When 68 million people all say the same thing, you have to believe they might be right. And when we are talking about from across the world, well then you have to imagine that anything that crosses cultures like that has to be special.
Now all the Obama maniacs can calm down, a lot, because I am not speaking about him. I am referring to Dragonball and Dragonball Z. A series of cartoons – based on a manga with over 100 million copies sold - that have created fans across decades, generations, cultures, and the globe. If you have not seen the cartoon series, I can virtually guarantee you know someone who has, even in America.
The cartoon is too involved to explain quickly. Basically a baby (named Goku) from another planet that no longer exists was sent to Earth to be raised. And yes, he is a bit of a superman. Though in an extreme martial arts manner. He is trained by a master martial artist named Roshi, older than you might guess, hornier than a goat, and when he decides to kick ass more buff than the Guvernator. His best friend and rival is a short (possibly a midget) kid named Krillin. As they grow they enter an event similar to the Kumate. This eventually leads to 2 things. The fact that when Goku see the moon – and still has his tail (he is an alien) – he turns into a super strong wild King Kong, literally. And that he needs to defeat Piccolo to save the Earth.
Trust that I am not doing justice to the fun and humor of the cartoon series.
That all said, Hollywood knew it had to do this movie. An international fanbase in the tens of millions, a huge volume of history to work from, and the potential for multiple sequels to fill their coffers. How could they resist.
Of course with Hollywood involved that means that things are going to change. A lot. Like the fact that in Dragonball Goku is supposed to be 7, but for the movie he will be a young adult. And Roshi (played by Chow Yung Fat) will not be the dirty old man that was so funny in the cartoon and manga. And James Marsters, best known from the Buffy television series as the vampire Spike, will be the ultra-buff alien bad guy Piccolo. And who knows how they will deal with the special fighting moves, the Dragon Balls (7 of them that will summon a Dragon and grant any 1 wish), or a dozen other aspects of the show that made it so special.
One thing is for sure. If this is done right, there will be sequels aplenty. The entire DBZ series could take several films alone. And there are millions of fans of the Saiyan Prince Vegeta (me included). The only way they could really screw this up is if they were to either ignore the main storyline, kill major characters permanently – before any of them actually die, or just make up their own story (revision anyone).
There is no proper way to discuss quickly the fun and addictive nature of Dragonball and DBZ. It has to be seen to be understood. Suffice to say that the world blockbuster for the year will be this Dragonball movie, and it will crush movie records if its done right.
(And yes the trailers have a touch of the look of Speed Racer, but I can hope it will not be a factor.)
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