Anime has a very iffy track record with live-action movie adaptations, to put it nicely. While there are some that fare a bit better than others, generally the consensus seems to be that they just aren't very good. One of the most despised among them is none other than the Americanized version of the wildly popular Dragon Ball series, Dragonball Evolution.
This film is notorious for resembling little to nothing of its anime/manga counterpart, on top of just being a pretty bad movie in general. There were so many differences and errors contained within this movie that fans instantly caught and were angered by quickly. Here's just ten of them.
10 GOKU HAVING ROMANTIC INTEREST IN CHICHI
It's no secret that romance isn't one of Goku's strong suits, and his marriage to Chichi throughout the Dragon Ball franchise is evidence of that. So it was a little jarring to see that the movie's version of Goku was actually hyper fixated on Chichi.
While this being wildly out of character for Goku is bad enough on its own, the sheer level of crushing that he has on Chichi in this movie is really hard to watch. It comes off as creepy instead of endearing. It's especially bad when it appears at some points Goku actually can't perform ki techniques without her around.
9 GRANDPA GOHAN IS KILLED BY PICCOLO AND NOT GOKU
In the original Dragon Ball it's revealed that Goku's grandfather, Gohan, was accidentally killed by Goku himself when he transformed into the giant Great Ape during a full moon. Though Goku had no memory of this, it showed that Goku was definitely not a normal kid and set the stage for later on in the franchise. In the movie, things play out differently.
During his search for the Dragon Balls, Piccolo tracks down one at Gohan's house and attacks him. After a brief fight, Piccolo injures Gohan and then makes the house collapse on top of him. On top of being completely different, this shouldn't have even killed a fighter skilled with ki like Gohan. This is evident by later in the movie, where Roshi goes through something similar and pretty much walks out unscathed.
8 WHY DOES PICCOLO NEED THE DRAGON BALLS?
In the source material, King Piccolo was after the Dragon Balls to wish for his youth back so that he could continue his conquest of Earth. In the movie, however, Piccolo wants the Dragon Balls to either conquer or destroy the Earth (it's never clear which one it is). With how powerful Piccolo is supposed to be, it's unknown why he even needs the Dragon Balls to do this.
In the film, Piccolo is able to destroy structures with his mind, evaporate bodies of water, and create minions from his blood, already he is supposed to be more powerful than almost everyone on Earth. So why does he need a wish from the dragon to accomplish his goals when he could probably do the job without them? This is one of the movie's many plotholes.
7 GOKU AND BULMA ARE ROUGHLY THE SAME AGE
When Bulma and Goku meet in Dragon Ball, there is a significant age gap between them, Goku being a rather young kid and Bulma in her late teens. In Dragonball Evolution this is another detail that gets changed around, with the pair about the same age when they meet up.
Age has often been a tricky thing to pin down for certain characters throughout Dragon Ball's many iterations, due to the many deaths and rebirths some characters go through, but the age difference was much easier in the early days, making it even more confusing why that detail was ignored by the filmmakers.
6 MAI
Until Dragon Ball Super breathed new life into the character, Mai was more or less always a henchwoman for someone else. This detail remains true in the movie (despite that she's working for Piccolo instead of Emperor Pilaf), but just about everything else about her was off.
It's never explained why she works for Piccolo, but she's undoubtedly loyal to him for some reason. On top of that, her military gear and skills are swapped out for a more "ninja-like" vibe and for some reason she can shapeshift too. This many differences made it seem like Mai could've been named anything else and it wouldn't have changed a thing.
5 THE DRAGON BALLS CAN ONLY BE USED AT THE DRAGON TEMPLE
When the seven Dragon Balls are gathered, the ability to summon the wish-granting dragon, Shenron, becomes possible. There's really no restriction to where this can be done and the anime and manga see Shenron being summoned to a variety of places to grant the characters' wishes.
In the movie, the Dragon Balls can only summon the dragon at a hidden place called "The Dragon Temple" which rises out of the ground when the seven balls are together. It's not clear why this is the case or even what the origins of the Dragon Temple are, just that this is yet another downgrade compared to the original.
4 PERSONALTIES GONE AWOL
There's no way to tap dance around it, just about every character being portrayed in Dragonball Evolution is lacking anything close to the personalities of their anime/manga counterparts. And these aren't just slight differences, because even the most casual of Dragon Ball fans can point out what's wrong with them.
Goku especially seems the most egregiously out of character, swapping out his optimistic, naive, and fighting obsessed traits and for the attitude of a mopey and hormonal teenager. Unfortunately, the list doesn't stop there, Bulma's more of a "shoot first, ask questions later" type, Roshi comes off as a cliched mentor, and Yamcha has almost no personality to speak of. The only thing Evolution's iterations have anything in common with the characters fans loved, were their names.
3 OOZARU
The Oozaru, or Great Ape, was something that Saiyans could transform into, taking on the form of a powerful giant primate when they see a full moon. This was yet another thing the movie got incredibly and horribly wrong.
In Evolution Oozaru is the servant of Piccolo who was sent to Earth as a baby to help Piccolo later. Not only does Goku transform into Oozaru under an eclipsed moon (not a full moon), he also does it without a tail. What's even more baffling is that the size isn't even correct, whereas the Great Ape is usually ginormous, Oozaru ends up being barely taller than Goku was before transforming.
2 KAMEHAMEHA = AIRBENDING?
Every fan of Dragon Ball knows its most iconic technique is the Kamehameha. This destructive ki blast is considered by many to be Goku's signature move. Sadly, even this got botched in Dragonball Evolution.
The final battle with Piccolo is pretty infamous for how the Kamehameha gets used poorly, but it's actually when Goku is learning it that's more head-scratching. While Roshi tries to teach Goku the technique, he calls it "the most advanced level of airbending." This makes no sense when the move is supposed to be ki energy. This also contradicts the movie, since ki techniques do exist in the established world. Calling it "airbending" only confuses fans of Dragon Ball and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
1 MAKING IT LIVE-ACTION WAS A MISTAKE
There's no denying that the entire Dragon Ball franchise has a pretty unique look and feel to it. Akira Toriyama's style is so distinct that few can ever mistake it for any other manga or anime. This might be the main reason why a live-action adaptation was not a good idea.
A lot of the energy, color, and personality of Dragon Ball is missing from this movie, replaced with a "realistic" and often times pale (both figuratively and literally) imitation of the series. To be fair, live-action could never capture the same energy that animation could accomplish for Dragon Ball, its world and characters are so fantastical in many ways that making a live-action movie for it would only have ever resulted in disappointment.