Dragonball...a live action movie?
I have never seen a movie get more of a response than this one.
Granted, it's not a good response.
And, I'm in with the majority that is annoyed at the movie.
From what I hear, Japan (and China) are pissed off at the movie for various reasons, but the biggest is that the one they cast for Goku is white.
When I first saw a commercial for the movie (as an interview type thing of the cast via the TV at work), I thought it was a joke...until the commercial repeated and my job coach told me that it wasn't a joke.
Some moron actually made a horrible adaption of the Dragonball series.
With equally as bad costumes and casting.
Seriously...as someone that's been to anime conventions, I've seen better and more accurate costumes from the otaku that go to the cons than from that lame movie.
Now...for just how bad it is...
It's supposed to follow the original storyline of Goku meeting Bulma and going on a quest to find the dragonballs.
However, there are major differences.
Let's start from the top...
The Ten Eleven FAIL Points of the Dragonball Movie
1) The role of "Goku" is played by a whiny, "why me" white teenager with short hair. There's no mention about Saiyans, and he doesn't even have a tail.
-Dragonball fans, and even if you're not really a fan, knows that the original Goku is a fun and happy-go-lucky 12 year old when he's first introduced. And, pretty much stays as a happy-go-lucky guy.
-Supposedly, the movie Goku does transform into a giant ape (oozaru), but at a solar eclipse. In the original series, the Saiyans transform at a full moon, and can only transform if they have a tail. Saiyans without a tail are eligable for going Super Saiyan (DBZ and GT only).
2) Bulma looks like a goth slut, is a weapons master, also is white, and has black hair. She wants the dragonballs for her father (unsure of the exact reason).
-In the series, Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Briefs, the man that invented the Capsules...which can store items and then release them in a puff of smoke (by the way, in the movie, it just sort of folds out. Can you say "lame"?).
-Bulma has blue hair, and wore a pink outfit when she first met Goku. She was far from a weapons master...able to drive, perhaps, but no weapons master. She usually hid when the fighting started. The only time she really used a gun was when she shot at Goku for taking off her underwear when she was asleep, which she didn't realize, and thus, she ended up giving Roshi a major show later on.
-In the original series, Bulma was on the quest for the dragonballs for the selfish reason of wanting a perfect boyfriend. It had nothing to do with family or anything deeper.
3) Grandpa Gohan is alive
-Not much to complain about his character or casting, but Goku's "grandpa", Gohan, was only featured in the series much later on, to fight Goku during Babaa's tournament. At the start, he's pronounced deceased.
-In the series, Grandpa Gohan was crushed to death when Goku transformed into oozaru form for the first time. In the movie, he's killed by Piccolo.
4) Master Roshi is a young man, has dark hair, and no beard...and he trains Goku in Grandpa Gohan's absence.
-If he wasn't pointed out as "Roshi" to me, I wouldn't have known who his character was. In the series, Roshi is a perverted old hermit that always wore a turtleshell on his back, was bald, and had a long white beard.
-Roshi doesn't actually train Goku until after the initial hunt for the dragonballs is over with. He makes an appearance when Goku brings Turtle back to the beach, then again when Chichi and Ox King needs the Bancho fan to put out the flames on Fire Mountain.
5) Chichi is a preppy school girl
-I don't know much about her casting, since she's not in the commercials or trailers...but she's cast as a popular girl from school in the movie, while the character of Goku is cast as unpopular bully-bait.
-In the series, Chichi is the daughter of the Ox King. She's not as socially inept as Goku, but still hasn't learned all the rules yet, either. She's also a fighter, even at a young age.
6) There is no Oolong or Puar
-If anyone's seen the original DB series, the special agent, Mai, is now a henchman for Piccolo in the movie, and has the shapeshifting abilities of Oolong and Puar...who are both absent from the movie.
-In the series, Mai was a henchman for Pilaf.
-The Dragonball series was loosely based off of a piece of Chinese literature called "Monkey; Journey to the West"...which involved a perverted pig-demon.
7) Rather than having to face Pilaf, the big bad guy is Piccolo...who looks more like a green Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars)
-Piccolo doesn't appear in the original Dragonball series for QUITE some time into it. Actually, he doesn't appear until the final arc of the DB series.
-Apparently, in the movie, Piccolo isn't a "Namekian"...but is from the planet "Namek". Don't remember what was said about his race.
-I could be wrong...it's been a while since I've seen/read Dragonball...but from what I remember, Piccolo wanted to rule over the world, not destroy it like he wants to in the movie.
8) The special effects are on a level of a student film
-Seriously, I could make a better kikouha (ki blast) in Photoshop or even MS Paint. With the special effects of today, the ki blasts should be more than a colored ripple around a character's hand.
9) The fight scenes are LAME
-I haven't seen the movie (nor am I going to waste money TO see it), but from the commercials...the camera angles are horrible for the fight scenes. As in, you can't really tell what's going on, or it's going in super-slow motion.
10) Shenlong (the Eternal Dragon) is a small, whiskerless creature that's a tan, sandy-color
-Shenlong, in the series, is a large, green dragon that always appears in the symbol of infinity...obviously, in the style of an Eastern dragon (eastern dragons have whiskers and long bodies with calm features, whereas western dragons are stockier and have wings and evil looks).
11) There are original characters
-Though they don't really play a major role in the story (like getting super powers like the typical Mary-Sues of fanfiction)...they're still there, and that's bad enough.
In short...I will not be watching this movie. I'm also with the people that think the movie should be recast and refilmed...or just taken off the boxoffice completely.
And if anyone ever does what they did in France about it...I'd totally join in. The reactions to this American-made movie (yea, let's make a horrid adaption of a legendary, historic Japanese anime and give other countries a reason to bomb us) is worldwide!
Props to the genius who thought this one up in response to the movie:
Granted, it's not a good response.
And, I'm in with the majority that is annoyed at the movie.
From what I hear, Japan (and China) are pissed off at the movie for various reasons, but the biggest is that the one they cast for Goku is white.
When I first saw a commercial for the movie (as an interview type thing of the cast via the TV at work), I thought it was a joke...until the commercial repeated and my job coach told me that it wasn't a joke.
Some moron actually made a horrible adaption of the Dragonball series.
With equally as bad costumes and casting.
Seriously...as someone that's been to anime conventions, I've seen better and more accurate costumes from the otaku that go to the cons than from that lame movie.
Now...for just how bad it is...
It's supposed to follow the original storyline of Goku meeting Bulma and going on a quest to find the dragonballs.
However, there are major differences.
Let's start from the top...
The Ten Eleven FAIL Points of the Dragonball Movie
1) The role of "Goku" is played by a whiny, "why me" white teenager with short hair. There's no mention about Saiyans, and he doesn't even have a tail.
-Dragonball fans, and even if you're not really a fan, knows that the original Goku is a fun and happy-go-lucky 12 year old when he's first introduced. And, pretty much stays as a happy-go-lucky guy.
-Supposedly, the movie Goku does transform into a giant ape (oozaru), but at a solar eclipse. In the original series, the Saiyans transform at a full moon, and can only transform if they have a tail. Saiyans without a tail are eligable for going Super Saiyan (DBZ and GT only).
2) Bulma looks like a goth slut, is a weapons master, also is white, and has black hair. She wants the dragonballs for her father (unsure of the exact reason).
-In the series, Bulma is the daughter of Dr. Briefs, the man that invented the Capsules...which can store items and then release them in a puff of smoke (by the way, in the movie, it just sort of folds out. Can you say "lame"?).
-Bulma has blue hair, and wore a pink outfit when she first met Goku. She was far from a weapons master...able to drive, perhaps, but no weapons master. She usually hid when the fighting started. The only time she really used a gun was when she shot at Goku for taking off her underwear when she was asleep, which she didn't realize, and thus, she ended up giving Roshi a major show later on.
-In the original series, Bulma was on the quest for the dragonballs for the selfish reason of wanting a perfect boyfriend. It had nothing to do with family or anything deeper.
3) Grandpa Gohan is alive
-Not much to complain about his character or casting, but Goku's "grandpa", Gohan, was only featured in the series much later on, to fight Goku during Babaa's tournament. At the start, he's pronounced deceased.
-In the series, Grandpa Gohan was crushed to death when Goku transformed into oozaru form for the first time. In the movie, he's killed by Piccolo.
4) Master Roshi is a young man, has dark hair, and no beard...and he trains Goku in Grandpa Gohan's absence.
-If he wasn't pointed out as "Roshi" to me, I wouldn't have known who his character was. In the series, Roshi is a perverted old hermit that always wore a turtleshell on his back, was bald, and had a long white beard.
-Roshi doesn't actually train Goku until after the initial hunt for the dragonballs is over with. He makes an appearance when Goku brings Turtle back to the beach, then again when Chichi and Ox King needs the Bancho fan to put out the flames on Fire Mountain.
5) Chichi is a preppy school girl
-I don't know much about her casting, since she's not in the commercials or trailers...but she's cast as a popular girl from school in the movie, while the character of Goku is cast as unpopular bully-bait.
-In the series, Chichi is the daughter of the Ox King. She's not as socially inept as Goku, but still hasn't learned all the rules yet, either. She's also a fighter, even at a young age.
6) There is no Oolong or Puar
-If anyone's seen the original DB series, the special agent, Mai, is now a henchman for Piccolo in the movie, and has the shapeshifting abilities of Oolong and Puar...who are both absent from the movie.
-In the series, Mai was a henchman for Pilaf.
-The Dragonball series was loosely based off of a piece of Chinese literature called "Monkey; Journey to the West"...which involved a perverted pig-demon.
7) Rather than having to face Pilaf, the big bad guy is Piccolo...who looks more like a green Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars)
-Piccolo doesn't appear in the original Dragonball series for QUITE some time into it. Actually, he doesn't appear until the final arc of the DB series.
-Apparently, in the movie, Piccolo isn't a "Namekian"...but is from the planet "Namek". Don't remember what was said about his race.
-I could be wrong...it's been a while since I've seen/read Dragonball...but from what I remember, Piccolo wanted to rule over the world, not destroy it like he wants to in the movie.
8) The special effects are on a level of a student film
-Seriously, I could make a better kikouha (ki blast) in Photoshop or even MS Paint. With the special effects of today, the ki blasts should be more than a colored ripple around a character's hand.
9) The fight scenes are LAME
-I haven't seen the movie (nor am I going to waste money TO see it), but from the commercials...the camera angles are horrible for the fight scenes. As in, you can't really tell what's going on, or it's going in super-slow motion.
10) Shenlong (the Eternal Dragon) is a small, whiskerless creature that's a tan, sandy-color
-Shenlong, in the series, is a large, green dragon that always appears in the symbol of infinity...obviously, in the style of an Eastern dragon (eastern dragons have whiskers and long bodies with calm features, whereas western dragons are stockier and have wings and evil looks).
11) There are original characters
-Though they don't really play a major role in the story (like getting super powers like the typical Mary-Sues of fanfiction)...they're still there, and that's bad enough.
In short...I will not be watching this movie. I'm also with the people that think the movie should be recast and refilmed...or just taken off the boxoffice completely.
And if anyone ever does what they did in France about it...I'd totally join in. The reactions to this American-made movie (yea, let's make a horrid adaption of a legendary, historic Japanese anime and give other countries a reason to bomb us) is worldwide!
Props to the genius who thought this one up in response to the movie:
Click to view