The Dragon Ball franchise is probably the biggest and most popular anime ever conceived. It’s a massive hit in Japan, and received even more critical acclaim in the West. Yet when a cartoon, book or video game becomes popular a live action film is sure to follow. It happened to Garfield, Harry Potter and Resident Evil. And, more often than not, they get a mediocre reception (with the exception of Harry Potter). Now Dragon Ball has come to the big screen, and it's one major disappointment.
So What's Dragon Ball About?
The overall story isn’t entirely different from Akira Toriyama’s original print – Goku must stop Lord Piccolo from collecting the seven Dragonballs, with the help of Bulma, Master Roshi and Yamcha. The Dragon Balls can allow any one wish to be made, so of course Goku has to stop Piccolo from taking over the world.
While that sounds more or less the same as the manga and anime, how the story is played out is completely different. For starters, Goku is a teenager. He attends High School where he is the unpopular one, called ‘Geeku’. Chi-Chi, his love interest, is the popular girl of school. She’s also a martial artist, like Goku himself. So far, only one fact remains the same from the manga.
Goku’s grandfather, Gohan, is also still alive. Bulma doesn’t have blue hair, only a single streak of it. Goku doesn’t have his tail, and Master Roshi lives in the city, not on an island. To add insult to injury, there is no Krillin or Tien. The fact that these two play an important part of Goku’s childhood must have slipped James Wong’s mind.
Does Anime Work In Live Action?
It's easy to say that because it's a live action adaptation, it doesn’t have to stick completely to the original story. To some degree, yes. Lord of the Rings had noticeable differences in the film trilogy. So did Harry Potter, and the only thing the Bourne trilogy has from the books is the name.
The difference is, however, that these films worked. This doesn’t. Dragon Ball Evolution has tried to fit a lot of the original print into 80 minutes, which is not possible. A lot of the story that has been changed, altered and missed out. The plot itself is a mess, with hopeless acting from Justin Chatwin as Goku. He fails to pick up the loveable stupidity of Goku from the manga and anime.
Chow-Yun Fat as Master Roshi is, in theory, a great choice. But such a fine actor like himself can do better than this. The fight sequences are enjoyable in places, but the final battle is anti-climatic. There’s no blood, and it’s over very quickly.
The only real good thing on screen is Lord Piccolo, portrayed by James Marsters. He does a fantastic job as Goku’s archenemy, whose story is one of the only few in the movie that sticks to the original. However, he isn’t on-screen long enough to be truly menacing. If he’s supposed to be Goku’s main enemy, then way does he get less than 10 minutes film time? The inevitable sequel should rectify this – hopefully the sequel will also have a different director.
Dragon Ball Is For Adults, Not Children
It’s hard to say whether it’s Wong’s fault for this adaptation of Dragon Ball. The whole franchise is marketed at children in the West, despite the fact there’s nudity, swearing and gruesome battles in the original print. A proper Dragon Ball movie shouldn’t be aimed at children, or even be a PG rating.
Perhaps if the original marketing for DB in the West had been for adults than this would be better. Instead, Dragon Ball: Evolution is a charmless, worthless adaptation of a classic anime. This will be up for worst film of 2009.
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