I love this movie and my official rating is that it’s incredible!! This movie is so good I’m surprised it wasn’t nominated for best picture at the Oscars, or at least a golden globe.

(Apologies but most of the video here are low quality, this movie came out more than 10 years ago and digitizations hasn’t been kind to it)

Why do I love this movie so much? Because it kept the legacy of dragon ball alive. So much so that Toriyama (the creator of dragon ball) had to come out of retirement and say “This is better than my work, what a movie” and created battle of gods in 2013, in my opinion not as good and the only reason people remember it is because of Dragon Ball Super anime that failed to capture what Evolution achieved from the jump. Now as to what toei is doing with the anime and manga adaptation is for another discussion.

Now why is dragon ball evolution better than The original, at least to me? Because from the get go this was just going to be an adventure story of a teen boy who realized his destiny. It is why I, and I guess japan, love goku so much. He’s not necessarily strong, he’s horny, a bit reckless and kinda bratty. But he will do whatever it takes to get Chi Chi to notice him. And with the power of lust he can finally master the kamehameha.

So why all this, you haven’t even started to review the movie? Well it’s because I’m trying to explain how by changing the character of Goku from the original manga, making him more appealing to a western audience and marketable to the YA audience who are interested in characters like Edward and Jacob of Twilight, we can finally see an interesting and unique side to Goku. We can see his potential as he prepares to beat up on the main antagonist of the movie, Fuller and his bully friends from high school.

But the side story kicks in, The whole Piccolo trying to destroy the universe with the promethean orbs. Also he killed his grandpa Gohan, u know the guy who swallowed a fly earlier. Yh piccolo killed him and took his dragon balls. And now Goku must go on a grand odyssey to avenge his grandpa and then defeat his arch rival Fuller. The side quest takes a bit of time out of the movie but don’t worry we’ll get back to main plot shortly. So Bulma tracks the Prometheum orb because it emits some strange energy (DBE they call it) and it leads her to Goku. They squabble a bit but eventually they reconcile and go and look for Muten Roshi the invincible.

They find him and set out to train at the world martial arts tournament located in a dessert where they train people to fight in like a hexagon or something. Anyway Yamacha, the desert bandit that he is, joins the crew. Then they get to tournament, Roshi trains Goku in the art of air bending, one of the four basic elements he must master. The other elements are earth, fire and water. Through this the avatar, I mean Goku tries to learn but he can’t. Luckily chichi arrives, she and goku flirt and goku masters the kamehameha.

But oh no piccolo invades. He takes the dragon ball but the eclipse, yep there’s an eclipse it will play a role soon don’t worry. So the gang must stop piccolo from summoning shenron at the dragon temple before its to late and he wishes for….. World domination. Goku wears the Gi his grandpa gave him with the 4 star ball as a present on his special 18th birthday. Which happens to be during the eclipse. The gang meet with piccolo before he can summon the dragon. Goku confronts piccolo, Yamacha and bulma do some stuff, like I said this part isn’t as important as the rivalry between Fuller and Goku and rather a sidestep to their inevitable duel. So it is revealed to Goku by piccolo that Goku was sent to earth by aliens and every full moon eclipse which happens every 18 years he becomes the mighty ozaru, a bear who aides kin piccolo in his conquest. Goku rejects this ideology, but it’s too late. The full moon appears and he transforms into ozaru losing all sense of reasoning and attacks roshi. But with his dying breath Roshi tells Goku “ something like be yourself.” And now Goku with the power of acceptance that he is normal and an ozaru can master the kaioken ozaru kamehameha technique. He charges at piccolo with this technique and the evil tyrant is brought to his ultimate defeat by the ozaru he created.

But the story Isn’t over yet. Goku and his friends use the dragon balls to summon shenron, who might be on a diet as he appears to be somewhat skinny and yellow. Anyway, they wish back roshi. Goku and chichi make out and train in an empty arena. A post credit scene shows piccolo alive. And that ends the training piccolo arc.

Now the part you’ve all been waiting for. Fuller vs Goku the ultimate showdown at Chichi’s birthday party, what a coincidence they were born on the same dayish. Anyways the fight begins but to me, the battle is so badass that it’s best to show than tell.

And that is why Dragon ball evolution exists and improves upon the original causing the legacy of dragon ball to continue. Watch, you’ll have loads of fun. XD