Movie Ratings That Actually Work    Become a Member

"One of the 50 Coolest Websites...they simply tell it like it is" - TIME

Dragonball Evolution | 2009 | PG | - 4.4.3

Based on the popular Manga series featuring Goku (Justin Chatwin), a teen who's dealing with high school life until he is asked by his dying grandfather to embark on a quest to gather seven magical orbs called Dragonballs. He must do this before an evil warlord (James Marsters) finds them and uses them to destroy the world. Also with Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun-Fat, Jamie Chung, Joon Park, Eriko Tamura, Randall Duk Kim, Ernie Hudson, Texas Battle. Directed by James Wong. [1:24]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A teenage girl and a teenage boy kiss passionately. A teenage boy and a teenage girl kiss and hug.
 A teenage girl entices a teenage boy to be successful in a training session by allowing him to take a step closer to her each time he accomplishes a task and they are eventually close enough to kiss (further kissing is implied, but not seen). A man and a woman nearly kiss. A teen girl and a teen boy almost kiss, but are interrupted. A teenage girl and boy slow dance at a party.
 A teenage girl emerges from a room late at night, it is initially assumed that she was leaving a teenage boy's room and sex was implied, but we realize that is not the case when the boy comes out of a different room.
 A teenage boy looks from across a classroom at a teenage girl who sits in a miniskirt revealing her crossed legs up to the thigh and he fantasizes that she's eating strawberries seductively. A woman acts in a flirtatious manner hoping to convince a man to help her.
 A man jumps on the back of a motorcycle, landing with his hands on the hips of the female driver, she threatens him and he moves his hands. A man catches a woman and his hand lands on her clothed buttock.
 A teenage girl wears low-cut tops in various scenes, which reveal cleavage. A woman wears a form-fitting body suit (in many scenes), which reveals cleavage. A woman discovers a man's "Bikini Quarterly Magazine," and we see a bikini-clad woman on the cover.
 A teenage boy asks his grandfather to help him "get the girl."

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A warlord has green-tinged flesh, red eyes, pointed teeth and ears and indentations in his head where it looks like there could have been horns. We hear about an evil creature that is imprisoned in the Earth and we see the face of this creature with horns and large, pointed teeth. We see images of demonic creatures and dragons while a man talks about what happened during a time of war.
 People are attacked by demonic creatures, which when injured reform (we see bubbling and hear squishing); a teenage boy fights several creatures and throws them into lava (we see them floating in the lava and we hear screeching when they go in), one creature is hacked into several pieces and thrown in lava, and the teen boy walks across several dead creature bodies.
 A warlord causes a house to be reduced to rubble: we see the man who was inside buried under debris and we see him die (no blood or visible injuries are seen).
 A woman with a futuristic pistol points it at a small girl hiding beneath floorboards, a woman stands up to divert her away from her child, the pistol is pointed at her and it is implied that she is shot (we hear a bang but do not see it). Energy blasts are propelled rapid-fire at a teen boy, he avoids each one but there is destruction all around. A woman is shot in the back (we see her clothing with a blast mark on it and she lies motionless).
 A demonic creature attacks a man and holds him on the ground by the throat killing him. A warlord and a man fight using their powers and hurl energy blasts at each other and they each fall hard to the ground. A teenage girl shoots with a futuristic gun at several people causing an explosion and fire (no one is injured). A woman enters a man's house and throws fighting stars at him (he is not struck). We see a flashback of a robbery and a woman shoots at another woman who makes her escape unharmed.
 Several teenage boys fight another teenage boy, but they strike each other instead; several of them are punched in the face, one boy punches a car window (shattering it and hurting his hand), one teen boy swings a metal bar at another teen boy and strikes a car with each blow (we see the car dented, windows shatter and a side mirror breaks off), and two boys strike each other with metal rods and they fall to the ground (we see several teen boys on the ground and in pain, no blood is shown).
 A warlord reaches out his hand toward an elderly man and squeezes his fist closed, we see the elderly man fall to the floor and grimace and we hear crunching.
 Two teenage girls fight with punches and kicks, and a teenage boy strikes one of them and she is shown unconscious on the floor. A teenage boy is struck in the chest by a man and he is thrown back into a wall; the two fight with punches and kicks and throws, and a blast of energy is hurled and strikes a woman (she is thrown back but is OK). A teen girl fights a woman in a competition with punches and kicks and one is scratched on the arm (we see blood on her arm and a drop of blood placed into a vial).
 A teen boy falls to his knees, he begins to perspire and seems to be in pain, and he begins to transform (we see his face changing shape, he grows more hair, his hands change shape and he yells and roars). We see something moving and growing inside a glass containment area, and we hear squishing and crunching and see that a creature is forming. A warlord is strapped into a chair, needles are plunged into his flesh (we see the needles moving toward him) and blood is drawn (we see blood filling several vials and he moans). A teenaged boy is shot and appears to be dying, but he is revived by a magical incantation. A man is dead and he gasps when he is brought back to life.
 Teenage boys bully another teenage boy: one drives his car over the boy's bike crushing it, the boy is pushed onto the hood of the car and rolls back off, they face each other in a threatening manner, and then walk away.
 A warlord with special powers causes many explosions on Earth, destroying a village, and we see fires and structures in rubble and a child and mother are shown hiding in the aftermath. Visions in magical orbs include a demonic face with horns and pointed teeth, large explosions, destruction of large urban areas, etc. Two energy blasts collide mid-air and cause a huge explosion.
 A dragon appears in a bright light, it flies through the air and makes loud screeching sounds (we see its large mouth with pointed teeth; no one is harmed). We see an infant with red eyes.
 A grandfather and his teen grandson good-naturedly spar while practicing martial arts: the grandfather pokes his grandson with a pole, a large beetle flies into the grandfather's mouth and the teen is thrown into a pile of melons smashing them with his head.
 A vehicle is thrown into a rock wall and explodes. A car drives over a ledge, its tires are transformed into boosters that make it fly, and it is struck by an explosion blast and crashes into a rock wall (none of the passengers is harmed). A motorized vehicle drives into a deep hole and the three people who were riding in it are trapped (no one is seriously injured).
 A man jumps over a balcony and lands on the floor below (when he stands up we hear crunching and he appears to be in some pain).
 A teenage girl teases a teenage boy saying that she let him hit her during a previous fight and they charge toward each other to spar using martial arts (the scene ends). A teenage girl pounds on her locker and yells when it won't open. A teenage boy bumps into a woman driving a vehicle when she stops short.
 A teenage boy tries to climb a rock wall and falls to the ground (he's OK). A row of high school lockers are blasted open, which startles a teenage girl.
 A man squats on a rock formation, steam shoots up from the rocks and he yells, "I just fried my nuts." We hear a description of a battle with an evil warlord and the annihilation of humanity. A teenage boy grieves by the grave.
 An elderly man happily eats chicken feet (we hear slurping and see a chicken foot as he pulls it out of his mouth); a platter of more cooked chicken feet is nearby as well as a platter of cooked whole squab. A cooked chicken has its head chopped off by a cook (we hear a loud bang as the knife cuts through to the block and we see the separation of the head from the body).

LANGUAGE 3 - 2 scatological terms, 2 mild anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiot, geeko, freak, loser).

SUBSTANCE USE - None.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Faith, afterlife, grandparents, death of loved ones, good vs. evil, end of the world, vengeance, working together, martial arts, bullying, helping the world to survive by fighting for good, rules, being different, being special, eclipse, apocalypse, prophecies, skepticism, fame.

MESSAGE - If you have faith in who you truly are, you can choose who you will become.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $1/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

Know when new reviews are published
We will never sell or share your email address with anybody and you can unsubscribe at any time

You're all set! Please check your email for confirmation.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This