About 16 minutes of Dragonball Evolution has leaked out onto the net showing some of the opening scenes of the movie. I don’t know how long these might stay online, but they are worth a look if you want a peek at how the movie is shaping up.
First let me say that my hopefulness for this film has dropped, but not for the reasons you would think. I am hoping that this sampling gives us a peek but not the full feel of the movie:
I admit the action looks good though a little too much on the obvious wirework. And I do like the look of the characters, my problem with these clips is actually the very thing that most Dragonball zealots have been groaning about since they started making this thing.
Here I thought they would take the popular animated series and manga and adapt it to the big screen so that we get a version of the property that everyone can watch and enjoy. NOT a direct translation of the silly cartoon. And the zealots were out there in force crying that this movie was going to suck because it wasn’t a direct translation of the cartoon.
Goku offers the same cheesy dialogue (“Now I end this”) and performs one of the signature moves he uses in the cartoon. Master Roshi is NOT a calm cool collected master, but he is a zany goofy character from the cartoon, and even cops a feel on Bulma’s ass when they hop on the bike together.
Other scenes like Goku trying to tame his spikey hair (and failing), and outrunning the motorcycle while carrying a pack 8 times his size. All fitting with the cartoon.
My argument has always been that the cartoon NEEDED to be adapted so that it wasn’t an embarassing mess of over acting and cheesy dialogue, and the zealots fought back arguing that they were raping the characters themselves to make a more serious action flick.
Well kiddies, you win. Looks like Dragonball WILL be a close translation of the cartoon, so you can stop bitching about Roshi being an adult, or Goku being a non-Asian. This is the movie you wanted, and it looks like they are going to deliver.
These clips made me not want to see it anymore. I likely still will, I just wont be lining up on day one to see it. I have the novelization of the movie. That will likely do for me.
