Vivo o Muerto

Wow. I never thought In my wildest dreams that I would be standing behind this film, sticking up for it opposed to slandering it with the rest. I actually went to see it for a laugh and so what if there were a half dozen beautiful girls flaunting there stuff right? well the first 10 minutes kinda made me think I was gonna be dead right, but not entirely. Sure it was a very poor excuse for a plot, but the action was really quite good. Before I get into that I need to make a remark, a lot of people have been slandering this movie because of it's story line, fair enough, but if you say that it doesn't make sense, you must be one thick chimpanzee, The story is so linear it hurts, and very, I repeat VERY easy to understand! Back to the movie. The acting was fine, I was especially pleased at Holly's Performance, A perfect role for her I would say, if Anyone's ever seen any of her film clips

Plot: Pro-wrestler Tina (Jaime Pressly), master thief Christie (Holly Valance), and ninja princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki) are competitors in a martial arts tournament with a $10 million prize.

That pretty much sums up the basis of the plot haha but yeah. Good Action, Hot Girls, a worth while watch. Oh and another thing, Sarah Carter who starred in 3 episodes of Smallville plays another butt kickin' Babe, very sexy. It was kind of refreshing be able to watch a movie where the plot wasn't really a problem at all, all you had to do was focus on what was going on, no having to think about how this person knows this person and why they want to kill each other. It was also good to see a 'Girl Power' Flick which wasn't cheesy in the way that Charlie's Angels was, yeah it was cheesy in other ways, but none of that, "come on angels, let's go get 'em" All in all a good watch, I just hope they don't try and do a sequel *sighs* and IF they do, I hope they get a damn script writer!!!!

7 Stars

This film is about a group of fighters getting invited to a fighting contest. Along the way, they find out there is a plot behind it and they work together to fight the bad guys.

There are quite a few problems with the movie. The plot is implausible. The DOA logo gets an on screen appearance too much that is very annoying. The love relationships seem so poorly built up that it exists just for the sake of existing. Not to mention the numerous soft porn scenes that make the film look cheap. Oh, and Devon Aokiwears the same facial expression on her face all the time, and her dialogs are spoken in such a plain and mundane way that is devoid of any emotion.

However, there are good things about the film. The film is pure brain-off entertainment. The fight scenes are very well thought out and rehearsed. This alone makes the film fun to watch.

As a fan of the DOA video games, it was in my nature to go see this film. Even though I knew it was going to be shocking, I was surprised (a bit).

Following the storyline from the games, DOA is about a fighting tournament held on a secret island were all is not what it seems. Princess Kusami (Devon Aoki) joins the tournament to find her brother. Tina (jammie Pressley) a distinguished womens wrestler joins to prove to the world she's not fake, like her "fighting style". Christie (holly valance)playing a sultry thief joins in order to steal a vault full of money, hidden on the island. Over time they meet other characters and they learn to work together in order to stop the main villain, Donovan (Eric Roberts).

Like most fighting video game/movies the really isn't much of a story and a few of the actors are below par (espesially from Kane Kosugi), I was really impressed by Holly Valance and Sarah Carter.

Most reviews can tell you that this is strictly for teenage boys, and I can tell you there right, through some racy shots of Holly valance and Jamie Presley. But what Impressed me the most with DOA is the fight sequences. Kane Kosugi has one of the best I've seen In a while on a flight of stairs and Sarah Carter and Holly Valance battle it out in the rain making it an almost glorified wet t-shirt Competition.

If your looking for something innovating form this genre, keep walking, but if your looking for a great way to spend and hour and a half with some friends, then see DOA.

I love martial arts movies and in particular Cory Yuen films. No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers is a favourite. Having previously done great work with Jason Statham in The Transporter I had pretty high hopes. But I had reservations - this was a starring role for Holly Valance after all.

It wasn't everything I hoped it would be. Compared to the raw energy of Crank, DOA was committee film-making as usual. Colourful and featuring plentiful (reasonable) action DOA is only interesting in the opportunities it presents to draw comparison to others.

Borrowing stylistic and casting ideas from Charlie's Angels and Kill Bill, DOA is essentially Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter combined. Drawing parallels to Enter the Dragon too, there is nothing original or inventive.

Kane Kosugi benefits most from the choreography. He has a sequence on a flight of stairs which is brilliant and brutal - very similar to his scenes in his Japanese breakthrough vehicle Blood Heat. Elsewhere, while the film sexes up the concept of the tournament/video game movie, it's fatal flaw is that it's heroines don't convince. In Charlie's Angels they did.

Cory is notable for doing more than his share of fighting femme movies back in Hong Kong, including the recent So Close, but none are classic. DOA should have featured support from the likes of Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Yeoh rather than Eric Roberts and Robin Shou. The girls are pure eye candy. Only Pressley comes close to credibility - because she has an impressive physique and attitude. Holly flutters her eyes at Coronation Street's Matthew Marsden while forcing an English accent. Devon Aoki lacks charisma.

The incorporation of the video game elements such as the character intros, K.O. freeze frames etc works really well and the costume design and production design brings the game to life brilliantly. You believe in the exaggerated world and that is key. But ultimately this is little more than a time waster.

A decent popcorn movie but nothing new for action fans.

Christie is a jewel thief fleeing the police in Hong Kong. Tina Armstrong is a pro-wrestler seeking to defend herself against claims of being fake. Kasumi is a ninja princess who has left her clan to avenge her brother's death. The three individually wind up being invited to join DOA, a competition where the finest fighters compete for the title of world's greatest (and of course a big wodge of cash). Once on the island location, the fights begin but it seems like not everyone is just here for the contest and other agendas come into play, not least of which from the mysterious organiser Donovan.

I just heard a news article on the way today about how video stores are gradually shutting down as the various ways to get movies squeeze them out of the market. Defending this was a claim that online renters cannot replace the store as they don't send you stuff in any order and can give you a comedy when you are in the mood for a drama etc. One hour later I got home to find myself living that argument as LoveFilm had dealt me DOA right off the bottom of my long rental list! Regardless I sat to watch it as sometimes it is good just to veg out and, on this level, I suppose it might just work if you are target audience.

There is a very basic plot here but mostly it is lots of non-stop action from start to finish. Sounds great right? Just what the doctor ordered – a tight, exciting action movie that never lets you go. Right. Only problem is that the action is roundly poor. The approach is the same for all the fights – lots of video game moves, CGI, unbelievable wire work and, if all else fails two words – "slow" "mo". It all failed to engage me as it was all so very obvious, unimaginative and uninspiring as there was just no heart or grit to the action – just loads of visual flair. As if this wasn't enough to tell you that the target audience is the teenage male, we have loads of soft sexuality that will just seem childish to most adults but will titillate the type of boys who fanaticise over Lara Croft.

There is no doubt that the female leads have great bodies but they lack a sensual edge that a strong woman character would need to be sexy. Instead these lot might as well be just dolls, thrown around and undressed as the boys see fit. Beyond their curves they have nothing in regards character and their performances mostly match that. Pressly has a lot of grace from me because of me liking My Name is Earl but she doesn't do much here other than wheel out that trash mouth she does all the time. Valance is a non-entity in regards acting and it is only the odd (hilarious) "oh gosh look she's nearly naked" scene that made me notice her. Aoki is poor and I maintain that her continued appearance in films and as a model is not evidence of her talent so much as it is of how much influence Daddy has. Carter is cute like the rest of them but is lumbered with the task of being pawed by Howey doing a totally unconvincing geek performance. Roberts is comically miscast and the rest of the support makes WWE look like Shakespeare in the park.

Overall then a roundly poor film but one that will probably just about satisfy the male teen market looking for video game fighting and partial nudity. Adults and those with more discerning tastes need not apply.