Review of Dragonball Evolution: CAUTION SPOILERS!!!!

For the last (nearly) 9 years I have been into anime (Japanese cartoons)...a friend got me into them and they are great. Different from anything we have here, however now they are making their way more into the mainstream. The first anime I ever watched was Dragonball Z, so it has a special place with me, even though yes I know the story line tends to repeat itself each saga and it takes 3 episodes for Goku or Gohan to power up for the fight and there are better animes out there. I was nearly excited to see that Dragonball was making its way to the live action screen, first they were then they weren't making it..what saga would be portrayed? What villians would be faced (there are several that would have translated well to the big screen) what heros would make an appearance? Well finally it was released...now I was not expecting much, but....

*************OK SPOILERS ABOUND BELOW, IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED I WOULDN'T READ BELOW*****************

five minutes into the movie the pain began.....a teenage Goku was being trained by (whom I first thought was Master Roshi) his grandfather Gohan...OK, Gohan was killed by Goku during his first transformation when he was just a baby, very young, however not long into the movie Picollo comes and takes out Gohan, who of course sends Goku to find Master Roshi. Teenage Goku-well Justin Chatwin looks like you'd picture Goku but he acted like his was Gohan during the Great Saiyaman saga...not goofy, fighting, everybody loves him Goku (that he is) but awkward, insecure (alot like Gohan was) and picked on...not the acting was a problem just how Goku was portrayed. He meets Bulma and Yamcha. The highlight of the movie was Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi...dead on! LOL...bumbling yet strong, kind hearted (and with his girlie magazines) and James Marsters was a great Picollo (ok-he was Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer for those who don't know, and he looked good in green :D ) he just should have been a bigger part of the movie. And the kicker-Goku turned ape to be Picollo's secret weapon... WTF?? The scenes really didn't have a good flow, it seemed kind of choppy and the action sequences were okay, the Ki scenes were neat. ChiChi was pretty and had good chemistry but she was ashamed of her fighting skills... Unfortunately, it was a bigger letdown than I was expecting (not that I was expecting much by any stretch)...It was have been great to see the Saiyan saga (Vegeta and Napa's arrival) or the Majin Buu saga, heck the Great Saiyaman saga or even yes the Picollo saga would have been okay with out totally taking it out of context from the established story. Goku's grandfather's death at that early age help shape the man he became, if you mess with the story like that you take away things that are important imo. Nice try, seems like a decent cast, decent effects- however the storyline didn't hold up to the Dragonball legacy.