In late 2008, we heard of a potential live-action Dragon Ball movie. Akira Toriyama was initially supportive of the idea and urged fans to have an open mind and think about the movie as another interpretation of his works. While the execution may have been poor and the final product looked like the last turkey I carved for Thanksgiving, I do believe not all the criticism is fair. This is going to be a controversial piece, but like Akira Toriyama I urge you guys to read on with an open mind. Come with me as I attempt to play Devil’s Advocate for a movie that didn’t do our favorite series justice.
In Defense of Dragon Ball Evolution Actors
Dragon Ball Evolution is known for its overacting and cheesy moments. It did cast some good talent with James Marsters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame playing Piccolo and Chow Yun-Fat of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame playing Master Roshi. Marsters would, in fact, go on to voice Futuren Ball Super; the Zamasu in Drago fact Dragon Ball Evolution didn’t keep him off of any Dragon Ball material is amazing to me. Marsters, for his part, is a huge fan of the Dragon Ball franchise and was a huge advocate for additional movie sequels claiming that Piccolo gets more interesting in future films.
Chow Yun-Fat also worked with John Woo on several Hong Kong action films to add to his career. This is where the defense of the actors comes in. Fun-Fat has been in the industry since the late 1970s and has numerous acting awards to his name. Roshi, in this film, is more known for his overacting than anything. Although for character looks, he wasn’t too far from the mark, his overacting is more distracting than anything.
When it comes to seasoned actors, their talent is undeniable. The exaggerated performances in Dragon Ball Evolution, therefore, speak more to the direction they were given than their own choices. Ben Ramsey, the film’s writer, has openly admitted that he approached the project as a business venture, prioritizing profit over passion. This lack of creative fervor is evident in the final product, and it’s a factor that should be taken into account when evaluating the actors’ performances.
Ben Ramsey isn’t necessarily to blame, either. He claimed his draft brought Steven Chow on as a producer, so what happened? It’s hard to point the finger at any one person. One of the biggest issues with this movie is that Akira Toriyama’s input and advice weren’t taken into account at all. You can blame the director, studio, or anyone else on that staff for that oversight, but to blame the actors for how they were directed isn’t exceptionally fair.
Casting
Dragon Ball Evolution also received criticism for its casting, particularly Justice Chatwin’s casting as Goku and Emmy Rossum as Bulma. The movie has a reputation for whitewashing, but not to the degree of M. Night’s Avatar. While I get the argument for that in terms of Bulma’s casting, this is where another controversial point has to come in.
Akira Toriyama had originally said that a young Jackie Chan would have been the only one who fit Goku, but outside of that, he could see nobody else playing the role. People claimed that Goku should not have been a Canadian actor, but I disagree with this notion. Now hear me out; the only reason why I believe this is because Goku isn’t a Human; he is a Saiyan. An alien race of spacefaring warriors with no real-world equivalents.
The casting of Goku is a touchy subject, as I also believe there isn’t a single person who could accurately portray the character’s looks or mannerisms. However, I think it’s unfair to Chatwin for taking an impossible-to-please role. Anyone would have struggled to pull off Goku regardless of the nationality of who played him, not that it should matter. As I said, Goku is an alien race; who is to say what an actual Saiyan would look like?
The biggest reason this character would never work in live-action is the hair. Do you go with a more realistic interpretation or try to emulate the anime and manga? Any emulation would not have looked right and may have even entered an uncanny valley or, at worst, looked absolutely terrible. So what about a realistic take? That isn’t Goku either, although teen Gohan in Buu Saga would be easier to do.
How This Movie Should Have Been Done?
Adapting Dragon Ball was always going to be challenging. Evolution was going to be multiple movies to tell a better story, but the fumbling of this movie caused all future sequels to be canceled. So, it’s time I dive into what could have made this movie watchable. As I noted in my Fallout article, adapting anime and video games into shows or movies is a delicate and tricky process.
You have to honor the source material without making a movie that’s seven hours long. The good news in this instance is that Dragon Ball is littered with movies. I feel what the directors should have done was look at one of the movies, perhaps The Tree of Might, Deadzone, or even Broly. It would be far easier to adapt one of these movies from its source material than to use anime or manga to form an 85-minute movie. The movies aren’t generally considered canon either, so you could still botch it, and it may not have failed as badly as it did.
The best thing the director could have done was to listen to Toriyama’s suggestions. They didn’t, and the result was a story that was less Dragon Ball and more whatever Evolution was. The story follows an 18-year-old Goku as he goes through high school, attending parties and fighting in tournaments. That sentence alone details what is inherently wrong with this movie.
If there is anything to take away from this is that care needs to be taken when attempting to adapt a beloved story. It is also okay to fail. If any future director feels up to the task, learn the lessons from Dragon Ball Evolution and create something, even if it fails. Growth can only come from failure, and it’s important to embrace it.
While Dragon Ball Evolution deserves a lot of criticism, it was an attempt to bring a beloved franchise to life. It may have reduced the Kamehameha to a wind-bending technique, Roshi had hair in all the wrong places, Goku going to high school, and the Ozaru being reduced to a high-budget gorilla suit, and who am I kidding the story isn’t great. But I don’t believe it was the fault of the actors and actresses
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Phillip is an avid gamer and loves football. He loves all types of games ranging from video games, TTRPGs, and board games, and loves to learn about coding and game design. During the football season, he can be found cheering for his favorite football teams, usually with an elevated heart rate and a jersey on. His social media handle is Phillip Bentle on Facebook.