Dragon Ball Evolution Movie - Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball Evolution is a live-action fantasy and adventure film from America. It was produced by Stephen Chow, directed by James Wong, written by Ben Ramsey, and based on Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga. Dragon Ball Evolution stars Chow Yun-Fat, Joon Park, Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Randall Duk Kim, Ernie Hudson, and Eriko Tamura. Music for the film was composed Brian Tyler while cinematography and editing was handled by Robert McLachlan and Matthew Friedman & Chris Willingham respectively.
The production companies for Dragon Ball Evolution include RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Star Overseas, Ingenious Media, and Big Screen Production while distribution was handled by 20th Century Fox. The film was released on March 10, 2009 in Japan and later in April in America.
Plot
In a time long forgotten by many, Earth was faced with its greatest challenge. Demon Lord Piccolo came to Earth with his minion Ozaru and brought destruction with them wherever they went. A group of humans with mystical abilities created a technique that they called the Mafuba (the Japanese term for the Evil Containment Wave) to seal Piccolo away, Ozaru disappeared when Piccolo was captured and balance was returned.
Goku trains his martial arts skills with his grandfather Gohan at their home. He then goes to school and is threatened by a group of school mates that dare him to punch them, but Goku refuses. Meanwhile, Piccolo is on a ship and drops an energy ball somewhere on Earth.
A village burns, and an armed woman named Mai comes in to find the Dragon Ball, and a girl villager hands it to her. As Mai fires her gun, Piccolo watches nearby.
At school, after Chi-Chi could not open her locker, Goku, hiding behind a wall, uses his powers to open the lockers. He was surprised that Chi-Chi knows about ki and gets invited to her party at her house. Goku prepares and brings his Dragon Ball with him, while his Grandfather is left at home after wishing Goku a happy birthday.
Goku gets stopped by bullies on the way to Chi-Chi’s house, though he evades their attacks. Meanwhile, back at home, his Grandfather is attacked by Piccolo, which Goku senses. He finds their house wrecked and Gohan, with his last breath, tells of Piccolo’s attack and tells his grandson to find Master Muten Roshi and collect the 7 Dragon Balls.
After he buries his grandfather, Bulma points a gun at him and asks for the Five Star Dragon Ball, only to find out that the one she’s looking for isn’t Goku. Goku offers to collaborate to find the Dragon Balls and Master Roshi in Paozu.
Bulma goes to a house where her radar senses another Dragon Ball and finds Master Roshi, who starts fighting them until Master Roshi recognizes his techniques. Meanwhile, Piccolo finds another Dragon Ball.
Goku finds Chi-Chi on the training grounds for an upcoming tournament. When Chi-Chi detects another Dragon Ball, where they stumble into a trap hole set by Yamcha, who demands payment in exchange for help.
At Mai’s laboratory, Piccolo gets his blood extracted to create a monster. Meanwhile, Goku and the others dig up another Dragon Ball nearby, though Mai tries to interfere, only to be beaten by Goku. Goku tells Master Roshi that the Dragon Balls show that it will kill them in the future.
They head to a temple to find Sifu Norris a vessel to seal Piccolo again. Meanwhile, the tournament, Mai gets a blood sample from Chi-Chi. Master Roshi teaches the final form of the ki bending technique, the Kamehameha. Chi-Chi helps Goku keep his focus on the technique.
Bulma finds a Chi-Chi clone that battles with the real Chi-Chi. Goku tries to help, but fires at the wrong person. The clone fires on Goku and Master Roshi revives him with the Kamehameha. Preparation for the Mafuba is finished and the group heads to the Dragon Temple, where Piccolo will summon Shenron.
Piccolo summons the dragon while Goku and the others attempt to stop him. The blast from Piccolo damages their flying mobile, causing them to crash land. The impact makes the Dragon Balls roll down the cliff. Piccolo comes down and reveals that Goku will become Ozaru after looking at a solar eclipse.
Goku turns into Ozaru and Piccolo orders him to capture Bulma and Yamcha along with the Dragon Balls. While Master Roshi tries to trap Piccolo in the Mafuba but Ozaru strangles Master Roshi to death. Mai tries to shoot Bulma, but manages to escape.
Meanwhile, Goku was able to return to his human form after remembering his past, which was triggered by Roshi’s final words. Piccolo and Goku fight while Mai and Bulma shoot at each other. Mai gets shot in the back by Yamcha while Goku realizes he must be one with Ozaru to defeat Piccolo.
Goku charges his ultimate Kamehameha on Piccolo and summons Shenron to revive Master Roshi. After the wish is made, the Dragon Balls scatter once more.
Goku meets with Chi-Chi and they begin training together. Meanwhile, in the mid-credits scene, Piccolo survives and is taken care of by an unknown woman.
Box Office
After its second weekend, the film had earned a total around $58 million in worldwide box office sales.
Merchandise
The Junior Novel is the Dragon Ball Evolution’s novelization. It was written by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon for children ages 8-15. The work was also distributed by Viz Media in 2009. Three other volumes titled The Discovery, The Search, and The Battle was also written by Cohan and Deutsch.
Namco Bandai Games also created a tie-in PSP fighting game with the film’s characters.
Two Dragon Ball Evolution figures have also been released, one for Goku figure and one for Lord Piccolo. A prototype Bulma figure was planned but was never released.
Links
Dragon Ball Series
Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
Akira Toriyama