Synopsis

After being imprisoned for thousands of years, the evil Lord Piccolo (James Marsters) searches for the Dragonballs. According to legend, whoever finds all seven Dragonballs will be granted one wish, which could spell doom for Earth. Piccolo sends his henchwoman Mai (Eriko Tamura) to retrieve the balls and kill anyone who gets in her way. She kills the elderly Gohan (Randall Duk Kim), who gave his 4-starred ball to his grandson Goku (Justin Chatwin). Before he dies, Gohan tells his grandson to seek Master Roshi (Chow Yun-fat), a martial arts guru with a Dragonball. Along the way, Goku runs into Bulma (Emmy Rossum), who’s built a device that can track the Dragonballs’ energy readings. While this is going on, Goku struggles with his feelings for his high school crush Chi-Chi (Jamie Chung). With the world’s fate hanging in the balance, it’s up to our brave heroes to defeat Piccolo.

Review

Honestly, this is one of those projects that seemed doomed to fail even before the cameras started rolling. Even if this weren’t an adaptation of a popular anime, Dragonball Evolution still fails to entertain as a standalone film. For one, the film’s writer, Ben Ramsey, said that he saw this purely as a job in an interview. He stated that he accepted the gig with no passion for the source material, and it shows. Even though characters, objects, etc., are taken from the show, almost all of it is entirely different. For instance, Goku has changed from the cheerful goofball we know and love to an angsty teenager. The newly added high school subplot feels out of place, probably meant to add realism that was not needed. Even when it somewhat resembles the anime in the third act, it feels hollow and empty.

The differences between the film and anime aside, this is one of the most poorly made blockbusters I’ve ever seen. For one, the CGI looks shockingly bad for a movie made in 2009, especially the noticeable green screen used. Some of the effects look unfinished, as if they rushed the render time to meet the release date. Most of the acting comes off flat and dull, particularly from Chatwin and Rossum, who have only one facial expression. Chow Yun-fat, Randall Duk Kim, and Ernie Hudson look like they’re embarrassed to be on screen. The only one who seems to be trying is James Marsters, who makes a decently intimidating villain. The fight scenes are jumbled and incomprehensible, and by the end, you’ll be begging for it to be over. Overall, Dragonball Evolution is not only a poor adaptation but also a dull action fantasy film.

Buy Dragonball Evolution from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qmS0g7.

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