Quartile rating: 3/10 · 1 rating
On his 18th birthday, Goku 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 whoever possesses all seven will be granted one perfect wish. When the arrival of a dark force triggers a tragedy, Goku and his companions are propelled into an epic quest to collect the seven Dragonballs and save the Earth from destruction.
Dragonball Evolution is widely regarded as one of the worst manga adaptations ever made. The plot is a hollow, incoherent reduction of a beloved source material, stripping away everything that made Dragon Ball distinctive. The acting ranges from wooden to embarrassing, with even experienced cast members like Chow Yun-fat failing to salvage anything meaningful. Cinematography is merely functional — generic action staging with little visual flair. Novelty is essentially zero: rather than capturing anything unique about the Dragon Ball universe, it delivers a formulaic, bargain-bin superhero origin story. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying, setting up a sequel that mercifully never came. The film is so poorly received that its own screenwriter publicly apologized to fans.