DOA: Vivo ou Morto

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.

Here we have yet another video game movie that makes me embarrassed to play video games. One comment here claims, "Teenage boys are going to love it" because of the plentiful T&A and ample dose of action, and while yes, we do love our sex and violence, we live in a society where these things are the norm. Personally, I like the boobs and fighting to be handled with some sort of art. The script is laughable, the premise is incredibly derivative (although this is true of the game), and the talent of the actors is essentially irrelevant. The fights seem to be a loving tribute or rip-off to other, better fight movies. The camera work is frantic and overworked. This movie felt like a 90 minute pilot for a bad 90s TV show starring Pamela Anderson.

Yes, DOA is pretty weak source material, but if you're going to adapt a video game, try to put a little effort into it. If I just want tits and gore, I can watch porn and hobo fights.

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.

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.

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.