DOA: Dead or Alive

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've been playing Dead or Alive since the Playstation release back in 1998 (I still do~~) and was shocked when I heard someone's gonna turn it into a movie. As a fan, the first thing, the major concern I had happens to be the actors playing the fighters. Not that it was a complete let down (especially since most of the attitudes of the characters in the game and movie were quite different), I had to anticipate it being (forgive the term) somewhat 'Americanized'. But ah, well. That's how it was. Don't know if Tomonobu Itagaki liked seeing Hayate not so often in the film, though (Hayate WAS modeled after him, the DOA creator). So when it was released, I avoided watching it, until now.

Corey Yuen did an amazing job directing this one. The choreography of the fight scenes were really good, but the script and the plot... those needed work. It was fun seeing Robin Shou and Collin Chou in this film. But props to Jaime Pressly for the amazing portrayal of Tina! She, in my opinion, stole the show from Devon Aoki.

But really, this is more of a fan service (in glorified kick-ass fights!) than a supposed movie in its own right. But it was better than most game adaptations and it was fun to watch.

One thing's certain- I didn't like the portrayal of Ayane.

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

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.

In 1999, the martial arts movie was redefined by "The Matrix." What people forget is, the martial arts movie was previously redefined four years earlier, with the release of 1995's "Mortal Kombat." Of course, yes, "The Matrix" left everything before it in the dust. But for that 4 years, we had a short-lived champion... exciting action sequences, fair-to-cheesy dialogue, and a thumping techno soundtrack. It took something as historical as the Wachowski Brothers to knock it off its perch.

"Dead or Alive" features action sequences about on-par with "Mortal Kombat," dialogue scenes that are only slightly more painful, and the added presence of Eric Roberts, which takes two full points off its IMDb rating just for attaching his name to it.

I didn't hate DOA; it was miles better than "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" and director Corey Yuen ("Transporter," "So Close") is certainly light-years better than Uwe Boll, if that even means anything.

Slightly better than your average rental, but not worth a $7 movie ticket. In 1996 this would have made a bundle, but today it's just something that might actually hold your attention on cable at 3 a.m. 6/10.