Instead of the wild, martial arts-focused adventure of the original manga, the film reimagined Goku (Justin Chatwin) as a suburban high-school student dealing with bullies and a crush on Chi-Chi .
Commonly cited as one of the worst anime-to-film adaptations ever made, Dragonball: Evolution (2009) remains a fascinating "what not to do" case study in Hollywood history.
The film faced heavy criticism for casting a white actor as the iconic Japanese hero, Son Goku, contributing to its poor reception before it even hit theaters.
The movie's version of the Kamehameha was treated more like "air-bending," and it took an entire film for Goku to learn a move he mastered in seconds in the source material. Critical and Fan Fallout
Instead of the wild, martial arts-focused adventure of the original manga, the film reimagined Goku (Justin Chatwin) as a suburban high-school student dealing with bullies and a crush on Chi-Chi .
Commonly cited as one of the worst anime-to-film adaptations ever made, Dragonball: Evolution (2009) remains a fascinating "what not to do" case study in Hollywood history.
The film faced heavy criticism for casting a white actor as the iconic Japanese hero, Son Goku, contributing to its poor reception before it even hit theaters.
The movie's version of the Kamehameha was treated more like "air-bending," and it took an entire film for Goku to learn a move he mastered in seconds in the source material. Critical and Fan Fallout
