Dragon Ball Evolution, the time of our inevitable duel has arrived. We have hearing about this movie in some form for about seven plus years. Back then, when they first announced that this film was really going down, I was so excited. I dreamt of when this magic day would come; and it finally did.
I’ve loved the entire Dragon Ball universe for my entire anime career. I looked past all its negative features, knowing there was a shiny gem of saiyan gold hidden under a bunch of spacious fluff. So, it is very hard for me to say bad stuff about my dear old Dragon Ball; so what is a God Len to do?
I walked into the movie thinking it was going to suck, and I was not alone. It’s hard not to be sucked into the mafuba pot of negativity that this film has created. So you can’t walk into the film without thinking about how Goku isn’t a little kid, or the location of Goku’s best friend Krillian; the negative hype is high with this one. With so much different, what should a Dragon Ball fan think, what should I think? Let’s find out.
It’s very hard to accept it, but even if the film was exactly like the manga, it would still be different. So to a certain extent, you have to accept this film for what it is. Like Toriyama stated sometime before the film, Dragon Ball Evolution is its own story, placed within its own world, with it’s own Goku, and it’s own surfing dude Yamcha. It is something that is really hard for an otaku to stomach, but it is something we have to live with. (For now)
The Goku of Dragon Ball Evolution is not like the Goku of the Dragon Ball manga. In fact, he is more like Goku’s second son Goten instead. He’s interested in women, and fighting for popularity; something that Goku wasn’t concerned with. Yes, it is a distorted image of the character, and it doesn’t end with Goku. In fact, the only two characters that truly haven’t changed are Bulma and Piccolo.
Much like the characters, the story has drastically changed as well. They had to fit the entire Dragon Ball storyline into an hour and a half, so it is no surprise that things had to change. Piccolo killed Goku’s adoped Grand Father Gohan--the moon remained un-exploded--the ninja girl Mai was working for the wrong person--I could really go on forever.
From a Dragon Ball fan’s perspective this has to be the biggest disappointment of the film. Things that didn’t have to change from the actual manga and anime were changed, and for no real reason. The details from the manga were removed, leaving only the basic outline and shape of something that can only be remotely be called Dragon Ball, but still Dragon Ball it is nevertheless.
I wished and prayed every night for Dragon Ball Evolution to be just like the manga and anime, but it isn’t. Basically it’s an average kung-fu flick with plenty of nicely choreographed fight scenes that were a lot better than what I was expecting; not to mention Bulma was flipping hot throughout the film. As a Dragon Ball fan I was disappointed, but as a martial arts connoisseur I was surprised, in a good/average way.
What could have saved this film was if they removed everything that had to do with Dragon Ball away from it. That would then leave us with an average kung-fu flick that shared a lot of similarities to Dragon Ball, but not actually being Dragon Ball. I can guarantee that we would have loved the film because we all knew they were paying homage to Dragon Ball; and otaku love it when something pays homage to anime.
Finally, you have to give credit where credit is due. Because this film was released, otaku around the world were graced with Dragon Ball Kai; which is perhaps the best thing to happen to Dragon Ball. So thank you for making Dragon Ball Evolution.
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