Kamehameha...Goku does Hollywood

Contrary to popular belief that Dragonball Z and everything that goes with it isn't important, too anime is quite frankly rubbish.

Without it there would be no Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Full Metal Alchemist or Naruto. And it could be said that without it there may have been no Matrix or various other anime-influenced Hollywood blockbusters.

The Dragonball franchise was an enormous factor in popularising anime in the west and is now set to get its own movie, aptly named Dragonball.

Due out in Spring 2009, the movie looks set to follow the King Piccolo saga. According to IMDB, the plot goes something like this:

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The story begins with a young humanoid boy named Goku, who discovers that he was sent to Earth to blend in and destroy our population but instead elects to protect it from an oncoming alien onslaught bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects.

"He seeks out upon his adoptive grandfather Grandpa Gohan's dying request to find the great Master Roshi and gather all seven Dragon Balls.

"Of which he has one, in order to prevent the evil Lord Piccolo from succeeding in his desire to use the Dragon Balls to take over the world. And Goku's quest is to obtain the mystical Dragonballs before Piccolo does"

Goku's actual origin is almost identical to Superman's. Both are sent to Earth in a space pod as babies, both of their home planets are about to explode at this time and both have incredible, god-like powers. But other than that, both couldn't be further apart.

Justin Chatwin stars as Goku and if anything is to be right about this movie, he'll have to play him as Sean Schemmel played him in the animated series- funny, hungry, absent minded and underdog hero.

James Wong (Final Destination, The One, The X-Files) heads up the project as Director James Marsters, formerly of Buffy fame as Spike, is playing Piccolo and Chow Yun-Fat is playing Master Roshi, Goku's teacher.

While the initial reception from fans has been one of dismay and disgust, if done right, Dragonball could well be the long awaited breath of fresh air the franchise is waiting for.

Dragonball is set for a Spring 2009 release.