First Post / The Dragon Ball Movie Trailer

I suppose that this has been a long time coming, but I've finally entered the mystical land of blogs. Let's just right in with Rant #1 on the new live action Dragon Ball movie:







Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no expert on Dragon Ball. I've avid about Dragon Ball Z (at least, I am until half way through the Freiza Saga, where I usually have to take a breather because the fights are endless), but my Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT knowledge is very limited. I just recently purchased a copy of the first three volumes of Dragon Ball, so I'm all excited and geeking out about everything Akira Toriyama lays his ridiculous hands on. So I adventured randomly into YouTube Land, and I found, of course, the much talked about Dragon Ball Live Action Movie Trailer. And it made me sad.

One thing that I get out of the trailer is that the characters on the trailer don't give off nearly the same vibe as the characters in my manga. To me, the most enjoyable part of a good story is the characters. I find that a good compelling character can put you right in the exact mindframe and moment that a creator wants you to be in. But, after watching the trailer, I don't see the link between the movie, and the Dragon Ball characters that I love. For instance, the impression I got from reading my manga is that Goku is a naive, carefree 14 year old who more than makes up for his lack of worldy knowledge with his amazing strength and ability to change into a giant monkey at the sight of the full moon. The impression I get from the movie trailer is that Goku is a run-of-the-mill action hero type college boy. To me, Bulma is a spunky genius with questionable morals who is content to watch the boys risk their lives from the side-lines. From the trailer, she looks like a bad-ass action heroine. Muten Roshi is supposed to be a dirty old hermit. In the movie he's Chow Yun Fat. And Piccolo looks like a vampire from Buffy the Vampire slayer.

I've seen Dragon Ball Z, and I know that aliens created the Dragon Balls, not mystics. I understand having to make changes to fit a different genre. I mean, I'm sure they had to go in and make adjustments several times for the sake of the millions and zillions of movies and games that are out there. And yet, you barely notice that transition, and the essence of what is remains the same.

So, I'm interested to see how the movie plays out. Maybe I'm wrong, but those are my beginning impressions.

And hey, Yamcha is still hot. At least they got that one right ;)