Akira Toriyama’s iconic series and almost feels like a Dragon Ball parody.
Anime adaptations have evolved since Dragonball Evolution, although some of the mistakes made in 2009 unfortunately continue to be made. The biggest difference between a successful adaptation like One Piece and the disaster that was Dragonball Evolution is that the Netflix show was not afraid of being “live-action anime.” Dragonball Evolution never truly embraced its source material and preferred to reinvent Goku as a high schooler in a coming-of-age story that was closer to Raimi’s Spider-Man than to Dragon Ball. Strangely enough, this premise would have worked for a different Dragon Ball character – Gohan.
Dragonball Evolution Using Gohan Instead Of Goku Would’ve Made Way More Sense
Gohan Should’ve Been The Saiyan Trying To Be A Regular Teenager In High School
Gohan, Goku’s son, is a 16-year-old high school at the start of the Buu Saga. While the third era of the Dragon Ball Z timeline eventually goes back to the classic dynamic of the Z Warriors ing forces against an incredibly powerful anime, the Buu Saga begins with Gohan living through the challenges of high school as he tries to be a regular teenager despite being the most powerful person on the planet. Gohan even finds a way to use his powers to do good without compromising his personal life by becoming a masked superhero.
Goku is never referred to as a Saiyan in Dragonball Evolution. It's also unclear if he is an alien in the movie.
The earlier episodes of the Buu Saga also explore Gohan’s love life as he becomes close to Videl, who goes to the same school as him and is also a skilled fighter. It’s almost uncanny how similar Dragonball Evolution’s premise is to Gohan’s arc in the Buu Saga, the only difference is that the 2009 movie was about Goku. While we got to see Goku growing from a kid to a married man in Dragon Ball, there was never such a thing as a high schooler Goku. This is why Dragonball Evolution’s story would’ve worked better for Gohan.
Dragonball Evolution’s High School Story Was A Strange Decision For A Dragon Ball Movie
A Dragon Ball Movie About Goku In High School Made No Sense
When looking at Dragonball Evolution, it’s important to point out that Iron Man had just come out, and Hollywood had yet to embrace the silliness and the larger-than-life aspects of what a comic book movie can be. Even The Dark Knight, which changed superhero movies forever, was a very ground take on Batman. Therefore, it makes sense that the studio was not willing to tell a big-budget story featuring alien armies, dinosaurs, and world-destroying techniques right out of the gate. In other words, any Dragon Ball movie made in the late 2000s or early 2010s would be full of compromises.
Even still, putting Goku in an American high school was a very strange decision that set the tone for how different Dragonball Evolution was going to be from the source material. Apart from the Dragon Balls and the names of the characters, Dragonball Evolution could have very well been any standalone fantasy movie. Goku goes through a generic, uninspired hero’s journey that starts after the death of his grandfather and ends with him accepting his true self as “Goku and Oozaru.” Gohan goes through a similar arc in the Buu Saga, though it all works much better there.
Dragonball Evolution Was Bound To Fail, But Using Gohan Would’ve Been A Fun Twist
A Gohan-Centered Movie Inspired By The Buu Saga Could Have Worked
Dragonball Evolution was doomed to fail. This is why using Gohan for the first live-action Dragon Ball movie would not have been that much of a problem compared to what we got. An alternate universe story set a few years after the Cell Saga centered on Gohan could have made for a fun live-action movie that would have been able to use many ideas from the Buu Saga. Gohan was meant to be Dragon Ball’s new protagonist after all, and he has been front and center in a couple of anime movies.
The Perfect Dragon Ball Live-Action Movie Would Run Into An Impossible Challenge That One Piece Somehow Overcame
Should another Dragon Ball live-action movie happen, it will run into an almost impossible challenge that Netflix’s One Piece successfully overcame.
Naturally, a Gohan movie would have had to include or at least acknowledge a bunch of other Dragon Ball Z characters, including Goku and Piccolo, unless some major changes were made. Although this would be far from a great live-action Dragon Ball adaptation, Dragonball Evolution would have been a far more interesting film if it was about Gohan trying to be a regular teenager after saving the world. Even the American school setting would have made more sense, perhaps with Gohan studying abroad, not to mention how the Super Saiyaman persona would’ve suited the film’s Spider-Man similarities.
Dragonball Evolution
- Release Date
- March 12, 2009
- Runtime
- 85 Minutes
- Director
- James Wong
Cast
Justin Chatwin
Chow Yun-Fat
WHERE TO WATCH
Dragonball Evolution is a live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese manga and anime series Dragon Ball. Directed by James Wong, the film stars Justin Chatwin as Goku, who embarks on a quest to collect the seven Dragon Balls and prevent the evil Lord Piccolo from destroying the world. The movie diverges from its source material, offering a modernized take on the beloved franchise.
- Writers
- Ben Ramsey
- Studio(s)
- World Film Magic, Dune Entertainment, Star Overseas, Big Screen Productions, Ingenious Media, 20th Century Fox
- Budget
- 30000000.0
- Main Genre
- Action
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