat beat up the kid from War of the Worlds, which almost makes it worth it.
In spite of how easy it is to rip on, DragonBall Evolution was much more enjoyable than I expected. There's a lot of groaners, but less than I expected. Maybe its just low expectations, but I got a lot more out of DBE than I expected. Granted, I expected it to be a zero-star affair, and it managed a whole two. Good for it. But from now on, realise the limitations of adapting cartoons to live action. This movie will be too out-there for non-fans, and the fans will absolutely hate it. Moderate fans looking for nostalgia, such as myself, are really the sole audience for this.
DragonBall Evolution is far from faithful to the source material, although nostaligia certainly was evoked. The dark lord Piccolo has managed to break out of his seal, and is hunting for the DragonBall's such that he can wish himself back into power. One of these dragonballs belongs to Goku, a geeky teenager who lives with his grandpa and trains in the martial arts, including some wacky airbending stuff and the word "ki". When Piccolo kills Goku's grandfather, Goku and fellow dragonball holder Bulma go on the run to find Master Roshi and stop Piccolo. Oh, and for Goku to woo hot fighter chick ChiChi.
Certain elements from the old cartoons come across very well with live actors. Bulma's motorcycle-in-a-capsule is certainly quite awesome. But for every plus, there's five problems. Goku in high-school is almost insulting to the fans. The airbending techniques come across as a little too sci-fi since the world is made to look a little more realistic than in the cartoons (we accepted it there in a world where a dog was a police captain).
Some of the biggest problems lie in the characters. Chow Yun Fat ostensibly brings some level of respect to the movie, but its one of his worst performances. In one moment where he celebrates a victory, he acts like Roshi straight out of the cartoon, something that doesn't work in live-action. Emmy Rossum really should be getting better roles than Bulma, and Bulma herself is made more action-oriented to fit in with the boys (although she's the only protagonist to play with guns). Joon Park is annoying as all hell as Yamcha, a Korean thief who talks like a surfer. Jamie Chung is definitely the hotter than anyone would have imagined ChiChi, but since when was ChiChi a fighter? Chatwin is decently likable, although the implications of a white Goku are a little unfortunate.
Action is of course what the movie is about, seeing as the series prided itself on five-episode long fight sequences. The beginning scenes are quite awful, such as Goku's fight with high school bullies, with overuse of slow-mo. After that, the fights are a little more fluid and enjoyable, although far from memorable. But hey, we get to see Chow Yun Fat beat up the kid from War of the Worlds, which almost makes it worth it.
In spite of how easy it is to rip on, DragonBall Evolution was much more enjoyable than I expected. There's a lot of groaners, but less than I expected. Maybe its just low expectations, but I got a lot more out of DBE than I expected. Granted, I expected it to be a zero-star affair, and it managed a whole two. Good for it. But from now on, realise the limitations of adapting cartoons to live action. This movie will be too out-there for non-fans, and the fans will absolutely hate it. Moderate fans looking for nostalgia, such as myself, are really the sole audience for this.