Feb 17 2009 'Dragonball' Has Stopped Putting Effort Into Anything
Stacking various, similarly-tinted panels of arbitrarily mismatched heights is going to be a very popular technique in poster design soon. These guys are ahead of the curve on this one. Next week Watchmen will probably catch up with a poster with a banner-ad size strip of Rorschach that's tinted green, then below that a sliver of Dr. Manhattan that's tinted a slightly different shade of green, then a wide red panel of Nite Owl, and so on, until it too forms a crappy rainbow spectrum of characters under a meaningless tagline. The floating heads style of poster design has been made redundant.
Master Your Destiny Poster [DBtheMovie]
Feb 5 2009 Another 'Dragonball: Evolution' Trailer--Now with More Fireballs
Seriously, everyone is constantly shooting fireballs. This thing is a big fireball party. Everyone is loving fireballs. Except maybe the girl--it appears she doesn't have the ability to shoot fireballs, so she shoots guns: science's fireballs. And there's an SUV version of the Back to the Future car, because that's something:
Continue Reading " Another 'Dragonball: Evolution' Trailer--Now with More Fireballs "
Feb 3 2009 See Actual Dragon of 'Dragonball: Evolution'
In Japan, where Dragonball: Evolution is considered pertinent news, a news program aired some brand new footage from the movie. There's an actual dragon! And you thought the name was figurative.
Judging by the music, the Japanese seem to be viewing the film as equivalent to a tropical getaway awarded at the end of a game show:
Continue Reading " See Actual Dragon of 'Dragonball: Evolution' "
Dec 11 2008 'Dragonball' Poster: Goku Says "Ewwww!"
First I thought, OK, not that bad--or at least certainly not the worst thing to come from the Dragonball camp. But then I tried an experiment in readjusting the horizon, and, well...
Continue Reading " 'Dragonball' Poster: Goku Says "Ewwww!" "
Dec 10 2008 Man Oh Man, This 'Dragonball' Trailer
In terms of production value, I'd place this somewhere between Xena: Warrior Princess and a Power Rangers movie. In terms of everything else, I'd place it somewhere it could never touch human eyes or ears--particularly the voice of Piccolo. That generic, digitally-distorted, kidnapper-on-the-phone voice should not come out of someone's actual mouth.
Nov 6 2008 First Look at Monster Thing from 'Dragonball'
Over at DBtheMovie.com, they've posted what they claim is an early look at the protagonist, Goku, in monster form. If you know as little about Dragonball as me (I basically only know that the series involves a lot of screaming), you're probably thinking, wait, besides all the flying around on clouds, someone turns into a monster? Apparently:
Oozaru (大猿 Ōzaru, lit. Great Monkey) is a fictional transformation in the Dragon Ball manga series and anime adaptation, written by Akira Toriyama. Originally in the series, the Oozaru was a transformation for the main character named Son Goku, being a parody of a monkey king character named Sun Wukong from the novel The Journey to the West. In the series, the Oozaru is a giant ape that Goku turns into when he looks at a full moon, similar to that of a werewolf.
I have the feeling fans are not going to be pleased with this:
Continue Reading " First Look at Monster Thing from 'Dragonball' "
Oct 3 2008 'Dragonball' Teaser Leaked on My Face, in My Eyes
Well, while it lasts, here's the teaser to Dragonball. Like everything else we've seen of this movie, it's not very good. And apparently they're just using the cars from Transfomers? Oi.
Continue Reading " 'Dragonball' Teaser Leaked on My Face, in My Eyes "
Oct 1 2008 'Dragonball' STILL Looks Really Good
I couldn't tell you why I keep clicking on links that say they will show me portions of a Dragonball movie, then watching those portions of Dragonball (I think it's either a sense of duty or masochism), but I do, and that's just how it is. Today I did it again, and was treated with just what I was promised: a short teaser for the Dragonball movie as recorded from someone's wobbly fist, accompanied by the usual ennui. It's really sad when the best parts of a trailer are the disjointed explosions.
Sep 3 2008 Well, 'Dragonball' is Still Looking Really Good
Some screen captures from the fumbled attempt at bringing Dragonball to screens have turned up on internet. In case you couldn't tell, this pale, velvet swathed fellow is meant to be the main villain, Piccolo, who traditionally looks like this. Yikes.
Just remember, The Dark Knight's Joker didn't look exactly like the comics either. Of course, he also didn't look like a jaundiced, goth character from Alien Nation (you definitely remember Alien Nation), so yeah, this will probably be really bad.
Six more under the cut.
Continue Reading " Well, 'Dragonball' is Still Looking Really Good "
Aug 15 2008 'Dragonball' is Looking Good (If You Use a Loose Definition of Good)
I admit was a naysayer for a while, but these latest shots from Dragonball have really got me reconsidering this live-action adaptation. Mostly because I consider palpable desperation and pleading, vacant eyes that will forever haunt you, waking you from your nightly slumber with their anguished cry of "what have I done?" to be a positive in a film.
Jul 21 2008 Japan's 'Dragonball' Poster Looks Accurate
I forgot that the Dragonball cartoon takes place largely in an arid wasteland most famous for being the reflection in chrome WordArt. That makes this even less appealing.
Goku in Orange Gi [DB the Movie]
Jun 24 2008 'Dragonball' Banner is Dull, Full of Red Light Swirls
I had my apprehensions about Dragonball, but this banner makes it look like the actors have really captured the vacant, soulless eyes of the original cartoon characters. Full banner behind the cut, because it's stupidly long.
Continue Reading " 'Dragonball' Banner is Dull, Full of Red Light Swirls "
May 12 2008 First Official, Tinted Look at Goku from 'Dragonball'
When a live-action adaptation of the fight-centric anime Dragonball was announced, there were some concerns. Was there enough hair product on real, non-anime Earth to support Goku's ridiculous coiffure? Would fans get too upset if the character's orange gi were replaced with a t-shirt with some Japanese characters on it, showing an Abercrombie-level understanding of Asian culture? Could computers still render simple glowing orbs? Make your own judgments.
Justin Chatwin as Goku [DBthemovie.com]
Apr 4 2008 'Dragonball' is Looking Good, Confusing Alien Thing Demonstrates
IMAGE REMOVED AT REQUEST OF Twentieth Century Fox
Have I gotten greedy thinking a big-budget feature film should look moderately better than some cosplayers making a fan film, or are these blurry on-set shots from Dragonball really as insanely terrible as I think they are. In fairness, I recognize the third-generation VHS quality is adding a lot to this looking like a cable access sci-fi series, and that these are certainly not finished images. But, in equal fairness, this image of an alien planet's apparent Shop-at-Home equivalent is ridiculous.
More screenshots from this odd, possible bootleg of something, including Justin Chatwin as Goku and Chow Yun-Fat as The Kissyface Woodsman, here. Yikes.
Jan 16 2008 People in Coats on the Set of 'Dragonball'
These shots from the set of Dragonball aren't exceptionally telling--besides that, against all logic, the production is going forward--but if Justin Chatwin's little faux-hawk bouffant thing under the hood is the closest we're coming to Goku's multi-directional spikes, I'm really disappointed. Let's hope this is just a preliminary hair base that they're building on; the idiotic hairstyles were all I was looking forward to.
More here.
Oh, and thanks to Jackie for the tip. I forgot to say that.
Nov 14 2007 Chatwin, Marsters Join 'Dragonball'
I still don't fully understand why they've decided to film the long, confusing amalgam of giant, angular hair, motion lines, and, more importantly, the constant screaming that is what I've seen of the Dragonball anime. But they are. And since they are, I have to say, they're doing a pretty decent job casting it.
For Goku, the lead protagonist, they've decided to go with Justin Chatwin, the annoying kid from War of the Worlds and The Invisible. From what I remember of Goku, he was either a man with a boyish face or a boy with a man-like body. Either way, it was easy to understand why the other characters were constantly trying to punch this man-child. It's impressive they were able to find that same quality in a real actor.
To play the villain Piccolo, director James Wong has chosen Buffy star James Marsters, an actor whose face naturally carries the necessary evil angularity. It will be interesting to see if they keep the character's signature white turban or if they decide to just sculpt Marsters bleached gel-chunks into something passable.
As I've said before, if they can make this into anything I can even loosely understand, it will already be a step above the pre-pubsecent Japanese mind explosion of the cartoon.
'Dragonball' comes to bigscreen [Variety]
