--- title: "Dragonball Evolution" year: 2009 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/dragonball-evolution" fi1m_score: 34 critics_score: 34 critics_reviews: 12 published: "2026-09-16T15:03:06.524677+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T15:03:29.695644+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Dragonball Evolution (2009) Directed by James Wong · 1h 25m · MPA PG · Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller **Fi1m score: 34** · Critics 34 from 12 reviews *In a sentence:* Chow Yun-Fat has a little fun while the plot gets on with collecting mystical balls > James Wong’s fantasy adventure is brisk, bland and short of reasons to care about its mystical quest. Chow Yun-Fat supplies some welcome silliness, but the thin writing and uneven action make this a poor evening’s entertainment. ## Synopsis Goku (Justin Chatwin) faces a quest to gather mystical balls and avert disaster. His teenage story unfolds alongside the fantasy adventure, which also features Roshi (Chow Yun-Fat), Bulma (Emmy Rossum) and Chi Chi (Jamie Chung). Lord Piccolo (James Marsters) and Yamcha (Joon Park) are among the other figures in this live-action manga adaptation. The search involves martial arts and a mythology that lays out the stakes of collecting the balls, with teenage concerns running alongside the threat of catastrophe. ## Review *Dragonball Evolution* is a poor fantasy adventure, brisk enough to get through but too bland to recommend. James Wong has a workable proposition: combine a teenage story with martial arts and a quest to collect mystical balls before disaster strikes. At 85 minutes, the film has little room for detours, yet it still struggles to give that quest much urgency. The explanations tell us what has to be collected without making the danger feel close. Ben Ramsey’s screenplay has plenty of mythology to get through, and treats explaining it as sufficient preparation for an adventure. There is little pleasure in discovering how this fantasy works, because its rules arrive with so little room for curiosity. The teenage material might have given Goku something familiar to worry about, but it feels borrowed and sits awkwardly beside the larger threat. Justin Chatwin is not persuasive enough to connect the two, leaving the central character hard to care about. Chow Yun-Fat provides the clearest relief as Roshi, playing broadly enough to suggest that somebody has noticed the possibilities for comedy. We were briefly cheered by his clowning, because he brings a looseness to exchanges otherwise weighed down by explanation. His performance occasionally threatens to become distracting, but the interruption is welcome when the surrounding story is this dutiful. The rest of the cast takes the material seriously and works to make the awkward dialogue sound natural. Robert McLachlan’s cinematography gives the film a reasonably polished finish, without finding much that distinguishes it from other effects-driven adventures. The images are serviceable, but they do not make us curious about what lies beyond the next fight. Bruton Jones’s production design similarly struggles to give the fantasy a place we can picture clearly afterwards. The teenage material and the supernatural business seem to belong to different films, and the settings do too little to bring them together. Editors Matthew Friedman and Chris Willingham keep things moving, although speed does not consistently help the fighting. Some exchanges have enough energy to hold our attention; others are broken up before the movement becomes satisfying. Too often, the cutting gets us from one blow to the next without letting us appreciate the skill involved. The effects are uneven too, with their artificiality becoming an occasional source of amusement rather than excitement. Brian Tyler’s music pushes for excitement that the screenplay has not earned. The score makes the adventure sound important, but the urgency rarely carries over into the dialogue. It is another instance of capable people trying to compensate for characters who have been given too little to do beyond advancing the quest. The music cannot make those characters interesting on its own. A martial arts fantasy can survive a foolish story if the fighting has character and the humour has confidence. Here, neither arrives often enough, and familiarity with the source material should not be necessary to follow such a short adventure. There are passable fights and an agreeable comic performance, but they are scattered through a film that gives newcomers little reason to stay interested. We would save the evening for something with more life in it. *Fi1m score 34, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics find Dragonball Evolution a bland, confused adaptation that strips away the source material’s appeal without giving newcomers much reason to care. Reservations cluster around the thin story, hurriedly explained mythology and generic Hollywood teen-adventure formula, with several reviews also faulting the effects and action. Praise is limited but recurring: the brisk pace, occasional laughs and cast’s commitment make it tolerable for some, while a few find the fights serviceable. The spread runs from qualified enjoyment to outright dismissal, with disagreement over whether younger viewers will find enough entertainment here. Variety offers the warmest response, praising Chow Yun-fat’s comic relief and the battles while acknowledging a formulaic approach. The New York Times likewise enjoys the goofy kung fu adventure and treats its second-rate effects as part of the fun; harsher reviews see cheapness and incoherence, with little appeal for either established fans or newcomers. ### Reviews we read (12) - **Variety**, Russell Edwards (65/100, inferred): The review calls it a pleasing if paint-by-numbers live-action version that half-heartedly tries to keep faith with its young male fanbase and should do solid business with established fans. It praises Chow Yun-fat's hammy comic relief and the battle scenes while noting some production haste and that it avoids campiness. [Read](https://variety.com/2009/film/reviews/dragonball-evolution-1200474020/) - **The Guardian** (60/100, inferred): The film could have been a lot worse; it resembles a souped-up episode of Power Rangers with a condensed Hollywoodised manga story full of trading-card mythology. The cast takes it seriously and the pace just about holds interest for its target audience, making it almost funny and exciting in patches. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/apr/10/dragonball-evolution-film-review) - **The New York Times**, Nathan Lee (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a goofy, unserious teenybopper kung fu adventure perfectly aimed at 10-year-old boys, even if it may not satisfy franchise fans. He singles out the second-rate special effects and Stephen Chow's producing touch for adding to the fun of the shenanigans. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/movies/11drag.html) - **The AV Club**, Tasha Robinson (C-): The film feels polished but generic, competently but unimaginatively drawn from decades of special-effects movies focused on action over plot. It works as a passable collection of explosions for fans or a slow weekend distraction but offers nothing new. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/dragonball-evolution-1798206038) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a bland adaptation that fails to capture the appeal of the source material despite some okay fight scenes and a twist. They single out the mismatch with the loyal fanbase and lack of crossover potential as key issues. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dragonball-evolution-review/) - **Screen Daily** (25/100, inferred): The critic deems the film puerile children's sci-fi of strictly B-movie standard and a bland Hollywood dumbing-down of the source material. They single out the underdeveloped spiritual elements and summarily presented mythology. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/dragonball-evolution/4043768.article) - **Evening Standard** (20/100, inferred): The review criticizes the film as a terrible mess despite the producer's previous work, noting it doesn't appeal even to the target teen audience. It singles out the failed attempt to adapt Japanese manga into live-action as the core problem. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/manga-comics-come-to-life-dragon-evolution-7413710.html) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, The Associated Press (20/100, inferred): The adaptation will displease fans and baffle newcomers with its lack of visual, narrative or stylistic coherence, cheap effects, poorly staged action and problematic casting. A post-credits scene hints at a sequel that seems unlikely. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/dragonball-evolution-film-review-82363/) - **Time Out**, David Jenkins (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film garbled and monotonous with no effort toward originality, excitement or plausibility. They single out the absurd dialogue for particular mockery. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/dragonball-evolution) - **Slant Magazine**, Rob Humanick (15/100, inferred): The film is uninspired assembly-line fodder that loses any defining qualities through whitewashing, with aimless construction, no substance, poorly edited action and cobbled-together effects that land in unintended camp. The cast does what it can in this photocopied production. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/dragonball-evolution/) - **The Times**, Wendy Ide (10/100, inferred): The film is an example of Hollywood at its most calculating and cynical, a Pot Noodle of Asian influences with a paper-thin story about gathering mystical balls to avert disaster. It is utter drivel. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/dragonball-evolution-nn50qb8ghtk) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (40/100, inferred): The film awkwardly mixes manga elements with an American teen story and fails at both, with weak lead performance and formulaic plot. It offers some unintentional laughs and brisk pacing that make it watchable if not taken seriously. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/dragonball-evolution-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Details - **Director:** James Wong - **Director:** James Wong - **Screenplay:** Ben Ramsey - **Cinematography:** Robert McLachlan - **Editor:** Matthew Friedman, Chris Willingham - **Music:** Brian Tyler - **Production design:** Bruton Jones - **Costume design:** Mayes C. Rubeo - **Producer:** Stephen Chow - **Cast:** Justin Chatwin as Goku; Chow Yun-Fat as Roshi; Emmy Rossum as Bulma; Jamie Chung as Chi Chi; James Marsters as Lord Piccolo; Joon Park as Yamcha; Eriko Tamura as Mai; Randall Duk Kim as Gohan - **Runtime:** 1h 25m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 8 April 2009 - **Genres:** Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller - **Budget:** $30 million - **Box office:** $58 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_wHfz2qUA ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $4.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Kung Fu Hustle* (2004): Elastic martial arts and broad comedy with far better control of both - *Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain* (1983): An unruly supernatural quest with stranger sights and more exhilarating martial arts - *The Boy and the Beast* (2015): An unusual martial arts apprenticeship gives its young hero room to grow - *Big Trouble in Little China* (1986), Fi1m 78: Another outsider enters a martial arts fantasy, with considerably better comic timing — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/big-trouble-in-little-china.md) - *The Kid Who Would Be King* (2019): A teenage fantasy quest that remembers friendship needs more than shared danger --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/dragonball-evolution