Left to right: Mai, Bulma, Goku, Master Roshi, and Chi-Chi.
Dragonball Evolution is an American Live-Action Adaptation of Dragon Ball produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by James Wong. It stars Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun-fat, James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Joon Park and Eriko Tamura.
Goku (Chatwin) is a young high school student who must battle the evil space overlord Piccolo (Marsters) and retrieve the Dragon Balls in order to stop Piccolo's massive ape servant, Oozaru. Along the way, Goku loses his grandfather and meets an inventor named Bulma (Rossum), an aging martial arts master named Roshi (Chow), and a bandit named Yamcha (Park).
Akira Toriyama, the creator of the original series, reportedly hated this movie so much that he returned to work on the Dragon Ball franchise to redeem his creation. This was one of the factors resulting in Dragon Ball's revival in the mid-2010s, starting with Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.
It has a Fighting Game adaptation on the PlayStation Portable. Not to be confused with the two unofficial live-action movies based on Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins and Dragon Ball: Fight for Victory, Son Goku!.
This movie provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Oddly enough, the Kamehameha Wave itself. In the series the wave was an extremely powerful energy attack limited only by the user's power, but that was it. In the movie the wave can do basically anything. It's shown putting out and lighting fires, as well as somehow healing a character from near death — though later entries in the franchise give it a similar ability.
- Adaptational Mundanity: This is justified, since it would have been very difficult to make this film 100% faithful to the manga and anime, since on Earth from the world of Dragon Ball is inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, dinosaurs, humans with unusual characteristics, demons and talking monsters. Also, in the manga and anime the Dragon Ball chronology goes back to the 700s, while in the film it seems to happen in the present 2009. Goku is an average high school teenager rather than a kid raised in the woods and most of the cast, notably the dwarf Krillin, were left out.
- Adaptational Villainy: The Namekians are described as being conquerors from across the stars, when in the source material, they are mostly peaceful, with Demon King Piccolo being an exception (and that was only because he was the physical embodiment of the evil side of the Namekian he and Kami split from).
- Adaptational Wimp:
- The Oozaru in the manga is a King Kong like beast. Here, as an Oozaru, Goku grows around two feet taller than his base form.
- Adaptation Expansion: The surprisingly-decent video game of the film takes a few chances to expand upon the film and throw in a few more elements from the actual franchise. In particular, Piccolo references Goku's Saiyan heritage by name during the battle at the temple and in the secret bonus chapter of the story, Piccolo returns in a very Lord Slug-esque form of "Neo Piccolo", and as he dies for good, he utters another curse at Goku's true identity as a Saiyan. Even as the chapter closes, Chi-Chi mentions a new technique, jokingly stating it would be "a beam from her forehead".
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: At the end, the Dragon Balls are used to bring back Master Roshi, but not Grandpa Gohan. In the original manga and anime, Gohan said he was content with remaining dead, but no such clarification is given here, raising the question of why they didn't at least try to resurrect him.
- Adaptation Title Change: Downplayed, but the film's title spells "Dragonball" as a single word as opposed to the rest of the franchise. The "Evolution" subtitle also has no prior basis.
- Adapted Out: The movie seems to be mostly an adaptation of the Demon King Piccolo arc of the manga with a little bit of Goku's backstory added in, so they could safely excise any of the bit characters from the other arcs. But still some major players in the DKP arc are still left out, like Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu, and perhaps most egregiously, Krillin.
- Alternate DVD Commentary: A riff provided by Team Four Star of the Dragon Ball Abridged series.
- Ambiguous Time Period: The high-tech classroom implies that this movie takes much later in the future despite the aesthetics and setting being reminiscient of 2009 (when the movie was filmed). Averted in the novelization where Bulma states that it is currently the 22nd Century.
- And the Adventure Continues: The movie ends with the main characters heading off to look for the Dragon Balls again.
- Anti-Climax: Piccolo creates several creatures to fight the heroes. It takes the heroes about 10 seconds to defeat them. Then, Mai shows up. She takes another 3 seconds. Also, Goku instantly becomes perfect and then easily defeats the villain.
- Artistic License – Physics: At the end of the Beam-O-War between Goku and Piccolo, Goku somehow uses the Kamehameha to propel himself towards Piccolo, somehow acting like a reverse tractor beam that draws them towards each other, despite the fact that, if anything, it should push Goku away from Piccolo since it's just a blast of energy and nothing more.
- Badass Normal: Yamcha and Bulma, though they do almost nothing of consequence compared to Goku.
- Be Yourself: Goku must learn to embrace what makes him different in order to save the world. This definitely counts as an Adaptational Angst Upgrade, since Goku is usually so carefree and wouldn't be so concerned with fitting in.
- Composite Character:
- As stated above the Namekians are said to be conquerers, which makes them like the Saiyans under Freiza.
- Sifu Norris is a mentor to Master Roshi, similar to the animated series Master Mutaito and his costume bears some similarity to the outfit worn by Mr Popo.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Goku hops across a lava flow by using Mook bodies as stepping stones. Granted Goku is Made of Iron but his friends, who aren't standing too far from the lava themselves, are not.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Mai is chasing Bulma and about to deal a killing blow when Yamcha shoots her from behind. A deleted, alternate version of that scene actually has her impaled by shrapnel, but still taken out by Yamcha.
- Dangerous 16th Birthday: Grandpa Gohan dies on Goku's 18th birthday.
- Designated Girl Fight:
- In the only tournament fight shown, Chi-Chi is fighting Mai. These are, most likely, the only two female participants. They later fight again, when Mai has taken Chi-Chi's form.
- During the final battle, Bulma must fight Mai alone for the Dragon Ball.
- Earth Drift: Inverted, if the PSP video game is anything to go by: it is stated that unlike the completely Fictional Earth in Dragon Ball, this movie's Earth is in fact our world in the future.
- The End... Or Is It?: The last shot of the film shows us that Piccolo has survived Goku's attack and is now being nursed back to health by a woman whose life he spared earlier in the film.
- Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: Most of the bullies use the usual assortment of punches you'd expect from untrained jocks. The one Asian in the group, though, adopts a fighting stance and tries to use a flying kick.
- High School AU: In stark contrast to the source material, where Goku is mostly uneducated, Goku's high school life actually plays a fairly significant part in the movie's first act.
- Hydra Problem: The minions Piccolo creates with his blood will spawn from any piece of them cut off. Goku beats them by throwing them into lava.
- In Name Only: The movie has some elements in common with the original manga, such as the presence of Goku and a girl named Bulma who are in search of the seven Dragon Balls. But nearly everything else is heavily modified from the original canon. Goku went from a twelve-year old Chaste Wild Child to a sixteen-year-old negative High-Schooler who wants to get with a girl. He learns the Kamehameha too late, and is too serious to even be considered the same character. Krillin, a highly important character in the original, was cut out (while Oolong and Puar may be understandable). Bulma and Mai go the other way and Took a Level in Badass.
- Invisible to Normals: Ki attacks, which is why the presence of ki masters like Grandpa Gohan and Muten Roshi goes unnoticed by the rest of the world. Again, this is in contrast to the source material where (prior to Dragonball Z's Cell Saga) the world is well aware that ki is a real thing.
- Kamehame Hadoken: Naturally, given the movie is an adaptation of one of the Trope Namers. Amusingly, Goku's use of it throughout the film resembles the Hadoken more than the Kamehameha from the anime and manga.
- Lancer vs. Dragon: During the climactic battle, Bulma takes on Mai. Mai emerges victorious but is defeated by Yamcha, the other lancer of the group.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Goku and Bulma have a confrontation when they first meet. Goku thinks she's the one who murdered Grandpa Gohan, while she thinks he stole her "Promethium Orb" (Dragonball).
- Loophole Abuse: When Goku is attacked by bullies at Chi-Chi's party, he gets around his promise that he wouldn't fight by relying on Deadly Dodging so that his attackers basically fight each other without ever hitting Goku himself.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When Chi-Chi reveals that she knows of the existence of ki and states that her name doesn't mean she's an idiot, Goku proceeds to embarrass himself this way.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: In lieu of Krillin, Yamcha and Bulma get this treatment.
- Remake Cameo:
- In addition to Mario Castañeda and Carlos Segundo returning as the respective voices of Goku and Piccolo, Irwin Daayán, the original Dende, voices Agundas; Paco Mauri (Gara in Dragon Ball and Mr. Lao in Z) is instead the voice of Master Roshi; José Arenas (who played various roles in Z and GT as well as Jeice in Kai) is the voice of Fuller; Herman López (the original Turtle) voices Mr. Kingery (the teacher who appears at the beginning of the film); and Arturo Mercado, the voice of Karin, Zarbon and Babidi, voices Grandpa Gohan.
- In the Japanese dub, Hisao Egawa, who voices Piroshki and Spopovitch in Z, voices Yamcha and Kenji Utsumi, the original Shenron, voices Sifu Norris (Roshi's master).
- The Reveal: It's no real shocker to those who are DB fans but Goku and Oozaru are one and the same.
- Sequel Hook: In a post-credits sequence, Piccolo is shown to have survived.
- Shout-Out:
- The Dragonballs have the added ability to make Goku see horrible things if he touches them. For bonus points, the old master (Roshi) wraps it in cloth to prevent this.
- Ki attacks are referred to as "airbending".
- Goku has posters for Shaolin Soccer and Johnny Tsunami on his wall.
- Spot the Imposter: Goku had to do this when Mai disguised as Chi-Chi fights the Real Chi-Chi. He ends up knocking the real Chi-Chi out and only realizes his mistake when he sees the cut on her arm that Mai had inflicted on her during their earlier match.
- Stock Footage: Paying close attention during Goku's "premonitions" whenever he acquires a Dragon Ball reveals that the movie uses a fair amount of stock footage. Examples include Armageddon (1998) and Independence Day.
- Stock Scream: Partway through the movie Chi-Chi defeats a Wilhelm during her training.
- Swiss-Army Superpower: The Kamehameha Wave, for some reason. In the source material it was purely an attack move, but in the movie we see it light and extinguish fires, and even heal a person from near death.
- That's Gotta Hurt: When Goku avoids one of Fuller's punches during their battle, the latter punches his car's window and yells in pain, causing Goku to say the trope name verbatim.
- There Are No Rules: Mentioned a few times by Goku, who got it from his grandpa who said it while they were training at the beginning of the movie.
- Total Eclipse of the Plot: Goku and the gang must acquire all the Dragonballs before an upcoming solar eclipse, when Oozaru will return and join Piccolo. When said eclipse appears, Goku transforms into Oozaru.
- Tournament Arc: Averted; it looks like the World Martial Arts Tournament, but it has a different name, Goku doesn't fight in it, and it's barely shown.
- Unknown Rematch Conclusion: Goku accidentally knocks out Chi-Chi thinking she is Mai in disguise. Chi-Chi and Goku later argue over whether or not this was a lucky punch and decide to settle it with a proper fight that begins as the movie ends.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: The first chunk of the movie is focused on Goku's conflicts with school bullies. If your name was Goku and you lived way the hell outside the rest of the city with some old dude who told you stories about aliens called Nameks and ki powers that no one else can see, you'd get picked on too.
- White Male Lead: Goku is the only major character who is Caucasian and just so happens to be the one who saves the day.
- Word Salad Title: Dragonball Evolution.
