Dragonball: Evolution

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Dragonball: Evolution

PG

Released Apr 10, 2009

1h 26m

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

14%

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63 Reviews

20%

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100,000+ Ratings

On his 18th birthday, Goku (Justin Chatwin) receives a mystical Dragonball as a gift from his grandfather. There are only six others like it in the whole world, and legend has it that whomever possesses all seven will be granted one perfect wish. When the arrival of a dark force triggers a tragedy, Goku and his companions (Chow Yun-Fat, Emmy Rossum) are propelled into an epic quest to collect the seven Dragonballs and save the Earth from destruction.

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Critics Consensus

Executed with little panache or invention, Dragonball Evolution lacks the magic that made the books upon which it was based a cult sensation.

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

Dragonball: Evolution is my least-favorite film of all time. I hate it with every fiber of my being. If you were ever curious about the show Dragon Ball or the manga... please, avoid this cinematic disaster at all costs.

Feb 3, 2016

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Drew Toal

Time Out

Rated: 1/5

Nov 16, 2011

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Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

A rather tame live-action sci-fi flick.

Rated: 1/5

Apr 17, 2009

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

It’s a hyperactive, eye-rolling affair.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 1, 2023

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Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

They clearly didn't know what they were doing, terrible. But hey, they made their money back? ... and I do like the movies, this was just really really dumb...

Rated: 1/5

Dec 12, 2020

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Charlie Jane Anders

io9.com

There are balls of lint smarter than Dragonball Evolution.

May 21, 2018

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TROY S

The story is juvenile and predictable, the dialogue is terrible either being cheesy or due to the delivery very rarely ringing true and the direction is bland.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/12/25

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Bryan V

Dragon ball evolution was a horrible thrown together movie that thrown a big time anime name into the ground. Starting with a horrible cast that was just thrown together for a quick buck, undoubtedly the worst cast created for a live action anime movie. They turned the movie into a laughing stock American movie by throwing him into high school and being a laughing stock. I wouldn't want anyone to see this movie if your a fan of the anime Dragon ball as you will want to rip your eyes out watching this. i would rate this 0/10 but one let me on here. Don't waste your time watching this.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/08/25

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Val S

Only a 5* because it was so bad toriyama came back to write super to make up for it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/05/25

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Isaac b

El peor live action que exitio de verdad Blancanieves no sé merece tener menos calificacion que esta porquería en imb está película debió ser un fracaso que horror

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/04/25

Full Review

Nicole r

Dragon Ball Evolution is basically a low-budget soft porn movie with fight scenes—except the entire movie had nothing to do with Dragon Ball. It was like someone skimmed a Wikipedia summary and thought, ‘Yeah, close enough.’ The dragon? Not even Shenron—just a random European dragon that looked like it wandered in from a different movie. Honestly, the only thing this film evolved was fans' ability to pretend it never existed.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/28/25

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Kristian B

Film was terrible and could have done better with a different actor.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/28/25

Full Review

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James Wong

Director

Justin Chatwin

Goku

Chow Yun-Fat

Master Roshi

Emmy Rossum

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Jamie Chung

Chi Chi

James Marsters

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Synopsis

On his 18th birthday, Goku (Justin Chatwin) receives a mystical Dragonball as a gift from his grandfather. There are only six others like it in the whole world, and legend has it that whomever possesses all seven will be granted one perfect wish. When the arrival of a dark force triggers a tragedy, Goku and his companions (Chow Yun-Fat, Emmy Rossum) are propelled into an epic quest to collect the seven Dragonballs and save the Earth from destruction.

Director: James Wong
Producer: Stephen Chow
Screenwriter: Ben Ramsey
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Star Overseas
Rating: PG (Intense Sequences of Action|Brief Mild Language|Intense Sequences of Violence)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 10, 2009, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 12, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.4M
Runtime: 1h 26m

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