- Dragonball Evolution
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Dragonball Evolution
Theatrical release posterDirected by James Wong Produced by Stephen Chow
Tim van RellimScreenplay by Ben Ramsey
James WongBased on Dragon Ball by
Akira ToriyamaStarring Justin Chatwin
Chow Yun-fat
Emmy Rossum
Jamie Chung
James Marsters
Joon Park
Eriko Tamura
Randall Duk KimMusic by Brian Tyler Cinematography Robert MacLachlan Editing by Chris G. Willingham Studio 20th Century Fox
Dune Entertainment
Star Overseas
Ingenious Film Partners
Big Screen ProductionsDistributed by 20th Century Fox Release date(s) March 10, 2009(Japan)
April 10, 2009 (United States)Running time 85 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $30 million Box office $57,497,699[1] Dragonball Evolution is a 2009 American live-action film based upon the Japanese Dragon Ball media franchise. It was directed, produced and written by James Wong, and released by 20th Century Fox. The story centers around the adventures of the lead character, Goku, around his 18th birthday, as he is asked to gather seven Dragon Balls to save the world from evil alien forces. On his journey, he meets several different characters who all join the quest and help him in his task. The film stars Justin Chatwin as Son Goku, Emmy Rossum as Bulma Briefs, James Marsters as Lord Piccolo, Jamie Chung as Chi-Chi, Chow Yun-fat as Master Roshi, Joon Park as Yamcha and Eriko Tamura as Mai. It was released in Japan and several other Asian nations on March 13, 2009, and in the United States on April 10, 2009.
Contents
Production
Development
In March 2002, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the Dragon Ball franchise.[2] In June 2004, Ben Ramsey, who wrote The Big Hit, was paid $500,000 to adapt Dragonball Z.[3] 20th Century Fox approached Stephen Chow to direct the film, and although he said he was deeply interested because he is a fan of Dragon Ball, Chow declined the chance to direct. He, however, accepted a role as producer via his company Star Overseas. 20th Century Fox then went on to send the script to writer/director James Wong who accepted. In 2007, James Wong and Stephen Chow were announced as director and producer respectively, and the project was retitled Dragonball. Ben Ramsey's first draft was deemed too expensive to shoot, and in the end he wrote about five different drafts of the script following notes from the studio. James Wong wrote the last draft, again according to notes from the studio.[4] Chow was a Dragon Ball fan, citing its "airy and unstrained story [which] leaves much room for creation", but explained he would only serve as producer because he believes that he should only direct stories he had created.[5] Differing costs to produce the film have been reported. In January 2008, Marsters spoke to TV Guide that he was told the film had a budget of approximately $100 million.[6] In April 2009, the Spanish television station Telecinco reported that the budget was $50 million.[7] Marsters would later claim that the film in fact was produced for $30 million.[8]
Filming
Shooting began on December 3, 2007,[9] in Mexico City, Mexico. Locations included the Universidad Tecnológica de México.[10] From January 2, 2008,[10] the crew shot at Durango. The crew moved to Estado de México in March of that year for some shots at Nevado de Toluca.[11] Shooting has also been scheduled at Los Angeles, California.[12] In adapting the Dragon Ball manga, the futuristic cities and flying vehicles were kept, however, the anthropomorphic creatures and talking animals (such as Turtle, Oolong and Puar) were dropped.[13] Many of the locations are very Oriental,[14] and there was some Aztec influence too, particularly from their temples.[15] It was thought that Rossum would wear a blue wig to resemble her anime counterpart, but it was ultimately decided that such a look was too unrealistic. Instead she had her natural brown with blue streaks. Chatwin did not wear a wig as the director felt Chatwin's hair resembled Goku's.[14] A large amount of Dragonball Evolution was shot in an abandoned jeans factory, also located in Durango, Mexico.[16]
Dragonball Evolution special effects were done by Amalgamated Dynamics, while the visual effects were done by Ollin Studios, Zoic Studios, and Imagine Engine.
Music
On December 9, 2008, it was confirmed that the theme song would be "Rule" by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki. James Wong, the director, wanted the film adaptation of a Japanese work to be sung by a Japanese singer, and Hamasaki was chosen due to her massive popularity in Japan. "Rule" was used as the theme song for every country's release.[17] However, it is American pop artist Brian Anthony, whose remixed song "Worked Up" was released as a single in English territories,[18] and is featured on the home video releases as a bonus feature.[19] The score to Dragonball Evolution was composed by Brian Tyler, who recorded the score with an 82-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox.[18]
Release
Though an American film, Dragonball Evolution was released in Japan and Hong Kong on March 13, 2009, nearly a month before its American release.[20][21][22] It was released in Australia on April 2 and in the United Kingdom on April 8.[23][24]
Its release in its home country has changed dates multiple times. Initially scheduled to be released in North America on August 15, 2008, it was later moved to April 2009 to allow time to do additional filming and post-production work. The specific date has changed back and forth between April 10 and April 8, with the final release date being April 10.[25][26] The marketing of the theatrical release included a viral "personal expressions" campaign created by digital agency Red Box New Media.,[27] that ran on the Windows Live Messenger application. Alongside that campaign, Fox hired Picture Production Company to develop a PC/Wii flash game under the name "Can you Ka-Me-Ha-Me-Ha?".[28] This game was released just prior to the film in conjunction with another viral campaign that encouraged fans to send in their renditions of the fighting move.[29]
The film was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America on July 28[19] and on Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United Kingdom on August 31.[30] The Region 4 DVD and Blu-ray Disc was released on November 18.[31]
Reception
On its opening weekend in the United States, the film grossed $4,756,488 ranking #8 at the box office.[32][33] In its second weekend, it dropped to eleventh place.[34] The film had a gross earning in the United States and Canada of $9,362,785 and a foreign gross of $48,134,914 for a combined box office gross of $57,497,699.[35] It was nominated for a 2009 Spike TV Scream Award for "Best Comic Book Movie,",[36] but lost to Watchmen. It was a pre-nominee finalist for Worst Picture for the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards[37]
Since its release, Dragonball Evolution was universally panned by critics and fans alike. On Rotten Tomatoes it scored 15% based on 55 reviews, while on Metacritic it received a rating of 45 out of 100 based on 10 reviews.[38] Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network, originally disgusted at otaku of the franchise who decried the film via leaked set shots and trailers before the film's release, gave the movie an overall failing grade and stated "the fans were right." He criticized the film's lack of explaining plot elements, its hackneyed storyline and lackluster effort by the actors.[39] Variety's Russell Edwards found the film "passable", "pleasing if paint-by-numbers," noting it "doesn't take itself too seriously, but avoids campiness," that "the climactic clash between Piccolo and Goku offers a faithful CGI representation of the ethereal powers as drawn in the original manga" and that the climax offers an "impressive character twist for Goku that will warm the cockles of every young Jungian's heart."[40] Luke Thompson of E! Online referred to the film as a "surreal mess" that would only make sense to fans of the original series. He questioned the use of a Caucasian in the main role and felt Chow Yun-Fat was "overacting like never before", but did consider it "fun in a train-wreck kind of way" and that while it was never boring it was also never "logical, coherent [or] rational".[41] It was a pre-nominee finalist for Worst Picture for the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards[42]
Christoper Monfette of IGN gave the film a somewhat positive review, stating that it "is perhaps the most successful live-action film to date to utilize costume, production and audio design – not to mention some inspired fight choreography – to provide the flavor of anime without becoming overly cartoonish.". He praised the main cast for "creating characters the audience can actually care about" and felt Chatwin was particularly likeable as Goku.[43] Slant Magazine's Rob Humanick considered the film "uninspired" and implausible with an "aimlessly hyperactive construction and complete lack of substance" and "cobbled-together FX fakery".[44] Reviewing the film for Australia's ABC Radio National, Jason Di Rosso stated the film was "lacking the visual panache of recent graphic novel adaptations". He agreed the film was uninspired and also felt it had dull "high school movie banter" dialog and was "cliché-ridden".[45] The Village Voice's Aaron Hillis called the film a "loony live-action adaptation", but felt it was "more entertaining than it deserves to be" and would likely appeal to ten-year old boys.[46] Alonso Duralde of MSNBC found the film to be "both entertainingly ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining" and noted that "kids will have such a blast that you can turn this movie into the gateway kung-fu drug that makes them want to watch the earlier work of Stephen Chow and Chow Yun-Fat, that is if Stephen Chow and Chow Yun-fat had a Caucasian actor in the starring role."[47] Jeffrey K. Lyles of The Gazette found the film to be "a fairly entertaining martial arts adventure for the younger audiences" and tolerable to adults. He felt Chatwin was ill-cast as Goku, a white kid raised by his Asian Grandfather Randall Duk Kim and that director Wong failed to capture the "frenetic sense of the anime" in the action scenes, leaving them an effort to understand. Passable[48]
Merchandise
A film novelization, Dragonball Evolution: The Junior Novel, was written by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon. Aimed at children ages 8–15, the novel was released by Viz Media on February 24, 2009.[49][50] The same day, a series of chapter books for readers 7-10 was released.[50] The three volumes, subtitled The Discovery, The Search, and The Battle were also written by Deutsch and Cohan.[51][52][53] A 16 paged sticker book, Dragonball: Evolution Sticker Book, followed on March 24, 2009.[54] Released a week later on March 31, 2009 by Viz was a 22 page Dragonball: Evolution Posterzine featuring eleven posters, cast interviews, and merchandise previews.[55]
On January 19, 2009, Namco Bandai Games and 20th Century Fox announced a tie-in PSP video game, which was released in Japan on March 19 and North America on April 7. The game includes all of the major characters from the film and features various playing modes, including a local multiplayer battle mode, production stills, and storyboards from the movie.[56]
The film's soundtrack, Dragonball Evolution: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released in the United States on March 17, 2009 by Varèse Sarabande. It contained 23 tracks from the score composed by Brian Tyler.[57] The Hong Kong based company, Enterbay, produced a 1:6 scaled line for Dragonball Evolution. A 1:6 Goku figure was made along with Lord Picollo. Bulma was planned to be the third figure of the series in addition of being the first female figure Enterbay has ever done. Prototypes of the Bulma figure was shown at Enterbay's blog but in November 2010, Enterbay confirmed that Bulma is canceled. Bandai America released a mass market toyline based on the movie in time for the theatrical release. The figures came in 4-inch, and 6-inch versions.[58] Lastly, Japanese toy company Medicom created stylized Goku, and Piccolo Be@rbrick toys to coincide with the release of the film.[59]
See also
References
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- ^ Lyles, Jeffrey K. (April 16, 2009). "Movies: 'Dragonball' rehashes familiar teen themes". The Gazette. http://www.gazette.net/stories/04162009/entemov153833_32474.shtml. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
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- ^ a b "Dragonball Evolution Books". Shonen Jump. http://www.shonenjump.com/dbmoviebooks/. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
- ^ "Dragonball: Evolution The Discovery Chapter Book , Vol. 1". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=8051. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
- ^ "Dragonball: Evolution The Search Chapter Book, Vol. 2". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=8052. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
- ^ "Dragonball: Evolution The Battle Chapter Book, Vol. 3". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=8053. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
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- ^ "VIZ Media Releases Special Shonen Jump Dragonball: Evolution Posterzine". Viz Media. March 13, 2009. http://www.comiclist.com/index.php/news/viz-media-releases-special-shonen-jump-dragonball-evolution-posterzine. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- ^ "Namco Bandai Games And Twentieth Century Fox Announce Dragon Ball: Evolution for PSP" (Press release). Namco Bandai Games, 20th Century Fox. January 19, 2009.
- ^ "Dragonball: Evolution By Brian Tyler". Varèse Sarabande. http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vsd-302-06igurev6-954-2. Retrieved April 11, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Goku and the Warrior Race Fight On as DragonBall: Evolution Collectible Figures Explode Into Toy Fair 2009". Bandai America. February 15, 2009. http://www.bandai.com/about/prlinks/DragonBall_Evolution_Spring_2009_Release.pdf. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- ^ "Be@rbrick DragonBall Set". November 23, 2008. http://www.toybeast.com/2008/11/23/bearbrick-dragonball-set/. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Official website from 20th Century Fox (Japanese)
- DragonBall Movie News
- Dragonball Evolution at the Internet Movie Database
- Dragonball Evolution at AllRovi
- Dragonball Evolution at Rotten Tomatoes
Works by James Wong and Glen Morgan Television Films The Boys Next Door · Final Destination · The One · Willard · Black Christmas · Final Destination 3 · Dragonball EvolutionCategories:- 2009 films
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- Dragon Ball films
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